Mostly Sunny & Cooler Friday Afternoon; Significant Severe Weather Threat Sunday
Cooler air returned to central and south Alabama this morning. While lows only fell into the 50s and low 60s overnight, temperatures haven’t warmed much since then. In fact, temperatures at midday were trending around 15-20° cooler than the same time yesterday. Friday afternoon features below-normal temperatures across central and south Alabama despite a mainly sunny sky. Expect highs in the 60s to around 70° for most. Its also going to be breezy, with a north wind of 10 to 15 mph. Winds subside tonight, helping temperatures fall considerably. It’s going to be cold by early April standards around sunrise Saturday morning. Expect lows in the upper 30s to low 40s.
After a chilly start, temperatures rebound nicely Saturday afternoon, with highs in the mid 70s. Expect a mostly sunny to partly cloudy sky. There’s a chance for isolated showers late, with a better chance for showers and even some storms arriving Saturday night. Saturday night lows fall into the mid and upper 50s.
All signs still point to a potentially significant episode of severe weather on Sunday. All modes of severe weather, including tornadoes, damaging straight-line winds, and hail appear possible. Some tornadoes could be strong and long-track. The storm prediction center places a moderate (level 4/5) threat for severe weather across west-central Alabama Sunday. That’s significant, because its the highest threat level for a day 3 outlook. The risk could be upgraded to high (level 5/5) between now and Sunday.
The main threat window for severe weather looks like Sunday afternoon and night. Models still show storms moving across our area beyond midnight Sunday night, so this event could persist into early Monday morning. The cold front quickly sweeps to our south and east Monday, with calmer weather setting up for next week in its wake.
Some showers or storms could linger into Monday morning from Sunday night’s severe weather. Otherwise, expect the return of a mostly sunny sky with highs in the 70s. Monday night lows fall into the 40s. There’s a chance for rain Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, depending on the development and track of an area of low pressure in the gulf. Otherwise, we’ll see near or slightly below-normal temperatures each day. Expect highs in the low 70s Tuesday, and mid 70s Wednesday. Lows fall into the upper 40s to low 50s each night. Next Thursday and Friday look dry with highs in the mid to upper 70s.
