Cristobal Moving Inland; Flash Flooding, Spin-Up Tornado Threat Today

Tropical Storm Cristobal made landfall near Grand Isle, Louisiana late Sunday and it continues to push inland over Southwest Mississippi this morning. The storm is weakening and has been downgraded to a tropical depression. Alabama remain east of the center of circulation, which means we are on the “wet side” and our weather today will be impacted by Cristobal…

Our Monday will be very muggy with highs in the mid 80s, and breezy with gusty easterly winds of 10-30 mph. We are going to see periods of heavy rainfall depending on where the rain bands set up, especially across West Alabama, where flash flooding is ongoing and an additional 2-4 inches of rain are possible today, with isolated higher amounts. The farther east you go, the less rain you will receive. Along with the heavy rain and flooding threat, we also have to mention the threat for some quick, short-lived, spin-up tornadoes at anytime. For this reason the SPC has much of Alabama in a threat for severe weather today…

These are possible at anytime, but the better chance occurs during the daytime due to the added instability from daytime heating. These are very hard to spot, and last a very short period of time, and often have little to no warning, so stay weather aware today, and make sure the have multiple reliable ways to get severe weather alerts, including the Alabama News Network Weather App “ANN Weather” in your App Store.

TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY: For tomorrow and Wednesday, we will stay extremely muggy with lingering deep, tropical moisture left by Cristobal. Expect a mix of sun and clouds with scattered showers and storms and highs in the upper 80s. During this time, a trough will be moving out of the Plains, and will be accelerating Cristobal off to the north. This trough will send a front towards the state, and it will move into the state on Wednesday. With such a warm and moist air mass in place, we could certain see some stronger storms across the state as the front pushes through the area, and we will have to monitor this threat, as for now, there is the possibility of a few severe storms on Wednesday and the SPC has much of the area under the “marginal risk” (level 1/5) for severe storms.

For now, it looks like the main threat would come from damaging wind gusts. We will focus on this threat a little more in later forecasts, let’s get through today and we can talk about Wednesday later.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Behind the front, a ridge builds into region, diminishing our rain chances for much of the state. The front looks to stall along the Gulf Coast, so some showers are expected down that way, but for much of Alabama, we should see plenty of sun and less humid conditions. Highs will be in the upper 80s, while lows will be well down into the lower 60s.

WEEKEND SNEAK PEEK: The end of work week weather looks to persist into the weekend with a gradual warming trend. For now, we will keep Saturday and Sunday mainly dry with little to no shower activity. It will be getting hotter as highs will once again be approaching the lower 90s.

Stay weather aware and keep social distancing!
Ryan