More Clouds, Warm Monday; Severe Storm Risk Tuesday
2023 started on a mainly nice note weather-wise across central and south Alabama. Despite morning fog, sunshine was abundant for the rest of the day with warm afternoon temperatures. Many locations peaked in the upper 70s. Temperatures remain mild Sunday evening, and overnight lows only fall into the low or mid 50s. Fog appears possible again Sunday night, especially in southwest Alabama.
A dense fog advisory begins at 9PM Sunday and continues through 10AM Monday for Wilcox, Butler, Crenshaw, and Covington counties. Monday becomes mainly cloudy with some showers or even storms possible, especially during the afternoon or evening. However, rain coverage remains fairly low. Despite more clouds and possibly rain, Monday looks like another warm day with highs in the low to mid 70s.
Tuesday features a much higher chance for rain and storms. Showers and storms may fire by mid to late morning in our area, with rain and storms gradually moving east through the afternoon. Another round of rain and storms may move through our area Tuesday night through Wednesday morning. Some storms Tuesday and Tuesday night could be strong to severe.
The storm prediction center places much of Alabama, including our portion of the state, within a slight (level 2/5) severe risk. At this time, tornadoes appear possible. However, damaging straight-line wind gusts up to 60 mph and quarter (1″) size hail may be the primary risks. Rain could be heavy, widespread, and long-lasting across much of our area Tuesday through Wednesday morning. Localized flooding appears possible due to potential rain amounts of several inches.
Wednesday afternoon appears drier as a cold front pushes through our area. Temperatures turn cooler behind the front, but much less extreme than the Christmas weekend Arctic blast. Wednesday night lows fall into the 40s. High temperatures finally remain seasonably cool Thursday and Friday. Expect highs in the 50s to low 60s with lows in the 30s and a mainly sunny sky. Next weekend could be mainly sunny and dry too, with highs in the 60s and lows in the 30s.
