Noon Update: Warmer Days, Cool Nights
WARMING TREND BEGINS: After the chilly start, today will be a much warmer day with afternoon highs topping out in the mid to upper 70s with a sunny sky.
FIRE WEATHER: Dangerous, life-threatening fire weather conditions are likely today. A progressive mid-level trough will migrate through the Intermountain West early on Tuesday and reach the Rockies by mid-day. At the base of this trough, a well-timed speed max will eject across the southern Rockies and adjacent Plains in conjunction with peak heating hours. At the surface, a lee cyclone and trailing trough will deepen from central Kansas southward toward the Big Bend area of Texas, with very warm/dry airmass extending from the trough/dryline westward through the Lower Colorado River Valley. This synoptic pattern will result in widespread areas of higher-end fire weather conditions, with the potential for large, fast-moving, and life-threatening fire activity.
SURPRISE ASTEROID FLYBY: With little warning, on Sunday, April 15th, a “Tunguska-class” asteroid about the size of a football field flew through the Earth-Moon system. 2018 GE3 was discovered just the day before as it plunged inward from the asteroid belt. A quick-thinking amateur astronomer in Europe was able to record a video of the asteroid as it flew by.
MID-WEEK FRONT: Wednesday will be warm with a high in the lower 80s with a partly cloudy sky. A cold front will pass through Wednesday night, but moisture is very limited, and we will mention just a small risk of a shower Wednesday evening ahead of the front. Rain, if any, will be very light and spotty. The day will feature more clouds, but it really looks like most of us stay dry.
SPLENDID SPRING WEATHER: Thursday and Friday will be sunny and a bit cooler with highs generally in the mid 70s. Friday morning will be another chilly one with most places reaching the low 40s.
THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Saturday looks like a nice spring day with ample sunshine along with a high in the mid 70s. Clouds roll in Saturday night, and Sunday will be wet with occasional rain and a few thunderstorms. Too early to determine if severe storms will be an issue, it will all depend on the track of the low. If the low goes south of the area, then no severe weather, just heavy rains; if the low crosses the Mid-South, strong storms and possible severe weather will be an issue. Lots of model uncertainty remains, but still plenty of time to watch and we will have better understanding of the forecast later this week. Either way, more soaking rains are expected as rain amounts Sunday should be in the 1-2 inch range.
Have a great day!
Ryan
