A Lower Rain Chance Friday; A Few Severe Storms Possible Saturday
It was mostly cloudy Friday morning across central and south Alabama, with some light rain across mainly southwest Alabama. Some of the cloudiness overhead might be due to Saharan dust. Saharan dust, also known as the Saharan air layer, travels across the Atlantic Ocean from the Sahara Desert in Africa from time to time. However, it’s particularly thick late this week and this weekend. Expect it to filter the sunshine a bit through this weekend, before departing early next week.
Expect more clouds than sun Friday afternoon. Isolated to scattered showers and storms develop today, but storms remain sub-severe. High temperatures reach the upper 80s to low 90s, while heat index temperatures reach the mid to upper 90s. Given high heat and humidity, there’s enough instability in place for a storm or two to get on the stronger side. Showers and storms generally taper off this evening, and tonight looks mainly dry. However, Friday night remains mostly cloudy, warm, and muggy with lows in the upper 60s to low 70s.
Expect some daytime showers and storms Saturday. While the coverage of showers and storms may not be that high, some storms could be severe. The Storm Prediction Center places a marginal (level 1/5) risk for severe weather across most of Alabama Saturday. Damaging winds up to 60 mph and hail up to 1″ in size are the main threats. Not everyone experiences severe storms. However, adjustments could be made to the risk area and risk level through Saturday. It appears that the storms wind down Saturday night, while the sky remains mostly cloudy. Saturday night lows fall into the low 70s.
Sunday looks like a drier day with a bit more sunshine. However, the sunshine could be somewhat filtered due to the Saharan dust overhead. There’s still a chance for isolated daytime showers and storms also. Otherwise, it looks hot and humid with a partly cloudy sky. High temperatures reach the low 90s.
Rain chances increase again next week. Monday through Friday feature scattered to numerous daytime showers and storms. Most of this rain follows a typical summer pattern, with the majority of it coming to a close at night. Despite the rain, high temperatures reach the low 90s each day before showers and storms cool the air back down. Overnight lows settle in the low 70s each night.
