Hurricane Laura Moving Inland; Our Rain Chances Increasing

FOR TODAY: It will be another hot and very humid day with highs in the low to mid 90s and heat index values over 100°. We will see a mix of sun and clouds, with scattered showers and storms developing this afternoon, providing some heat-relief to some locations across South/Central Alabama.

LATEST ON LAURA: Hurricane Laura made landfall overnight over Cameron, Louisiana as a high-end category 4 hurricane with winds of 150 mph. The storm is moving north rapidly and starting to weaken. At 400 AM CDT, the center of Hurricane Laura was located near latitude 30.5 North, longitude 93.4 West. Laura is moving toward the north near 15 mph and this motion should continue through the day. A northeastward to east-northeastward
motion is expected tonight and Friday.

On the forecast track, Laura will move across southwestern Louisiana this morning, and then continue northward across the state through this afternoon. The center of Laura is forecast to move over Arkansas tonight, the mid-Mississippi Valley on Friday, and the mid-Atlantic states on Saturday. Maximum sustained winds are near 120 mph with higher gusts. Laura is a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Rapid weakening is forecast, and Laura is expected to become a tropical storm later today.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles. The estimated minimum central pressure is 948 mb (28.00 inches). An unofficial observation of 948 mb (28.00 inches) was recently measured in the eye of Laura.

Elsewhere in the tropics, the Atlantic Basin is quiet, butA westward-moving tropical wave located over the far eastern tropical Atlantic about 350 miles east-southeast of the Cabo Verde Islands continues to produce disorganized shower activity. Although environmental conditions are not expected to be conducive for development during the next couple of days, they are forecast to gradually become more favorable over the weekend and into early next week when the wave moves into the central tropical Atlantic. Formation chance through 5 days…low…20 percent.

TOMORROW AND THE WEEKEND: As Laura moves rapidly east just north of Alabama, there could be a window where a low end risk of a brief tornado or two is possible over North Alabama during the day Friday. For now SPC has much of North Alabama highlighted in a threat for severe storms tomorrow due to the tornado threat.

For the rest of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Laura will pull a very moist, tropical air mass into Alabama. The sky will feature more clouds than sun on these three days with occasional and numerous showers and storms. Not a total “wash-out,” but the pattern will be pretty wet at times as the radar will be active with areas of rain and storms, with the highest coverage during the afternoon and evening hours. Highs Friday and over the weekend will be in the upper 80s to low 90s.

NEXT WEEK: With high moisture levels lingering across Alabama, the weather will stay somewhat active with scattered to numerous showers and storms on a daily basis with the greatest coverage coming from roughly noon to midnight. When it is not raining, expect a mix of sun and clouds with highs generally in the low 90s.

Stay cool and wear a mask!!!
Ryan