Tropical Downpours This Weekend
The dry air mass is on the way out and we’re setting up for a rather wet Father’s Day weekend. The tropical system in the southwestern gulf is taking shape and should become a tropical storm sometime Friday. It will take on the name Claudette. The system is expected to make landfall as a tropical storm along the Louisiana coast early Saturday morning. Max winds around 45 mph at the time of landfall. The cyclone will move north and eastward and eventually pass through our state. We’re looking at rain bands entering the state late Friday night and periods of soaking rains Saturday into Sunday. Rainfall potential of 3-4 inches area wide with 4-6 inches possible over southwest Alabama. This could lead to flooding in some areas. Another threat will be a few strong to possibly severe storms Saturday. We can’t rule out a few quick spin up tornadoes. The circulation center will be east of us late Sunday afternoon. Wrap around rains are still likely over us as the system gradually moves away. The severe storm threat will be well east of us. Tropical moisture will remain in place and more rainfall is likely Monday and Tuesday. A frontal boundary will be pushing into the region and that should help trigger more showers and storms. We begin trending drier towards the middle of next week.
