One More Very Muggy Day
FOR WEDNESDAY: A front will move through Central Alabama during the day today, bringing with it, an end to this very moist, tropical air mass as much lower dewpoints settle into the state. A few showers and storms could fire up ahead of the front during the afternoon hours, but those will be few and far between, and most of the area will remain dry. Though the front moves through, temperatures will not change as an upper ridge remains in place, so the warm temperatures are here to stay for at least the rest of the work week and through the weekend.
END OF WEEK: Humidity levels will be considerably lower Thursday and Friday with sunny days and cooler nights; we drop into the 50s early Friday morning. But, afternoons will be warm with temperatures reaching the low to mid 80s.
ASTEROID TO BUZZ EARTH THIS WEEK: Four years ago, a house-sized asteroid tore through the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia, and exploded. Shock waves shattered windows and knocked down onlookers as fragments of the disintegrating space rock peppered the Ural countryside. This week an asteroid about the same size is approaching Earth. It will not hit our planet, but it’s coming very close. On Oct. 12, 2017, the speeding space rock, named “2012 TC4,” will skim just above the zone of Earth’s geosynchronous communications satellites and briefly become a target for amateur telescopes.
OPHELIA: At 500 AM AST, the center of Tropical Storm Ophelia was located near latitude 30.2 North, longitude 37.0 West. Ophelia is moving toward the southeast near 6 mph. A southeastward to east-southeastward motion with some reduction in forward speed is expected through Thursday, followed by a turn toward the east-northeast by Thursday night or Friday. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 65 mph with higher gusts. Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and Ophelia is expected to become a hurricane Wednesday night or Thursday.
THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: For now, the weekend looks warm and dry with highs in the mid 80s. Unfortunately humidity levels will be rising over the weekend, making it feel a bit more like summer Saturday and Sunday again. We might consider mentioning the risk of a few isolated showers, but for now we will keep the forecast dry.
FOOTBALL WEATHER: A clear sky for the high school football games Friday night; temperatures will fall from near 80 at kickoff through the 70s during the games.
Alabama will host the Arkansas Razorbacks Saturday evening (6:15p CT kickoff) at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa… the sky will be mostly fair. About 82 degrees at kickoff, falling to near 75 by the final whistle.
Auburn travels to Baton Rouge to take on LSU Saturday afternoon (2:30p CT kickoff)… the game will be played under a sunny sky; the temperature will be close to 88 degrees at kickoff, falling back into the low 80s by the fourth quarter.
LEFT TURNS ONLY: Looks like the weather will be dry at the Superspeedway Thursday through Sunday with warm afternoons and pleasant nights. Highs each day will be in the 80s. Humidity levels will be fair low Thursday and Friday, but they will be rising over the weekend.
NEXT WEEK: The ridge weakens, and temperatures come back down to seasonal levels with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s. For now much of the week looks dry. Finally going to be looking and feeling like October should in the Deep South.
Have a wondrous Wednesday!
Ryan
