That Weather Blog: Drier Air and Milder Temperatures on the Horizon for the New Week

FORECAST:

Sunday (High 92, Low 71): Mostly sunny and breezy. An isolated shower is still possible, mainly in the morning.

Monday (High 86, Low 66): Mostly sunny. Milder with drier air.

Tuesday (High 85, Low 60): Sunny. Mild.

EXTENDED OUTLOOK:

Wednesday (High 85, Low 57): Sunny.

Thursday (High 86, Low 61): Sunny.

Friday (High 88, Low 63): Sunny.

Saturday (High 89, Low 65): Mostly sunny.

BEACH FORECAST:

Sunday (High 92, Low 82): Mostly sunny with a 20% chance of an isolated shower or thunderstorm. Dangerous combination of heat and humidity likely.

Monday (High 92, Low 80): Partly cloudy with a 40% chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms.

Tuesday (High 91, Low 78): Sunny.

Wednesday (High 90, Low 75): Sunny.

Rest of Week (Highs in upper 80's, Lows in upper 70's): Partly cloudy with a 40% chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms each day.

PRONÓSTICO:

Domingo (Máxima 92, Mínima 71): Mayormente soleado y ventoso. Todavía es posible que se produzcan chubascos aislados, principalmente por la mañana.

Lunes (Máxima 86, Mínima 66): Mayormente soleado. Más suave con aire más seco.

Martes (Máxima 85, Mínima 60): Soleado. Leve.

PERSPECTIVA EXTENDIDA:

Miércoles (Maxima 85, Mínima 57): Soleado.

Jueves (Máxima 86, Mínima 61): Soleado.

Viernes (Máxima 88, Mínima 63): Soleado.

Sábado (Máxima 89, Mínima 65): Mayormente soleado.

PREVISIÓN DE LA PLAYA:

Domingo (Máxima 92, Mínima 82): Mayormente soleado con un 20 % de probabilidad de lluvia o tormenta eléctrica aislada. Es probable una combinación peligrosa de calor y humedad.

Lunes (Máxima 92, Mínima 80): Parcialmente nublado con un 40 % de probabilidad de lluvias y tormentas eléctricas dispersas.

Martes (Máxima 91, Mínima 78): Soleado.

Miércoles (Máxima 90, Mínima 75): Soleado.

Resto de la Semana (Máximas en los 80 grados superiores, Mínimas en los 70 grados superiores): Parcialmente nublado con un 40 % de probabilidad de lluvias y tormentas eléctricas dispersas cada día.

NOTES:

We had some thunderstorm wind damage to trees and power lines yesterday and today in North Alabama/Southern Middle Tennessee, mainly in Dekalb County, Alabama yesterday.

It's fortunate we didn't have any in Cullman County, because our NOAA Weather Radio transmitter is out of service at the moment. They are working hard to get it back online. In the meantime, people can try other nearby channels like the Arab one or revert back to regular radio or other sources. Severe thunderstorm warnings usually don't come over a cell phone. Weathercall is a good backup for weather radio. For those who can fit it into the budget.

Today was the anniversary of Hurricane Camille, which hit in 1969, 55 years ago. That is still the worst hurricane we've had historically besides the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane (which was before they started giving them cutesy names. I don't mind names for hurricanes, has become a time-honored tradition, but this business of naming winter storms . . . please, people . . . just stop already. There's still time before next winter. Look at how goofy the weather folks are in the new Twister movie, and let it motivate you to do better.). By the way, for a great book on the science of hurricanes, a shameless plug for Divine Wind by Kerry Emanuel. Okay, so he paid me a big wad of money just to mention his book, I admit. A guy can use an extra quarter for laundry every now and then. And with extra quarter in pocket, I remind you all what a great read this is. And it is only a great read for those with shallow minds. For people who like to explore the depths, it is a reread, and a treasure to return to, again and again.

And congratulations to Meaghan Thomas for being one of the new meteorologists at WBRC-6 in Birmingham atop Red Mountain. Glad to have her back on the air, but especially right in our backyard in Alabama. She worked in Nashville for quite a while there.

DISCUSSION:

We had a mix of sun and clouds in the Tennessee Valley today with a few scattered showers and thunderstorms, some of which got strong, or a few even made it to severe limits, doing some wind damage to trees or power lines here and there. Today most of it was up across the Tennessee or Georgia border or back down into Central Alabama, where yesterday, almost all of it was in Dekalb County in Northeast Alabama.

The High in Cullman actually made it up to 95 degrees before the thunderstorms arrived here. The Low this morning was 73. Jasper was one of the hot spots, High of 99 today with a morning Low of 72. Haleyville had a High of 93 and Low of 73. Then peeking up to the North, it appears that Huntsville also had a High of 97 (although their temperatures sure did spike quickly in an hour or two there) and a morning Low of 74. And it was just a hot day in the region, Nashville making it up to 98 degrees (wasn't that the name of a band . . . ?) with the morning Low at 75 in the music city.

That cold front will continue to push through the region tonight into tomorrow. The rain has settled down for North Alabama at the moment.

This forecast looks too simple and straightforward to waste a lot of overly detailed raw model output graphics on.

Any more showers or thunderstorms tonight or into tomorrow should stay very widely spaced, just isolated activity in the region. And if we see any of it lasting into tomorrow, probably in the morning hours. It will be breezy tomorrow and more sun than clouds, winds turning back to the Northwest as the front moves to our South. High of about 92 after a Low near 70.

Then light winds from the North on Monday, mostly sunny skies as high pressure moves into the region behind the front, and we get some milder and drier air in here. High in the mid-80's, Low in the mid-60's.

Then the seriously drier air starts to filter in by Tuesday with a High in the mid-80's again, Low near 60, sunny skies.

It continues to look more likely that many of us will actually start Wednesday in the upper 50's, been a while since we felt a morning like that. And then warm to the mid-80's in the afternoon for the High temperature. Sunny skies.

Sunny skies continue for Thursday with a High in the upper 80's and Low in the lower 60's.

Basically the same for Friday.

And even by Saturday, I don't think most of us even break 90 degrees again.

So I would enjoy this coming week and get some stuff done outside if you've been needing to. It looks great.

Hurricane Ernesto continues to move through Bermuda. It will cause swells that affect the U.S. East Coast even though the core of the storm is far East of there with no direct impacts, just the usual dangerous surf conditions that a distant hurricane produces. And by Monday night, at least the Southeast parts of Newfoundland may be dealing with some wind, waves, and rainfall from this system. It may be down to tropical storm strength by then, but as we saw again recently with Puerto Rico, that can be significant for the areas most directly affected.