EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNINGS ON TUESDAY
NWS Birmingham continues an Excessive Heat Warning from now until Tuesday night at 9:00 pm for the following counties in Central Alabama: Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton, Clay, Coosa, Dallas, Elmore, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Lamar, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Marion, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, and Winston counties
NWS Huntsville also continues an Excessive Heat Warning from now until Tuesday evening at 6:00 pm for the following counties in North Alabama: Colbert, Cullman, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, and Morgan.
Heat Advisories continue for Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, and Etowah counties in Central Alabama until 9:00 pm Tuesday night, and for Dekalb and Jackson counties in North Alabama until 6:00 pm Tuesday evening.
Afternoon highs across nearly all of Central Alabama will climb into the middle and upper 90s on Tuesday, with a couple of locations possibly touching 100 degrees. Heat index values will range from 108 to 115.
An Excessive Heat Warning means that a prolonged period of dangerously hot temperatures will occur. The combination of hot temperatures and high humidity will combine to create a dangerous situation in which heat illnesses are likely. Use common sense… if having to work outside during the heat of the day, take plenty of cooling breaks and hydrate often. Check on the elderly and make sure their air conditioners are working properly.
LOOK BEFORE YOU LOCK
A 2-year old toddler died inside a hot vehicle on Sunday afternoon in Lawrence, Kansas, making this the 32nd pediatric vehicular heatstroke death in the United States in 2019. Through August 11th of 2018, there had been a total of 38 deaths in the same manner. Unfortunately, 2018 went on to be the deadliest year for pediatric vehicular heatstroke victims with 53 deaths.
So, with the projected high in Birmingham of 98 degrees on Tuesday, within 20 minutes the internal temperature of a vehicle would reach 118 degrees… 30 minutes up to 123 degrees… 60 minutes up to 132 degrees. No child deserves to be put through this. Please look before you lock.
The good news is that we’ll have a cold front that will work its way into the area on Wednesday that will keep temperatures below what we are seeing now… plus, we’ll have an increased risk of scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms, especially during the late morning through the evening hours. While conditions are not favorable for organized severe weather, a few storms could have some gusty downburst winds. Temperatures will be in the upper 80s to the mid-90s across the area from northwest to southeast. Rain chances will be in the 50-70% range for much of the area, while only 30-40% for the extreme northern parts of the area.
Central Alabama Weather 