We have a good bit of sun shining across much of Central Alabama as of 12:50 pm, but we see clouds moving in our direction along with the cold front that will bring some rain to the area later tonight and through the overnight hours, along with much cooler temperatures. Speaking of temperatures, we are in the upper 70s to the mid-80s across Central Alabama. Birmingham was at 82 degrees. The warm spot was Selma at 86 degrees. The cool spot was Haleyville at 79 degrees.
So for the remainder of your Friday, clouds will be on the increase and we will start to see some shower activity moving into the western parts of the area during the afternoon and early evening hours. Rain chances will be highest closest to the AL/MS state line. Highs will get up into the mid to upper 80s for most.
For this evening and the high school football games, rain chances will still be confined to the western-third of the area at kickoff with temperatures in the mid-70s to the lower 80s. Rain chances will be increasing through the evening and into the late-night hours as the cold front continues to move eastward through the area, but the better chances will remain over the western half of the area by the time the final whistle blows. Temperatures will be down in the lower 60s to the lower 70s by 10:00 pm.
For the overnight hours, rain chances will actually start to decrease as the coverage of showers will be dissipating. There is a small chance of showers for much of the area, but a good portion of the east and southeast will stay dry. Overnight lows will be in the upper 40s to the lower 60s across the area.
Rain will diminish completely during the pre-dawn hours, leaving us with a mighty fine and much cooler day in-store on Saturday. Skies will continue to be partly to mostly cloudy with highs reaching the mid-60s to the mid-80s across the area from northwest to southeast.
Subtropical Storm Melissa formed earlier this morning off of the east coast of the United States but is no threat to the mainland as she’ll be moving to the south today and eventually turning eastward out to the open sea by Saturday morning. The maximum sustained winds were at 65 MPH as of 10:00 am.
We will also have a broad area of low pressure expected to form over the western Caribbean Sea this weekend. It is forecast to move westward toward Central America early next week, and some development is possible if the low remains over water while moving near the coasts of Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize.
Plus, a tropical wave, accompanied by a broad area of low pressure, is expected to move off the west coast of Africa on Sunday. Although tropical cyclone formation in this area is climatologically unlikely this late in the hurricane season, some development of this system is possible early next week while it moves generally northwestward near or over the Cabo Verde Islands.
The rest of the Atlantic Basin is quiet.
Central Alabama Weather 