CONDITIONS AT 11:20 AM
We have absolute sunshine-filled skies across Central Alabama as we are making the run-up to the midday hour on this fine, but unseasonably cool Monday. Temperatures were in the lower 60s to the lower 70s across the area. Birmingham was at 64 degrees. The warm spot was Troy at 72 degrees. The cool spot was Haleyville at 60 degrees.
MAGNIFICIENT MONDAY
Ridging starts to build to our west today and will help the trough over the eastern US push on out to sea. It will be a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine; plus, this looks to be the last day of these cooler temperatures. Afternoon highs will be in the upper 60s to the mid-70s. Winds will be a little breezy at times out of the northwest at 5-15 MPH. For tonight, the wind will calm down and skies will remain clear. Overnight lows will be in the lower to mid-40s for most, but a few locations may only drop into the upper 40s.
TERRIFIC TUESDAY
Ridging will be in control of our weather on Tuesday and with the high located just to our north-northeast that will allow some moisture to flow up from the Gulf. We’ll stay dry and end up with partly to mostly sunny skies. Afternoon highs will be in the lower 70s to the lower 80s from northwest to southeast.
ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON IS LESS THAN ONE MONTH AWAY
That’s right, the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season starts on June 1st and will go through November 30th. According to the experts at Colorado State University, 2020 may go down as a busy year. They are forecasting 16 named storms, including eight hurricanes. For of those hurricanes will become major hurricanes reaching Category 3 strength or greater. There is a 95% chance that a hurricane will move onshore along the US Coastline and a 69% chance that a major hurricane will make landfall on the US Coastline.
Here are the names on the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane list:
Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine, Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky, and Wilfred.
If we happen to exceed the 21 names on the list, then names will be taken in order of the Greek alphabet: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Omicron, Pi, Rho, Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi, and Omega.
ON THIS DAY IN WEATHER HISTORY
1953 – A tornado hit Waco, TX, killing 114 persons and burying some downtown streets under five feet of fallen bricks.
1970 – A very powerful tornado struck the city of Lubbock, TX, killing 26 persons, injuring more than 500 others, and causing 135 million dollars damage. It was the most destructive tornado of record up until that time and came on the 17th anniversary of the twister which struck Waco TX killing 114 persons. A second tornado killed two other persons in Lubbock, and the two tornadoes damaged or destroyed nearly a quarter of the city.
Central Alabama Weather 