Radar check right at the stroke of noon shows much of the shower and thunderstorm activity that was out there earlier this morning has settled down for the most part. We do still have scattered showers and storms occurring south of the I-20 corridor and mainly over the southeastern portions of the area. The rest of Central Alabama has very warm and humid conditions with a good bit of sunshine.
As of the 11:00 am round-up, temperatures were in the mid-70s to the upper 80s, but with those dewpoints in the mid-70s to the lower 80s, it almost feels nasty hot, like you are wearing the air. The cool spot was Alexander City at 76 degrees with a 76-degree dewpoint. Montgomery, Troy, and Tuscaloosa were all tied as the warm spots at 87 degrees. Birmingham was at 85 degrees with a 74-degree dewpoint.
The Level 1 Marginal Risk has been reduced on the latest update from the Storm Prediction Center, now only for locations east of a line from Madison (Madison Co.) to Jasper (Walker Co.) to Whitfield (Sumter Co.).
The main window of opportunity for the potential of stronger to severe storms will be from 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Here is a breakdown of timing for portions of the area…
Western locations to a line stretching from Madison (Madison Co.) to Jasper (Walker Co.) to Whitfield (Sumter Co.), storms are expected to be below severe limits.
Central locations east of the above line to a line stretching from Fort Deposit (Lowndes Co.) to Ashland (Clay Co.) to Bauxite (Cherokee Co.) will be from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
Eastern locations east of the line for the Central locations to the Alabama/Georgia state line will be from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
Damaging straight-line thunderstorm wind gusts up to 60 MPH and dime to nickel size hail will be the main threats for today’s event. There are not enough dynamics to warrant a tornado threat, but with thunderstorms in Alabama, you have to expect the unexpected.
It will be a miserable-feeling day across the area with high humidity levels with partly to mostly sunny skies where it’s not raining. Rain chances will be highest east of a line from Demopolis to Tuscaloosa to Jasper, while west of that you may not see much activity at all. Afternoon highs will be in the upper 80s to the lower 90s. Heat indices are running around 8-10 degrees warmer than the actual temperature, so take it easy if working outdoors.
For tonight, storms will begin to move out of the area and rain chances will decrease from west to east. We should dry out before midnight and maybe even after the late local news. After that, drier air will start to replace the muggy air we’ve had to put up with since Cristobal moved onshore and passed us to the west. Tonight’s lows will be in the upper 50s to the upper 60s.
Thursday looks to be a warm but a more comfortable day across Central Alabama as we’ll have much drier air in place. Dewpoints will be in the upper 50s to the lower 60s across the area instead of the mid-70s to the lower 80s that we are seeing today. That will make our afternoon highs in the lower 80s to near 90 degrees much more manageable.
Central Alabama Weather 