Midday Nowcast: Mainly Sunny and Mainly Dry : The Alabama Weather Blog

SO LONG JULY, HELLO AUGUST: Slightly drier air has moved into much of Alabama behind the front which brought the rain and storms yesterday. Today through Wednesday, rain chances are near zero for much of North/Central Alabama and temperatures are in the lower 90s. These are right at average for this time of year. We are seeing more sunshine than clouds as well.

Thursday and through the weekend, moisture begins to surge back north, meaning humidity levels climb, bringing daily scattered afternoon showers and storms back into the forecast. Again, these are random and you just have to watch radar trends, especially between the hours of 2PM-10PM, when we see the greatest activity on the radar. Temperatures should rise back into the mid-90s for much of North/Central Alabama, and with higher humidity, heat index values will climb into the triple digits, and likely over 105° which means more heat advisories may be issued across portions of Alabama.

IN THE TROPICS: We are still watching to areas of interest: Invest 96L in the Central Tropical Atlantic: Shower and thunderstorm activity continues in association with an area of low pressure located about 700 miles east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands. However, the system does not currently have a well-defined center of circulation. Environmental conditions are forecast to be sufficiently favorable for development over the next few days, and a tropical depression or storm is likely to form during the next day or so. The system is expected to move northwestward at 10 to 15 mph today, and then turn northward over the central subtropical Atlantic by late tonight or Tuesday. Formation chance through 48 hours…high…70 percent. Formation chance through 7 days…high…80 percent.

Off the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Coast, Invest 97L is an area of shower and thunderstorm activity has changed little in association with an area of low pressure located offshore of the U.S. Mid-Atlantic coast. The system appears to be acquiring non-tropical characteristics as it begins to merge with a frontal boundary, and its chances of becoming a tropical cyclone appear to be decreasing. Regardless, the low is expected to begin producing gale-force winds today while it moves quickly toward the east-northeast at about 30 mph. Formation chance through 7 days…low…20 percent.

The next few names up are Emily, Franklin, and Gert.

BEACH FORECAST CENTER: Get the latest weather and rip current forecasts for the beaches from Fort Morgan to Panama City on our Beach Forecast Center page. There, you can select the forecast of the region that you are interested in visiting.

WORLD TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation outside the U.S. was 122.5F at Hassi-Messaoud, Algeria. The lowest observation was -101.9F Vostok, Antarctica.

CONTIGUOUS TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation was 122F at Death Valley, CA. The lowest observation was 34F at Mackay, ID.

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