MAINLY DRY TONIGHT FOR FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS… Isolated showers and thunderstorms will happen across south Alabama and northwest Florida on this Friday, particularly in the afternoon and evening hours. Most of the storms, however, should fade by the time we get to high school football this evening. We continue to monitor model trends suggesting cooler air might be on the way for the latter days of September into early October. Here are your Friday weather details…

AFTERNOON POP-UP STORMS… Just like every other day this week, a round of showers and thunderstorms will pop-up across the region this afternoon into this evening. There could be a few storms as early as this morning across coastal areas, but I do think the primary concentration of storm activity will occur after lunch. High temperatures are again slated to be in the low-90s. Widespread severe weather is not expected, but some of the storms could be on the strong side.

FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL FORECAST… *Most* (and I stress the word MOST) games tonight will be dry across the region. Unfortunately, there’s no way to pinpoint exactly which games might have rain issues until around 6PM when we can look at radar trends. Keep the rain gear in the car if you’re headed to a game tonight. Storms will progressively fade after sunset today, so even if your particular football game starts wet, it will likely end up dry by 8-9PM. Kickoff temperatures will be around 81 in most spots. We fall into the mid- to upper-70s by the 4th quarter of many of the games.

COOLER AIR COMING… It seems probable at this point that a slight cooldown will happen in about 9 days as a trough in the upper-levels of the atmosphere moves our way from the north. This will allow slightly cooler air to move into our region. This won’t be a major cold snap locally, most likely. We’re talking high temperatures in the 80s with morning lows in the 50s/60s. That’s as specific as I can get at the moment as this event is still over 7 days out. We’ll keep you posted.

See all the details in your Friday #rzw forecast video… Have a nice weekend!

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FEW SHOWERS REMAINING… Several showers and thunderstorms are happening across portions of Conecuh and Covington counties in south Alabama. The heaviest rain is happening near the I-65 corridor near and just north of Evergreen near Exit 101. These showers will fade over the next 2 hours.

Another round of pop-up showers and thunderstorms will happen on Friday afternoon across our region.

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COOLER AIR LIKELY ON THE WAY

HIGH CHANCE COOLER AIR IS ON THE WAY… The number one question I’ve had as of late is, “When will we cool off?” Fortunately, consistent model guidance says, “Very soon!” The attached screen grab is the Global Forecast System (GFS) model of temperatures valid at 7AM on Sunday, September 30. There is an increasing chance that we’ll have several days with high temperatures in the low-80s with morning lows in the 50s and 60s across south Alabama and northwest Florida. Some spots across the northern half of Alabama may dip into the 40s. Don’t take the temperatures at face value, as this is RAW model data that can and will change. The idea has been consistent, however, for cooler temperatures to be in place around October 1.

PATTERN CHANGE… Right now, we have a big ridge of high pressure in place across much of the eastern United States. This allows high temperatures to surge into the 90s with the few thunderstorms we’re having in the afternoon hours. The reverse of this pattern will be in place as October begins – a trough will be in place allowing cool, dry air to stream southward from Canada. The fall months generally feature several pattern changes like this, and this is probably the first of many.

FIRST DAY OF FALL… Saturday, September 22 marks the first day of astronomical autumn/fall. The thermometer will likely hit the 90s, however, on Saturday afternoon across the region. The cooler air will likely arrive to south Alabama and northwest Florida as we get toward Saturday, September 29.

STORMS POSSIBLE… Obviously, we’ll have to see if severe weather will be a concern as is often the case when we have a strong cold front moving by. No way to know just yet if a severe weather/tornado threat will be present. I’ll keep you posted.

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