RAIN LIKELY LATER TODAY AND ON THURSDAY… Showers and thunderstorms will return to south Alabama and northwest Florida on this Wednesday as a big trough in the jet stream digs in from the west. Rain chances are set to increase throughout the day, with the greatest chance of rain happening this evening into Thursday morning. While I can’t rule out intermittent thunderstorms over the next 24 hours, the chance of severe weather remains very, very low to near zero. Cooler air will start filtering in late in the day on Thursday, paving the way for a nice, dry weekend. We’re also looking ahead to what Christmas Eve and Christmas Day look like next week. Let’s talk details…
SHOWERS LIKELY TONIGHT… Rain chances will increase throughout the day as showers move in from the west and southwest. There could be a few isolated showers this morning, but I expect the greatest coverage of rain to happen this evening after 4PM. Keep the rain gear handy today, tonight, and on Thursday. The good news is severe weather is NOT expected anywhere across our region. You very well may hear thunder or see lightning as a few embedded thunderstorms will be possible, but all of the convection should be elevated with no major issues expected.
RAIN TOTALS PROJECTION… The latest Quantitative Precipitation Forecast or QPF (shown in the video) indicates most spots will pick up between 0.75” to 1.5” of rain across our region. The greater rain amounts will likely happen across Covington, Okaloosa, Walton, and Santa Rosa counties on the southeastern side of our local area. The risk of flash flooding is low across the entirety of our area.
DRIER WEEKEND AHEAD… The cold front responsible for all of the rain action over the next 48 hours will move by Thursday evening into early Friday morning. Rain will clear out to the east by Friday afternoon. Sunny skies are in store for Saturday with mostly sunny skies ahead for Sunday. High temperatures will be around the 60 degree mark with morning lows in the 30s.
CHRISTMAS PREVIEW… All the major global and regional models indicate a dry pattern for south Alabama and northwest Florida for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (Monday and Tuesday of the upcoming week). For now, we’ll go with partly cloudy skies each day with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s.
VACATION ENDS… Thank you to everyone who voiced support for a much needed vacation I’ve had over the last few days. It was my first vacation since I went full-time with RedZone Weather back in August 2017. I am so grateful to have had some time away with some awesome friends (looking at you Wil, Kait, and Marge!). It’s back to normal today as our video production schedule resumes.
Let me know if you have specific questions. See all of your local weather details in your Wednesday #rzw forecast video… Have a good day!
