WET WEEKEND: NUMEROUS SHOWERS & STORMS LIKELY… Heavy rain and thunderstorms will be the concerns today, on Saturday, and on Sunday across south Alabama and northwest Florida. Moisture from central America and the southern Gulf continues to be channeled into our region by a potent southerly wind. This will keep rain chances elevated through Monday. Widespread severe weather is NOT expected this weekend, but we will need to monitor radar trends carefully as a rogue stronger storm or two cannot be ruled out completely. We saw this in action yesterday with the one tornado warning in southwest Baldwin County. Drier and slightly cooler conditions will return to the local area by the middle part of the upcoming week. Let’s talk details…
HEAVY RAIN AT TIMES TODAY; VERY LOW-END SEVERE WEATHER RISK… Widespread rain and thunderstorms are expected on this Friday across the local area. The overall risk of severe weather remains VERY low areawide. Just like yesterday, we will need to monitor storms that get a bit stronger near the immediate Alabama and northwest Florida beaches as tornadoes/waterspouts can form with ease over water before moving onshore. Generally, these tornadoes that form over water dissipate pretty quickly once they move on land. That is not universally true, but it generally is what happens. Most of us will have rain and thunderstorms intermittently throughout the day. High temperatures will again peak in the mid-80s.
LOW-END, LEVEL 1 (OUT OF 5) RISK TO OUR WEST TODAY… Parts of southeast Mississippi and Louisiana are involved in the low-end, marginal, Level 1 (out of 5) severe weather risk as noted by the Storm Prediction Center in their daily convective outlook. If you’re traveling to the west today to places like Baton Rouge or New Orleans, keep an occasional eye on the radar as there could be a few strong storms around to our west.
TONIGHT: MORE RAIN POSSIBLE… Lingering showers and thunderstorms will be possible this evening and into the overnight hours. Unlike our more seasonal early summer pattern that features storms that mostly form in the daytime hours, the rain and storms today will likely linger into the overnight. I expect low temperatures to be around the 70 degree mark by 6AM on Saturday.
MORE RAIN & STORMS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY… Rain chances will remain high for Saturday and for Sunday. An area of low pressure to our west will continue to allow warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico to stream northward, paving the way for scattered showers and thunderstorms. Severe weather parameters remain low. There could be flash flooding issues where storms train over the same areas.
DRIER WEATHER BY MIDWEEK… Looking ahead to Tuesday and Wednesday of the upcoming week, rain chances will likely taper off as we return to hotter, slightly drier days. There still could be a few storms around in the afternoon and evening hours, but that is what we would expect this time of year as opposed to the fire hose of moisture currently streaming in from the south.
APP ALERTS… If you have not already, be sure to download the RedZone Weather app and set up your customized app alerts. redzoneweather.com/app is the link for the free download. Once you have the app downloaded to your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab (lower right corner) and tap on the large, yellow Alert Settings button to customize the alerts you’d like to receive straight from me.
See all the details in your Friday #rzw forecast video… Have a great weekend!