INTERMITTENT STORMS & QUITE WARM TODAY; MUCH COLDER AIR BY NEXT WEEK… Scattered showers and thunderstorms will again be the headline on this Wednesday across south Alabama and northwest Florida. Temperatures will surge into the upper-70s (yes, near 80°) later today as a warm, muggy air mass remains in place. These temperatures are 15 to 20 degrees above our climatological norms for this time of year. Storms could be loud at times today, with the capability of producing cloud-to-ground lightning and loud thunder especially in the afternoon and evening hours. Storms probably won’t be as widespread compared to yesterday, but there will be heavy pockets of rain at times. Showers will continue to be possible on both Thursday and Friday ahead of higher rain chances on Saturday when a strong cold front will move across our region. MUCH colder air moves in Sunday in what will likely be a major pattern change for our area. Let’s look at your forecast details.

SHOWERS & STORMS LOCALLY TODAY… Rain and thunderstorms will be possible throughout the day on this Wednesday. Rain chances will likely peak in most spots between 1PM and 4PM. High temperatures will peak in the 75-79° range in most spots. Severe weather issues are NOT expected locally today.

LEVEL 1 (OUT OF 5) SEVERE WEATHER RISK IN NORTH ALABAMA… The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) maintains a low-end, Level 1 (out of 5) marginal severe weather risk for parts of north Alabama, central and eastern Tennessee, north Georgia, and the far western part of North Carolina today. This is due to the low-end potential for a few storms capable of producing gusty winds and large hail. If you’re traveling to the Tennessee Valley region today, be aware of this potential. This includes places like Huntsville, Decatur, Muscle Shoals, Moulton, Scottsboro, Albertville, Athens, Ardmore, and surrounding areas in north Alabama.

RIVER & CREEK LEVELS UPDATE… While several creeks and rivers are near flood stage across our region, the good news is most streams will remain BELOW their official ‘minor flood stage’ in the days ahead. If you missed the post on Monday about the significant round of rainfall we had Sunday night into Monday, be sure to check it out to see the water level numbers. Since this post, most of the smaller tributaries have lower water levels. Details here.

FEW SHOWERS POSSIBLE THURSDAY & FRIDAY… We will need to maintain at least some chance of rain on Thursday and Friday as our area will remain in a warm, unstable air mass. Isolated showers will be possible each day with high temperatures expected to be in the low-70s.

SHOWERS & STORMS LIKELY ON SATURDAY… Rain chances will be elevated (50-70% chance) on Saturday as our next cold front gets set to slide by our region. There could be a few thunderstorms involved. I suspect SPC will include much of our area in their low-end, Level 1 marginal severe weather risk zone on Saturday. The overall tornado risk will remain low or very low, while the concern will be from damaging wind gusts in the stronger storms. We’ll keep you posted about this potential in the RedZone Weather app.

MUCH COOLER ON SUNDAY… Much cooler, drier air will surge into the region on Sunday behind the cold front. High temperatures drop into the 60s on Sunday ahead of 50s being likely for afternoon highs early next week.

QUITE COLD NEXT WEEK… Model indications point to a significant pattern flip for much of the Deep South. High temperatures next week will be in the 40s and 50s with morning lows likely to be at or below freezing multiple mornings!

APP… If you haven’t already, be sure to download the free RedZone Weather app to keep up with all the latest information on the world of weather in south Alabama and northwest Florida. 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 the large, yellow Alert Settings button to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.

See all the details in your Wednesday #rzw forecast video. Have a great day!