FEW SHOWERS TODAY; UNSETTLED PATTERN NEXT WEEK… Light rain and sprinkles will be possible over the next few hours on this Saturday. Temperatures will peak in the mid-60s this afternoon under mostly cloudy skies. I expect all of the rain to be gone by 6PM this evening ahead of slightly warmer temperatures tomorrow and mostly sunny skies. Sunday will almost certainly be the nicest day out of the next 7-10 days as numerous showers and rounds of thunderstorms will be likely starting on Monday with no real end in sight. Thanks to Ron Johnson for this sunrise view at Orange Beach sent in via the RedZone Weather app.
RAIN & STORMS AHEAD FOR UPCOMING WEEK… Our area will be in the warm sector south of a stationary frontal boundary starting on Tuesday, meaning rain chances will likely remain elevated throughout the week. There is at least a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms each day from Monday though Friday. High temperatures will be in the 70s each day with morning lows in the 50s and 60s until Friday.
STRONG STORMS POSSIBLE THURSDAY… This is certainly not set in stone yet, but we are observing some model trends that would support a few strong to severe thunderstorms being possible on Thursday. The ECMWF/Euro model has a scenario that is more favorable for severe weather, while the American-based GFS continues to show a pattern that would support just rain with no severe storms. We’ll have to continue to monitor trends over the next few days, but let this serve as an early heads up that we could have yet another round of strong storms in the next 7 days! Our area is very familiar with severe weather in February and this is nothing out of the ordinary. Keep in mind the most recent two EF3 tornadoes happened in the month of February in our area. The first was the February 15, 2016 EF3 tornado that caused extensive damage in Flomaton and Century. The next was the EF3 tornado that struck Pensacola near Scenic Highway on February 23, 2016.
APP… redzoneweather.com/app is the link where you can download the free RedZone Weather app. We post brief updates throughout each day in the app, keeping you up-to-date about the latest happenings in weather across south Alabama and northwest Florida. Once you have the free app downloaded to your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab (lower right corner) then tap the large, yellow Alert Settings button to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.
Have a great Saturday!