MAINLY SUNNY LEAP DAY; STORMS LIKELY BY MIDWEEK… Picture perfect weather is expected on this Leap Day Saturday across south Alabama and northwest Florida. Mostly sunny skies are likely this morning with a few clouds becoming possible later today. High temperatures will peak in the 65-69° range this afternoon. Cloud coverage will continue to increase on Sunday, but I expect rain to hold off until Monday. Temperatures will continue to progressively increase tomorrow and on Monday. Our next chance of showers and thunderstorms will happen on Wednesday of the upcoming week. Some of the storms could be on the strong side, but it is still too early to pinpoint whether severe weather will be a widespread issue or (more likely) just an isolated issue with general storms for most across our region. Let’s talk details.
ONE MORE COLD NIGHT… After peaking in the mid- to upper-60s today, temperatures will decline into the 50s by 6PM. Keep the jackets close by tonight and certainly overnight if you’re planning to be outside. Most spots will settle into the upper-30s by daybreak on Sunday. This will be our last night with temperatures below 40° until at least Saturday morning of next week (one week from today).
PARTLY CLOUDY AND MILD SUNDAY… While cloud coverage will be increasing throughout the day on Sunday, all of the rain should remain to our west. There will be some peeks of sunshine, even into the evening hours on Sunday. High temperatures will peak around the 70 degree mark. This will be our last Sunday on standard time as Daylight Saving Time kicks off one week from tomorrow!
SHOWERS RETURN FOR MONDAY… Pockets of rain will start on Monday ahead of an unsettled weather pattern that will persist until the passage of a cold front on Thursday. We’ll call it a 20-30% chance of showers on Monday across our area. High temperatures on Monday will peak in the low- to mid-70s with dewpoint temperatures expected to rise throughout the day, meaning the air will feel more humid as we get into Monday night. No severe weather issues are expected until midweek.
MORE RAIN POSSIBLE TUESDAY… Intermittent rain is likely on Tuesday with temperatures likely creeping up into the upper-70s by the late morning and early afternoon hours. The greatest chance of rain will happen after dark on Tuesday, although rain will be possible at times during the daytime hours as well. We’ll need to watch instability levels Tuesday afternoon, as there may be enough to support a few thunderstorms near the coast.
SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL WEDNESDAY… Our next chance of strong thunderstorms is set to happen on Wednesday. The Storm Prediction Center included much of Mississippi, southern Arkansas, eastern Texas, and Louisiana in their Level 2 (out of 5) severe weather risk valid for TUESDAY, meaning the risk would shift eastward into our area on WEDNESDAY. The guidance on Friday suggested that there may be somewhat of a mismatch of “severe weather ingredients” that happens, thus potentially limiting severe storms locally, although I caution it is still quite early in this process. We’ll need to monitor trends as we go into next week. I’ll bring you the latest info later today in the RedZone Weather app.
SLIGHTLY COOLER BY END OF NEXT WEEK… Clouds move out on Thursday, giving way to sunshine late in the day and into Friday. High temperatures will drop into the upper-60s for Friday and Saturday (one week from today) with mostly sunny skies expected each day.
APP… If you haven’t already downloaded the RedZone Weather app, now is a great time to do that. redzoneweather.com/app is the link to the free download. Once you have the RZW app installed on your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab to turn on the specific notifications you’d like to receive. All notifications are handcrafted by me. No automation and we promise not to bug you!
Have a nice Saturday and enjoy the nice weather today!
