STORMS TODAY; HURRICANE MICHAEL RECOVERY CONTINUES… Showers and thunderstorms are possible throughout the day on this Saturday across south Alabama and northwest Florida. High temperatures will be above-average today before cooler air starts moving in behind a cold front on Sunday. Temperatures will peak around 81° under partly cloudy skies. Storms will pop up and move northeast today, particularly in the afternoon and evening hours. Get ready for COLD temperatures Monday morning. I wouldn’t be shocked if some spots in the northern parts of Clarke and Butler counties drop into the upper-30s! Most of us will be in the mid-40s by 6AM Monday. A few more Saturday morning notes…
HURRICANE MICHAEL RECOVERY UPDATE… There’s good news to report this morning on the recovery efforts associated with Hurricane Michael. Many thousands of customers of Gulf Power and Duke Energy in the Florida Panhandle now have electricity after days of being in the dark. There are still many pockets of electricity outages in Bay, Gulf, and Calhoun counties, but much progress has been made. Cell phone service also continues to come back online in those areas. I’ll have some exclusive photos for you in the days ahead as I travel to the affected areas. Our prayers and our support continues to be with the folks of the Florida Panhandle, southeast Alabama, and southwest Georgia. Still hard to believe a high-end category 4 hurricane made landfall just last week!
COLD AIR SURGING SOUTHWARD… Temperatures are slated to be far more seasonal in the next 7 days compared to the last seven days. High temperatures Sunday through Thursday will be in the 70s with morning lows down in the 50s, with the exception of Monday morning being even colder (30s/40s). This cool, stable air is moving in behind a cold front slated to move by late tonight.
NO SEVERE WEATHER EXPECTED… It is true that cold fronts are often one factor behind tornado development and the increased potential for severe weather. Fortunately, this front will be much more “friendly.” A few showers and storms are possible today, but severe weather is not expected. Same thing for Monday… Maybe a few storms, but nothing significant. We’ll need to watch every frontal passage closely as we approach November into December, which is our secondary tornado/severe weather season.
TROPICS REMAIN QUIET… The Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and Atlantic Ocean remain QUIET. No tropical storm formation is expected over the next 5 days. Activity in the tropics generally ramps way down over the next week or two. We note that the overall risk of a major hurricane happening after November 1 is statistically very, very low. Hurricane season officially ends November 30, however.
Have a wonderful Saturday!