ISOLATED STORMS THIS EVENING; MORE STORMS EACH AFTERNOON THIS WEEK… A hot, humid Sunday is in progress across the area as temperatures have reached the low-90s in most spots as of 1PM. Most of us will remain dry throughout the day and into the evening, although we note that a few thunderstorms may happen over the next 6-8 hours. The greatest chance of rain/storms today will happen along and west of the Tombigbee River, meaning much of the storm action should be confined to west Alabama. For Monday, the entire region has about a 1 in 3 chance of seeing showers and storms. We’ve got a seasonal week upcoming with hot temperatures and P.M. storms. Let’s look at details…
GREATEST RAIN CHANCE TODAY: WEST ALABAMA… Just about anytime we have this much atmospheric instability/heat in place, it’s difficult to completely rule out rain and storms for the entirety of our region. The main factor working to prevent storms from popping up today is the big ridge of high pressure in place across our region. Again, I expect vast majority of us to remain dry today, but there could be few storms around this evening across west Alabama. If you’re in Choctaw, Washington, or Clarke counties, you have a slightly higher (20-30%) chance of rain today compared to counties farther to the east (Covington/Okaloosa, for example).
LEVEL 1 (OUT OF 5) SEVERE WEATHER RISK… The Storm Prediction Center has upgraded west Alabama into their Level 1 (out of 5) marginal, low-end severe weather risk valid for this afternoon and this evening. Let me stress that this is NOT because of a tornado risk. This risk zone is in place because if storms can fire up, a few of them may be on the strong side with the main concerns being gusty winds and very heavy downpours of rain.
POP-UP STORMS MONDAY, TUESDAY, AND WEDNESDAY… The ridge of high pressure that has kept our area dry this weekend will begin to break down and move away as we go into the next few days. This will allow more in the way of daily convection (aka pop-up storms) to form each afternoon and evening. It looks like storm coverage will increase as we get into Thursday and Friday, although we could have isolated storms around Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday as well. I’ll have radar updates for you in the RedZone Weather app as needed. High temperatures will be in the low- to mid-90s with morning lows in the 70s each day.
TROPICS REMAIN QUIET… The National Hurricane Center indicates in their tropical weather outlook that tropical storm formation is not expected over the next 5-7 days in the Atlantic basin. The basin includes the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and Atlantic Ocean.
APP… If you haven’t done so already, be sure to download the RedZone Weather app. That is where I post consistent radar updates on days when we have rain and storms around south Alabama and northwest Florida. redzoneweather.com/app is the link where you can download the app. Once you have the app downloaded to your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab (lower right corner of the app), then tap the large, yellow “Alert Settings” button to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.
I’ve got all your forecast details in the Sunday #rzw forecast video… Have a great evening!