HIGHER RAIN CHANCES TO THE EAST TODAY; WATCHING TROPICS… Scattered pop-up thunderstorms will be possible on this Tuesday, primarily across south central Alabama and near the Alabama and northwest Florida beaches. Most spots in west Alabama will not have any rain or storms today. Widespread severe weather is not expected, but just like the last several days, I cannot completely rule out a strong storm or two. We continue to monitor the developing tropical waves, one near the Lesser Antilles and the other west of Africa in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean. The National Hurricane Center continues to suggest there is a growing probability that each of these tropical waves will develop into tropical storms as they continue to move west. We’ve got all of your Tuesday forecast details below.
STORMS MORE LIKELY ON EASTERN SIDE OF REGION TODAY… We will have somewhat of a gradient in place across our region with locales to the northwest of a stalled frontal boundary likely NOT to get any rain with areas to the southeast of the front being more likely to have rain and storms later today. It is because of a stalled frontal boundary in place across our region. Thomasville, Grove Hill, Jackson, Chatom, Monroeville, Mt. Vernon, and Citronelle have a very low (<10%) chance of rain. Communities on the eastern side of our region, however, have a 30-40% chance of rain and storms this afternoon into this evening. This includes places like Andalusia, Opp, Florala, Milton, Pace, Destin, Crestview, Baker, and surrounding areas. While some spots will escape higher rain chances today, you won't be able to escape the hot temperatures regardless of where you are specifically. Highs will be in the low-90s across the entire region.
INCREASING RAIN CHANCES WEDNESDAY… Rain and storms will progressively increase in coverage each day starting on Wednesday and continuing into the weekend. Surface winds will shift from out of the north in most spots inland on Tuesday to being from out of the south across the entirety of south Alabama and northwest Florida on Wednesday, allowing more in the way of showers and thunderstorms to happen. High temperatures on Wednesday will again be in the low-90s.
MORE SHOWERS & STORMS THIS WEEKEND… We’ll have a 60-70% chance of showers and thunderstorms Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The greatest concentration of thunderstorms will happen primarily in the afternoon and evening hours. Widespread severe weather is not expected, but some of the storms could be on the strong side, especially on Friday. Cloud-to-ground lightning, loud thunder, torrential downpours of rain, and gusty winds will be the main concerns.
MULTIPLE TROPICAL WAVES IN THE ATLANTIC… It remains too early to know if two developing tropical waves in the Atlantic will pose any type of issue for the United States, but we note that global models have latched on to the idea of one or both of these systems of potentially approaching the Gulf of Mexico early next week. Take this as somewhat of a generic idea with no information about the intensity, size, or speed of the storm (or whether the system will actually develop into a classified tropical storm!). It is just too early to know any of that. Now is a great time to review your hurricane preparedness plan to make sure you’re ready for the next 2 months. These two tropical waves, unfortunately, are probably the first of many active days we have ahead in the peak of hurricane season. The climatological peak of the Atlantic Hurricane Season happens on September 11 each year.
HURRICANE GENEVIEVE IN EASTERN PACIFIC… This won’t ever be a direct concern for our local area or the United States, but it is worth noting there is a rapidly strengthening hurricane on the southern side of Mexico in the Eastern Pacific Basin. Hurricane Genevieve is expected to become a strong, category 4 hurricane by Wednesday. Genevieve is expected to basically parallel the southwestern coast of Mexico over the next few days. The good news is significant land impacts are unlikely.
APP ALERTS… Many updates will be posted throughout the day in the RedZone Weather app. redzoneweather.com/app is the link for the free download. Be sure to visit the Alerts tab (bottom right corner) and tap the large, yellow “Alert Settings” button to customize the alerts you’d like to receive from me. If you like a lot of info, be sure to toggle ON Low-Level Alerts.
See all the details in your Tuesday #rzw forecast video. Have a great day!