HOT FEW DAYS AHEAD… See details below about Tropical Storms Isaac and Florence. Partly cloudy skies are expected across south Alabama and northwest Florida on this Saturday. Temperatures will peak in the low- to mid-90s this afternoon. There is only a small (10%) chance of showers today, mainly across west Alabama. High pressure situated near and north of our area will keep us hot and mostly dry through Sunday. High temperatures through Monday could make a run at 95°. Let’s look at your headlines this morning…
FLORENCE MENACING THE CAROLINAS… Flash flood warnings blanket much of southeastern sections of North Carolina as heavy rain continues to exacerbate flooding issues across that region due to Tropical Storm Florence. The system made landfall yesterday before weakening to a tropical storm. While the wind threat will continue to end over the next 24 hours, the flooding/heavy rain threat is not over and won’t be until late Sunday, most likely. Freshwater, inland flooding is likely across eastern North Carolina for days to come. The end of Florence is finally in sight. The system will likely weaken to a remnant low and move north early this week.
ISAAC HANGS ON, FOR NOW… Tropical Storm Isaac is located in the central Caribbean Sea south of Puerto Rico. The system is weak and barely hanging on to its status as a tropical storm. Isaac weakened to tropical depression status yesterday before a new burst of convection fired near the center of the storm, prompting the “upgrade” again to tropical storm status. Isaac is expected to degenerate over the next few days and become an open tropical wave. Global model guidance completely “kills” the system, while the mesoscale models continue to show a weak Tropical Storm Isaac moving toward the Gulf of Mexico in a few days. Regardless of which solution verifies, we note that no models show Isaac ramping up to a hurricane at any point. That could change, but as of now, it’s good news with Isaac. We’ll keep you posted.
HELENE & JOYCE FAR AWAY… Tropical Storms Helene and Joyce will move north over the next few days in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. No direct impacts will happen in North America due to these two systems.
Let me know if you have any weather-related questions. I’ll have updates here in the RedZone Weather app today as needed. Have a great Saturday!