![RIGHT SIDEBAR TOP AD](/site/uploads/2023/Apr/04/ad12.jpg)
Spotty, small downpours with big rainfall potential on Thursday
FIRST, THIS IS WVTM 13 WEATHER. WELL, HERE WE ARE AT 1018 IN THE EVENING AND WE STILL HAVE A LITTLE RAIN ON RADAR. THIS IS WVTM 13 LIVE DOPPLER. SOME HEAVY RAIN FALLING JUST NORTHEAST OF ONEONTA AND NORTH OF TATES GAP UP HIGHWAY 132 GOING INTO ALTOONA SPOTTY SHOWERS LIKE THIS ARE GOING TO SETTLE DOWN SOME OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. BUT TOMORROW LOOKS LIKE A DIFFERENT KIND OF DAY, ESPECIALLY TO OUR WEST OVER MISSISSIPPI AND INTO WEST TENNESSEE AND WESTERN ALABAMA. TWO DIFFERENT DISTURBING FORCES COMBINED FOR THE THREAT OF SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. AND WE’RE ALREADY BEGINNING TO SEE THE BEGINNINGS OF SOME HEAVY RAIN OVER CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI THAT WILL BE AMPLIFIED AS STORMS TO THE NORTHWEST, DRIVEN BY ANOTHER DISTURBANCE, GET CLOSER AND FOCUS SOME POTENTIALLY INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS AND VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER AREAS OF MISSISSIPPI, POTENTIALLY INTO WEST ALABAMA TO THE WPC, THE WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER OUTLINING A MODERATE RISK OF HEAVY RAIN, POTENTIALLY MORE THAN 3 TO 6IN. YAZOO CITY, PHILADELPHIA, LOUISVILLE, MISSISSIPPI. YOU GET INTO ALICEVILLE TUSCALOOSA, GREENSBORO. DEMOPOLIS. LIVINGSTON. BETTER CHANCE OF HEAVY RAIN HERE AND THAT CHANCE DIMINISHES GREATLY EAST OF BIRMINGHAM TOWARD ANNISTON AND GADSDEN. SO HERE’S HOW WE THINK THINGS ARE GOING TO TURN OUT. FIRST OF ALL, REMEMBER WE GOT A DISTURBANCE COMING FROM THE NORTH AND ONE COMING IN FROM THE WEST. THEY ARE GOING TO CENTER UP RIGHT HERE OVER MISSISSIPPI. AND IT’S WESTERN ALABAMA. THAT’S THE BENEFICIARY OF SOME PRETTY HEAVY RAIN AT TIMES ON THURSDAY AS THE STORMS PROGRESS EASTWARD. THEY JUST WON’T HAVE THE SAME KIND OF IMPACT. BUT ESPECIALLY AROUND TUSCALOOSA, PICKENS, FAYETTE, MAYBE EVEN WALKER COUNTY. GREENE HALE, SUMTER, MARENGO, SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AT TIMES DURING THE DAY. TOMORROW, THOSE STORMS FIZZLE, AND THEN WE SEE A LITTLE EXPANSION TOWARD THE EAST AS THE SUN GOES DOWN ON THURSDAY. AND THEN AFTER THAT, WE’LL SEE MORE SPOTTY HIT OR MISS ACTION DEVELOPING DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY. SO HOW MUCH RAIN ARE WE TALKING ABOUT HERE UNDER SOME OF THE HEAVIEST DOWNPOURS, AT LEAST 1 OR 2IN OVER WEST ALABAMA. BUT NOT ALL COMMUNITIES ARE GOING TO COME OUT OF THIS EQUALLY. JUST LIKE TODAY, WHERE SOME GOT 1 TO 2, TWO AND ONE HALF INCHES OF RAIN AND MANY GOT ZERO. WHOLE LOT OF US GET ZERO AND ONLY A FEW. WE’RE GOING TO GET THAT VERY HIGH END AMOUNT. SO YOU CAN THINK OF IT THIS WAY, THERE’S SMALL SHOWERS WITH BIG POTENTIAL ISOLATED SHOWERS TONIGHT. IT’S WARM AND MUGGY IN THE MORNING, HIGH CLOSE TO 89 DEGREES TOMORROW. AND THAT’S LIKELY THE LAST TIME WE’LL BE BELOW 90 FOR QUITE SOME TIME, BECAUSE ONCE WE’RE PAST THIS LITTLE DISTURBANCE ON THURSDAY, WHERE THE HEAVIEST RAIN IS EXPECTED OVER WESTERN ALABAMA AND TEMPERATURES STAY IN THE MID TO UPPER 80S IN THE AFTERNOON, WE DON’T SEE THIS KIND OF THING AGAIN FOR QUITE SOME TIME. IN FACT, ON FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY, WE’RE LOOKING AT HIGHS IN THE 90S, OVERNIGHT LOWS DOWN IN THE MID 70S. THE AIR IS JUST SO ENERGIZED WITH HUMIDITY FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO, THE GULF WATERS VERY WARM THAT ANY OF THESE DOWNPOURS COULD BRING SOME TREMENDOUS RAINFALL. THEN WE GET INTO MONDAY, STORMS BEGIN TO THIN OUT SOME MONDAY AFTERNOON, TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY, I THINK COULD BE MAINLY DRY. AND THEN WE SEE AN OVERALL PATTERN CHANGE FOR THIS BIG RIDGE THAT’S OUT TO THE WEST. IT’S GOING TO BE IN THE 125 TO 130 RANGE OUT OVER PLACES LIKE DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, THIS WEEKEND. NOT THAT KIND OF HEAT, BUT IT DOES GET HOTTER AND DRIER AROUND HERE AS THAT RIDGE BEGINS TO
GET LOCAL BREAKING NEWS ALERTS
The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox.
Spotty, small downpours with big rainfall potential on Thursday
Unusually high humidity fuels some scattered heavy downpours Thursday. Individual storms may have small size but huge rainfall potential. Check the video forecast for the latest.HIGH HUMIDITY, HIGH RAINFALL RATESSpotty storms Wednesday evening dropped as much as 2.24 inches of rain in northern Chilton County near Union Grove and 1.57 inches of rain in Trussville. Many, many other communities got zero rain, and that same kind of pattern repeats on Thursday: this time with greater concentration over west-central Alabama and Mississippi.The Weather Prediction Center (WPC) outlines a 'Moderate Risk' of flooding in Mississippi Thursday and a 'Slight Risk' over mainly western Alabama. Takeaway: the main idea here is that a cluster of storms develops and moves very, very slowly over Mississippi and western Alabama Thursday. A similar situation in Arkansas Tuesday led to nearly a foot of rain.Central Mississippi sees the highest risk of flash flooding: potentially more than 3-6 inches of rainfall by Thursday evening. That risk is much lower in Alabama, but a few spots could get more than two inches of rain from slow-moving, heavy thunderstorms.Expect highs in the 80s, thick humidity, and a good chance of unevenly spread showers and storms on Thursday.MUGGY, STEAMY, HOT, STORMY Birmingham topped out at 93°F with a heat index at 101°F Wednesday. Thursday's extra clouds and better coverage of thunderstorms keeps us below 90 degrees, but don't get used to the 80s. Alabama gets back to the business of normal July heat, humidity, and spotty afternoon storms for the rest of the week.Friday gets hotter: highs around 90 to 92 degrees with a heat index around 100°F. Storms may not be quite as numerous Friday, but they get heavy where they happen to 'pop' in the afternoon and evening.The weekend looks hot, steamy, and stormy at times. Expect morning lows in the 70s, afternoon highs in the low-90s with a heat index around 100°F, and the chance of some locally-heavy intense summer storms with tremendous rainfall and frequent lightning.Showers and storms thin out some by Monday and Tuesday of next week: just in time for hotter air to build in from the west.HERE COMES THE HEAT If you are plugged into the weather as much as we are, then you know there have been a lot of 'threats' from model guidance this summer showing extreme heat around 7 to 10 days in the future. Most of them never panned out (including the expectation of 95-100 degrees this very week), but next week's potential looks a little more concrete than the rest.A strong ridge over the southwestern United States this week has it dry and hot: Death Valley, California as hot as 125°F+ this weekend.That ridge builds eastward, but it loses some of that extreme heat potential as it stretches toward Alabama early next week. A pattern change like that probably closes down the opportunity for showers and storms from late Monday to around Wednesday or Thursday: leading to highs in the middle to upper 90s and a heat index that could make a run for 105°F+ again.CLICK TO SEE THE 7-DAY FORECASTSTAY WEATHER AWAREGet the free WVTM 13 app and turn on the alerts for the latest weather updates in your neighborhood.For the latest Birmingham weather information and central Alabama's certified most accurate forecast, watch WVTM 13 News.Current Weather ConditionsHourly Forecast | 10-Day ForecastInteractive RadarBirmingham SkycamsLive Doppler RadarSign Up For Email Weather AlertsDownload the WVTM 13 AppDon't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Unusually high humidity fuels some scattered heavy downpours Thursday. Individual storms may have small size but huge rainfall potential. Check the video forecast for the latest.
HIGH HUMIDITY, HIGH RAINFALL RATES
Spotty storms Wednesday evening dropped as much as 2.24 inches of rain in northern Chilton County near Union Grove and 1.57 inches of rain in Trussville. Many, many other communities got zero rain, and that same kind of pattern repeats on Thursday: this time with greater concentration over west-central Alabama and Mississippi.
The Weather Prediction Center (WPC) outlines a 'Moderate Risk' of flooding in Mississippi Thursday and a 'Slight Risk' over mainly western Alabama.
Takeaway: the main idea here is that a cluster of storms develops and moves very, very slowly over Mississippi and western Alabama Thursday. A similar situation in Arkansas Tuesday led to nearly a foot of rain.
Central Mississippi sees the highest risk of flash flooding: potentially more than 3-6 inches of rainfall by Thursday evening. That risk is much lower in Alabama, but a few spots could get more than two inches of rain from slow-moving, heavy thunderstorms.
Expect highs in the 80s, thick humidity, and a good chance of unevenly spread showers and storms on Thursday.
MUGGY, STEAMY, HOT, STORMY
Birmingham topped out at 93°F with a heat index at 101°F Wednesday. Thursday's extra clouds and better coverage of thunderstorms keeps us below 90 degrees, but don't get used to the 80s. Alabama gets back to the business of normal July heat, humidity, and spotty afternoon storms for the rest of the week.
Friday gets hotter: highs around 90 to 92 degrees with a heat index around 100°F. Storms may not be quite as numerous Friday, but they get heavy where they happen to 'pop' in the afternoon and evening.
The weekend looks hot, steamy, and stormy at times. Expect morning lows in the 70s, afternoon highs in the low-90s with a heat index around 100°F, and the chance of some locally-heavy intense summer storms with tremendous rainfall and frequent lightning.
Showers and storms thin out some by Monday and Tuesday of next week: just in time for hotter air to build in from the west.
HERE COMES THE HEAT
If you are plugged into the weather as much as we are, then you know there have been a lot of 'threats' from model guidance this summer showing extreme heat around 7 to 10 days in the future. Most of them never panned out (including the expectation of 95-100 degrees this very week), but next week's potential looks a little more concrete than the rest.
A strong ridge over the southwestern United States this week has it dry and hot: Death Valley, California as hot as 125°F+ this weekend.
That ridge builds eastward, but it loses some of that extreme heat potential as it stretches toward Alabama early next week. A pattern change like that probably closes down the opportunity for showers and storms from late Monday to around Wednesday or Thursday: leading to highs in the middle to upper 90s and a heat index that could make a run for 105°F+ again.
CLICK TO SEE THE 7-DAY FORECAST
STAY WEATHER AWARE
Get the free WVTM 13 app and turn on the alerts for the latest weather updates in your neighborhood.
For the latest Birmingham weather information and central Alabama's certified most accurate forecast, watch WVTM 13 News.
- Current Weather Conditions
- Hourly Forecast | 10-Day Forecast
- Interactive Radar
- Birmingham Skycams
- Live Doppler Radar
- Sign Up For Email Weather Alerts
- Download the WVTM 13 App
Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.