Muggy start to Tuesday and some spotty, heavy storms in the afternoon

Alabama gets a daily dose of downpours this week, but there’s a catch! Only some of us get rain while the rest bake in the early summer heat and humidity through the middle of the week. Check the video forecast for the latest.SHORT-TERM THROUGH TUESDAYSummer technically begins on Wednesday, June 21st at 9:57 AM Central Daylight Time; the weather says summer is already here with the heat, humidity, and daily chance of scattered, hit-or-miss, unevenly-spread, here-and-there thunderstorms.Monday’s storms brought some very heavy rain in spots. Radar estimated more than 1-2” of rain in Winston, Walker, and Marion Counties between the Lynn-Nauvoo-Brilliant-Eldrige areas: missing all four towns but soaking the countryside in between them.Tuesday looks similar to that:Another hot one: expect a muggy start to the day with temperatures in the middle to upper 60s. It gets hot again in the afternoon: soaring into the upper 80s and lower 90s with a heat index just over 90 degrees in the hottest part of the afternoon. Who gets the rain? Tuesday’s chance of rain stands at 40%, but what does that really mean? The rain chance is a statistical probability of a single spot in North and Central Alabama getting more than 0.10” of rain on Tuesday. A 40% chance tells you two things: good confidence that rain occurs in the defined area but low confidence that it rains at a specific place on the map.If we outlined Jefferson County only in this way, it would mean yes, it will rain in Jefferson County on Tuesday. It will also not rain over every square inch of the county; therefore, you can know to expect some rain (at least nearby) whether it happens on your backyard or not.ANOTHER COOL FRONT THIS WEEKThe term ‘cold front’ may bring a smile to your hopeful, hot, sweaty face this time of year, but don’t get too excited. A weak front slides into Alabama Wednesday with some spotty showers and storms along it. This one is both weak and slow, so it hangs around on Thursday without really dropping the temperature much at all.A few more scattered, heavy storms develop Thursday even as less humid air begins to move farther south.Friday looks drier with sunshine and less humidity behind the front. Temperatures drop to the upper 50s and lower 60s for a nice, comfortable morning on Friday, but it still gets hot in the afternoon: dry air cooling and heating efficiently pushing the thermometer from the 60s to near 90°F by 3 PM.You may also notice a hazy sky - especially north of Birmingham - for the rest of the week. That haze is actually wildfire smoke from big fires in Quebec that is blowing southwest into the United States.WEEKEND PEEKThe dry air keeps most of us rain-free on Saturday. It can be very difficult to get the air dry enough to prevent ALL spotty afternoon showers this time of year, but most of Alabama stays dry both Friday and Saturday.A disturbance coming in from the northwest draws in humid air and sets the stage for some more storms by Sunday, Sunday night and Monday. Timing, intensity, and placement are somewhat uncertain at this distance, but we will keep you posted on how it develops over the next few days. CLICK TO SEE THE 7 DAY FORECAST—Stay weather awareGet the free WVTM 13 app and turn on the alerts for the latest weather updates.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.