Wildfire smoke suppresses storms across Alabama Wednesday, but it still gets hot with highs in the 90s

1 year ago 32

SO YOU’LL KNOW. FIRST, THIS IS 13 WEATHER. LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE IN THE SKY FROM NORTH ALABAMA TO CENTRAL ALABAMA TODAY. THAT WAS THE SUNSET IN HUNTSVILLE THIS AFTERNOON AND IT WAS VERY RED. AND THE SMOKE IN THE AIR THICK ENOUGH THAT YOU COULD SEE THE FULL CIRCLE OF THE SUN THERE. NORMALLY YOU WOULDN’T JUST BE ABLE TO STARE STRAIGHT AT THAT AND GET A GOOD PICTURE OF IT. LIKE THIS ONE. BUT THEN YOU LOOK HERE IN THE BIRMINGHAM METRO AREA, WE HAD THUNDERSTORMS GOING UP. THIS WAS THE ONE THAT POURED DOWN ON IRONDALE JOHN TALBERT SHARING THAT WITH ME, LOOKING FROM HUEYTOWN OVER TOWARD IRONDALE. AND YOU CAN STILL SEE THE BLUE IN THE SKY. THAT’S NOT GOING TO BE THE CASE TOMORROW. THIS IS NIGHT TIME GOES 16 IMAGERY AND IT LOOKS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE WOULD NORMALLY SHOW YOU. BUT THIS LINE RIGHT HERE THAT’S MOVING WESTWARD, THAT’S NOT REALLY A LINE SO MUCH AS JUST THE CHANGE FROM VISIBLE IMAGERY TO INFRARED AND THESE PURPLE STREAKS. RIGHT HERE ARE WHERE WE HAVE VERY, VERY THICK SMOKE. AND LOOK HOW CLOSE THIS OVER TENNESSEE IS STARTING TO GET INTO NORTH ALABAMA. THAT IS GOING TO LIMIT THE NUMBER OF THUNDERSTORMS WE HAVE TOMORROW. AND MAKE THE SKY LOOK A WHOLE LOT DIFFERENT THAN IT DID TODAY. WE STILL HAVE A COUPLE OF ISOLATED STORMS GOING ON WITH SOME LIGHTNING AND THE CULLMAN AREA INTO THE ADDISON AREA TO NEAR THE NORTH OF SMITH LAKE. THIS HAS BEEN THE ZONE TODAY WHERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN MORE PERSISTENT THAN IN ANY OTHER SPOT EXCEPT FOR DOWN SOUTH OF SELMA AND MONTGOMERY, WHERE THE SEA BREEZE GOT INVOLVED. AND I THINK TOMORROW WITH THE SMOKE COMING IN FROM THE NORTH, STILL PINWHEELS AROUND THIS BIG STRONG AREA OF LOW PRESSURE, IT’S REALLY GOING TO LIMIT THE NUMBER OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THAT WE GET AROUND HERE. SO YOU SEE THE THICKENING SMOKE THROUGH THE DAY TOMORROW, ESPECIALLY FROM CULLMAN AND WINSTON AND MARION COUNTIES NORTHWARD GADSDEN CENTER, WEIS LAKES IS NOT GOING TO BE QUITE AS CLEAR AS IT WAS TODAY. THAT WILL REALLY CAP OFF THE STORMS THERE. THEY DO BECOME A LITTLE BIT MORE LIKELY FARTHER SOUTH TOWARD MONTGOMERY. WE’LL KEEP A LOW CHANCE OF A SHOWER AND TOMORROW, BUT A BETTER CHANCE OF A STORM OR TWO AROUND ON THURSDAY AS A COLD FRONT MOVES IN AND HELPS TO AMP UP THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY JUST A BIT HIGH TOMORROW, 91 IN BIRMINGHAM, IT’LL VARY A LITTLE BIT FROM PLACE TO PLACE, 80 AROUND GADSDEN LOW 90S IN TUSCALOOSA FOR MOST OF THE DAY SUNNY WITH THAT NORTHWEST WIND AND OF COURSE THE SMOKE THICKENING UP SOME THURSDAY WE GET A BETTER CHANCE OF SOME SCATTERED STORMS ESPECIALLY OVER WEST AND CENTRAL ALABAMA. A FEW HEAVY DOWNPOURS, BUT THAT COLD FRONT THAT COMES IN, IT’S GOING TO MAKE A PRETTY BIG DIFFERENCE IN THE WAY IT FEELS EARLY IN THE MORNING GOING INTO FRIDAY NIGHT, INTO EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. WE’RE TALKING 50S AND 60S FOR LOWS STILL IN THE 80S AND 90S FOR HIGHS. AND THEN STORMS BECOMING MORE LIKELY AGAIN. SOME COULD BE HEAVY SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY. YOU’

Wildfire smoke suppresses storms across Alabama Wednesday, but it still gets hot

Isolated showers diminish around Central Alabama overnight, and wildfire smoke from Canada limits the number of downpours on Wednesday.Check the video for the latest forecast. HOT, HAZY, AND HUMIDJust plain muggy.Wednesday starts with thick humidity under a fair sky, but you may notice a lot more red early in the day. That extra color comes from wildfire smoke thickening in the Alabama sky. Smoke makes it hazy, and it also limits the shower and storm potential through Wednesday afternoon and evening.It still gets hot; expect highs in the lower 90s and a heat index closer to 95°F in the afternoon.A brief shower or storm is possible; however, the smoke/haze does a good job of preventing a lot of widespread thunderstorm action through Wednesday afternoon.ANOTHER JUNE COLD FRONT Your odds of a shower or storm increase again with a cool front moving through the state Thursday. Coverage looks spotty again, so some of us get a big downpour while others remain dry.'Dry' is the key word for the weather behind that front. The humidity drops, and that gets us cooler and more comfortable at night; however, the days still look hot and sunny for Friday and Saturday.LOOKING TOWARD THE WEEKENDSaturday and Sunday bring significant differences:Saturday features a cool, comfortable morning in the 50s/lower 60s and a hot, dry afternoon similar to last Saturday. Expect a northwest wind and temperatures in the upper 80s to lower 90s in the afternoon.Sunday brings back muggy air and a threat of some showers and storms. The first chance of storms Sunday stays generally south of Interstate 20 as some sea breeze action from the Gulf moves northward. The second round of storms may be much more significant and widespread Sunday night through Monday morning with something called a 'Mesoscale Convective System' (MCS). This is a cluster of heavy - sometimes severe - storms that remains in tact for hundreds of miles. We will be on the lookout for locally-heavy rain and strong winds as well as intense lightning from some of those storms Sunday night into Monday.RAIN THEN HEAT?In longer-range ideas, the storms on Sunday and Monday could be the beginning of a medium-term wet spell: multiple days of scattered showers and storms through the middle of next week that could add up to several inches of rain.That idea is somewhat uncertain at this point. If that storm track does not come through for us, then some serious heat builds later next week toward the weekend. A rapid onset of hot weather over drier than usual ground could force temperatures to the upper 90s or even low-100s over parts of Alabama after the middle of the month. That may lead to something called a flash drought.If we do get the rainy pattern, it could offset some of the heat provided by that mid-to-late June pattern. More on this as we get closer to it and can see the cause-and-effect relationships of the shorter-term to the longer-term weather.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.

Isolated showers diminish around Central Alabama overnight, and wildfire smoke from Canada limits the number of downpours on Wednesday.

Check the video for the latest forecast.

HOT, HAZY, AND HUMID

Just plain muggy.

Wednesday starts with thick humidity under a fair sky, but you may notice a lot more red early in the day. That extra color comes from wildfire smoke thickening in the Alabama sky. Smoke makes it hazy, and it also limits the shower and storm potential through Wednesday afternoon and evening.

It still gets hot; expect highs in the lower 90s and a heat index closer to 95°F in the afternoon.

A brief shower or storm is possible; however, the smoke/haze does a good job of preventing a lot of widespread thunderstorm action through Wednesday afternoon.

ANOTHER JUNE COLD FRONT

Your odds of a shower or storm increase again with a cool front moving through the state Thursday. Coverage looks spotty again, so some of us get a big downpour while others remain dry.

alabama weather forecast

'Dry' is the key word for the weather behind that front. The humidity drops, and that gets us cooler and more comfortable at night; however, the days still look hot and sunny for Friday and Saturday.

LOOKING TOWARD THE WEEKEND

Saturday and Sunday bring significant differences:

Saturday features a cool, comfortable morning in the 50s/lower 60s and a hot, dry afternoon similar to last Saturday. Expect a northwest wind and temperatures in the upper 80s to lower 90s in the afternoon.
Sunday brings back muggy air and a threat of some showers and storms. The first chance of storms Sunday stays generally south of Interstate 20 as some sea breeze action from the Gulf moves northward.
The second round of storms may be much more significant and widespread Sunday night through Monday morning with something called a 'Mesoscale Convective System' (MCS). This is a cluster of heavy - sometimes severe - storms that remains in tact for hundreds of miles. We will be on the lookout for locally-heavy rain and strong winds as well as intense lightning from some of those storms Sunday night into Monday.

RAIN THEN HEAT?

In longer-range ideas, the storms on Sunday and Monday could be the beginning of a medium-term wet spell: multiple days of scattered showers and storms through the middle of next week that could add up to several inches of rain.

That idea is somewhat uncertain at this point. If that storm track does not come through for us, then some serious heat builds later next week toward the weekend. A rapid onset of hot weather over drier than usual ground could force temperatures to the upper 90s or even low-100s over parts of Alabama after the middle of the month. That may lead to something called a flash drought.

If we do get the rainy pattern, it could offset some of the heat provided by that mid-to-late June pattern. More on this as we get closer to it and can see the cause-and-effect relationships of the shorter-term to the longer-term weather.