James Spann: Hot, humid summer weather for Alabama, with a few afternoon storms
RADAR CHECK: We have your classic case of random, scattered showers and thunderstorms across Alabama this afternoon; they are moving westward and will dissipate after dark. Away from the showers, temperatures are mostly between 90 and 94 degrees.
Hot, humid summer weather continues through midweek, with partly to mostly sunny days, fair nights and the usual risk of a popup afternoon thunderstorm in a few spots. Most of the storms will come from 2 until 9 p.m., and the chance of any one spot getting wet remains 20-30% Tuesday and Wednesday, then 30-40% Thursday. Afternoon temperatures stay into the low to mid 90s.
FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: The strong upper ridge will weaken. This opens the door for an increase in the number of afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms, and lower heat levels. Highs drop into the 88- to 93-degree range with a mix of sun and clouds daily. The chance of any one location seeing rain each day rises to 40-50%.
NEXT WEEK: Temperatures could be a little below average next week, with highs in the upper 80s in many areas; otherwise, pretty routine summer weather is the story, with partly sunny days and afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms.
TROPICS: Recent satellite data indicates that the low-pressure system more than 600 miles east-northeast of Bermuda is producing gale-force winds. However, the shower and thunderstorm activity remains disorganized. Environmental conditions are still marginally favorable for further development, and an increase in thunderstorm activity could result in the formation of a short-lived tropical depression or tropical storm today or tonight.
By Tuesday, this system is expected to encounter unfavorable environmental conditions, ending its opportunity for development. The system is forecast to move northeastward around 10 to 15 mph, remaining over the open central Atlantic. The National Hurricane Center gives it a 60% chance of becoming a brief depression or storm tonight. This will remain over open water far from land, and the rest of the Atlantic basin is very calm.
ON THIS DATE IN 1944: An outbreak of violent tornadoes occurred across eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia and western Pennsylvania. Thirty people were killed in Shinnston, West Virginia, which was leveled. A total of 154 people were killed and 966 were injured. The tornadoes defied previous meteorological thought by crossing mountainous terrain. A family of tornadoes killed 30 people along an 85-mile path from near Wellsburg, West Virginia, to near Uniontown, Maryland. As many as four violent tornadoes were on the ground simultaneously during the evening. The most devastating was an F4 monster that carved a 60-mile path from near Pine Grove to near Alpena. One hundred people died in this tornado, including the 30 at Shinnston.
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