James Spann: Rain at times in Alabama through tomorrow; dry Friday through Sunday
RADAR CHECK: Most of Alabama is rain-free this afternoon despite a cloud cover in place over much of the state. We do note a mostly sunny sky over Southwest Alabama from near Butler down to Mobile. Rain is over the northern half of Mississippi and that will move into the state tonight.
Expect periods of rain tonight and tomorrow. Rain amounts will vary from near one inch across the Tennessee Valley to only one about one-tenth of an inch across the southern third of the state. The air will be cool and stable; no thunder involved.
THURSDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND: Expect partly to mostly sunny, cool days and fair chilly highs. Highs mostly in the 60s … North Alabama will drop into the 30s early Friday and Saturday morning with potential for some scattered light frost.
NEXT WEEK: At this point most of next week is looking rain-free; temperatures will be seasonal for early November with highs in the 60s and 70s. See the video briefing for maps, graphics and more details.
TROPICS: This afternoon Melissa is a dangerous category four hurricane near Montego Bay, Jamaica with winds of 150 mph. It is moving to the northeast at 8 mph.
Wind and rain will taper off across Jamaica tonight as Melissa moves over the eastern tip of Cuba. From there it moves across the Southeast Bahamas tomorrow night as it accelerates to the northeast. The system could be close to Bermuda late Thursday night as a category one hurricane; it then becomes post-tropical across the North Atlantic this weekend.
The rest of the Atlantic basin is quiet. Melissa will stay well east of the U.S. … and no tropical storms or hurricanes are expected across the Gulf for at least the next 10 days.
FOOTBALL WEATHER: Auburn hosts Kentucky Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium (6:30 p.m. kickoff). The sky will be mostly fair with temperatures falling from near 60 degrees at kickoff into the upper 40s by the final whistle.
TIME CHANGE: We go back on standard time this weekend. Clocks go back one hour late Saturday night; the sunset Sunday will come around 4:50 p.m. for most of Alabama.
ON THIS DATE IN 1999: A Super Typhoon, known as Cyclone 05B reached the equivalent of the Category 5 hurricane on this day. This storm is the strongest tropical cyclone ever record in the North Indian Ocean. Cyclone 05B hit the Indian State of Odisha near the city of Bhubaneswar on October 29. An estimated 10,000 individuals would die from this cyclone, and 1.67 million people were left homeless.
ON THIS DATE IN 2020: Hurricane Zeta made landfall at Cocodrie, Louisiana as a category three storm. In Alabama, Zeta produced widespread wind gusts over 40-50 mph with some with some locations experiencing gusts of 50-70 mph. Around 500,000 people in the state lost power.
For more weather news and information from James Spann and his team, visit the Alabama Weather Network.