James Spann: Skies clear today in Alabama followed by cool, clear Halloween
CLEARING: The upper low that produced the blustery weather across Alabama yesterday will open up and lift out today … we expect a clearing sky for most of the state. Clouds could linger through the afternoon over the northeast counties, however. Highs will be in the 50s over the northern half of the state; 60s for the southern counties. Tonight will be clear and cold; it should be the coldest night so far this season. Most communities across North Alabama will be in the 30s, with potential for some scattered light frost.
TOMORROW AND THE WEEKEND: The sky will be mostly sunny tomorrow and Saturday with highs in the 60s and low 70s. Scattered frost is likely again for colder spots early Saturday morning over the northern half of the state. An upper trough will bring some clouds into the state Sunday, and a few spotty showers are possible by afternoon. Nothing heavy or widespread; highs will be in the 55–65-degree range Sunday afternoon.
NEXT WEEK: We will hold on to some risk of showers Monday and Tuesday with an upper low nearby, but forecast confidence is low due to model inconsistency. The latter half of the week will be dry with highs mostly in the 70s.
TROPICS: This morning Hurricane Melissa, with winds of 105 mph, is about 215 miles northeast of the Central Bahamas … it is moving quickly to the northeast at 21 mph. Melissa will pass just west of Bermuda late tonight before it becomes post-tropical over the North Atlantic over the weekend.
The rest of the Atlantic basin is quiet; 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.
Arkansas State visits Troy Saturday night (7 p.m. kickoff) … expect a clear sky with temperatures falling from the low 60s at kickoff through the 50s during the game.
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 1991: The Perfect Storm, also known as the No-Name Storm reached maximum strength on this day with a low pressure of 972 mb and sustained winds of 69 mph. While initially an extratropical cyclone, it absorbed Hurricane Grace to its south, later evolving into a small, unnamed Category 1 hurricane. The storm lashed the East coast of the United States with high waves and coastal flooding during its extratropical cyclone phase. Damage from the storm totaled over $200 million and resulted in 13 fatalities, six of them from the sinking of the Andrea Gail, which later inspired the book and movie “The Perfect Storm.”
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