“A Black Berry Winter in West and Central Alabama”

If you haven’t already heard the term Black Berry Winter, you are certainly experiencing it right now. “Black Berry Winter” refers to a cool snap in late spring when the blackberry’s are in bloom. The cooler air is believed to keep the flowers of the blackberry bush nice and colorful.

Even though all data was pointing at a record setting low this morning in Tuscaloosa, we didn’t quite make it. We hit a low temperature of 43, just one degree above the record. Tonight it’s still going to be chilly; however, the official low for our area will be closer to 50-degrees. Right now a broad surface area of high pressure is stretched across our region. This stable air will keep the sky clear tonight and mostly clear tomorrow. After the cool start we should reach the lower 80s by tomorrow afternoon.

Looking ahead to Friday, the weather will feature increasing clouds and a stray afternoon shower or thunderstorm. Rain and thunderstorms will be more likely Friday night and through the midday hours on Saturday. This activity should be tapering off from west to east during Saturday afternoon, with highs in the 70s. There is a slight risk for severe weather for Mississippi Friday night. At this point, I can’t rule out a stray thunderstorm growing strong or severe, but the severe weather threat will be lower over our area as opposed to locations west of Alabama.

We will have another short stretch of dry weather for Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Another system still looks to impact the state next Wednesday, with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. We may likely see this system bring the greatest impact around the Thursday timeframe of next week.

Wes Wyatt
WVUA Chief Meteorologist

What is the latest on the Drought?

As the month of April comes to an end tomorrow we will still be around 4.67” below average for the year. The good thing is that we’ve had some decent rain events lately. The rain we had this past Sunday night brought just over an inch of rain to Tuscaloosa. What’s nice is that we had lots of rain and now we have a couple of days for the soil to soak up the rain. This is great for the vegetation however, when looking at the monthly rainfall data as compared with last year we are still very much in a drought. Another good rain chance will arrive Friday night and then I see another big rainmaker around the Tuesday/Wednesday time frame of next week. We’ll keep you posted!

Wes Wyatt
WVUA Chief Meteorologist

The Latest High Resolution MODIS Imagery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tropical Cyclone Nargis Impacts India. The Eastern Pacific Hurricane Season will Ramp up on May 15th.

Tuesday Afternoon Forecast Discussion

April is almost in the books! The good thing you can say about this year is that at-least we’re getting to enjoy a Spring Season. Over past couple of years it has seemed like one day its cool and the next day the heat index is nearing 100. Thankfully, that has not been the case this year and we’ve been able to enjoy some very comfortable conditions. Today it was actually on the cooler side due to a northwesterly breeze. The winds will die off tonight and we will have a big cool down to near 40-degrees tonight. Make sure you grab the jacket early tomorrow morning. What’s interesting is that this cool down early tomorrow morning will likely mean a new record low for Tuscaloosa. The old record is 42-degrees, which was set in 1965 and tied in 1969. Other records for tomorrow morning include 36 for Birmingham and 45 for Montgomery. The good thing is that it won’t take long to warm up tomorrow as the sky will be sunny, with highs in the lower 80s.

High pressure will become centered over North Carolina tomorrow and we will be on the back side of this feature. I’m expecting the south flow to pickup, with a gradual recovery in temperatures. Tomorrow night we will still drop into the low 50s and upper 40s in some areas. Thursday will be a rather breezy day, with ample sunshine. During this time frame a storm system will be pulling out of the northern Rockies. This system will send a cold front in our direction for Friday.

Clouds will be on the increase late Thursday night and into Friday, with rain likely by Friday night. There will be the chance for thunderstorms and with the main storm center passing well north and the system arriving late, the severe weather threat will be low. The rain will depart on Saturday, with sunshine returning. It looks like the first full week of May will begin on a wet note, with rain possible during the Tuesday/Wednesday timeframe of next week.

Wes Wyatt
WVUA Chief Meteorologist

Chilly Night Ahead!

It’s been a very pleasant day around the area.  Clouds gave way to sunshine… and cooler drier air has moved in.  Temperatures this afternoon as I write this, haven’t cracked 70 degrees.

Tonight, with mostly clear skies, and a breeze out of the north, we’ll see lows fall to the lower 40s and upper 30s in some parts of the area!

Tomorrow will be a cool, sunny day with highs in the middle to upper 60s!  That’s about 10 degrees below our normal high for this time of year.

Tuesday night will be another chilly night, with lows around 40. However, Wednesday, we start to warm back up when winds switch around to the south.  We’ll see highs in the upper 70s.

Thursday, highs will be in the lower to middle 80s with mostly sunny skies.

Rain returns to the forecast on Friday.  A cold front will approach front he west and help spark some storms.  We could see some strong storms with this system as well.  We’ll have lingering showers and storms in the area Saturday.

Sunday looks to be an “in between day” as we’ll expect the next storm system to spread a few showers into West Alabama Monday of next week.

I’ll have more on the weather at 4, 5, 6 and 10.

Robert Stevenson

WVUA Weather

Sunday Afternoon Weather Discussion

After the morning storms, the weather turned out to be very nice this afternoon. Highs made it to 79 degrees at the Tuscaloosa Airport. Many places over south and central Mississippi reached the lower 80s; that is because of more sunny conditions there. If the heavy rain and storms didn’t wake you up early this morning, we did pick up some heavy amounts of rain. Here are some totals from after midnight:

Meridian, MS: 1.01”
Montgomery: 0.97”
Birmingham: 0.75”
Tuscaloosa: 0.70”
Anniston: 0.67”

Doppler radar estimates from Sumter and Marengo Counties show upwards of 2 inches fell in several spots. It is certainly good to see the heavy amounts of rainfall, but it looks like we will see dry conditions for about a 5 day stretch. Our next chance of rain doesn’t come until the latter half of the week and that chance doesn’t look good at this time.

Doppler radar estimates from Sumter and Marengo Counties show upwards of 2 inches fell in several spots. It is certainly good to see the heavy amounts of rainfall, but it looks like we will see dry conditions for about a 5 day stretch. Our next chance of rain doesn’t come until the latter half of the week and that chance doesn’t look good at this time.
Richard Scott
WVUA-TV’s Weekend Weather Anchor

Saturday Afternoon Weather Discussion

I hope that your Saturday is going great! Today was quiet different from yesterday, as more clouds and a few showers have been around. I’ve been keeping a close eye on the radar for our friends out at the Talladega Super Speedway for showers and storms. As of 6 p.m., most of the action has held back from the area, but there are some severe storms popping up close by, so make sure you have a plan of action incase a severe storms move over you. There are a lot of folks out at the races, and the last thing we need is a severe thunderstorm to move overhead. The storms this afternoon are slow movers, so they have the potential to dump very heavy amounts of rainfall. Be sure to keep checking in on our weather blog page; if we have any more warnings, I’ll post them on here for you to see.

Elsewhere, there are some strong storms moving into Marengo and Sumter Counties. Again, if you go under a warning, be ready to get in a safe place. Lightning will be a big issue today, so if a storm moves your way, go indoors. The good chance of rain and a few strong storms will continue early tonight, but the best chance for rain comes tomorrow evening and into the overnight hours. Highs will be in the upper 70s, but clouds and rain will fill in by the afternoon and evening hours. The Storms Prediction Center has placed much of Alabama under a sight risk for severe weather tomorrow; that will be mainly for the late evening and overnight hours. For all of the folks out at the Super Speedway, much of the day will be dry, but the stormy weather will move in overnight. I’m hoping that the rain will hold off until after dark, but some isolated storms can be expected at any time on Sunday.

Temperatures will cool of on Monday, as a cold front moves through here early in the day; highs will be in the lower 70s, but we will see lots of clouds around early. Sunny skies will move in by the evening hours and especially on Tuesday. Highs will top out in the middle 70s on Tuesday and upper 70s by Wednesday. Mostly sunny skies will continue until Friday, that’s when another front will work in and spark off some showers and storms for both Friday and Saturday. Highs will be in the lower 80s. Be sure to join us tonight at 10 p.m. for the latest on your forecast. Have a great day!

Richard Scott
WVUA-TV’s Weekend Weather Anchor

Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Shelby and Chilton Counties

BULLETIN – EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
622 PM CDT SAT APR 26 2008

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR…
  EXTREME NORTH CENTRAL CHILTON COUNTY IN CENTRAL ALABAMA…
  SHELBY COUNTY IN CENTRAL ALABAMA…
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF…WILSONVILLE…COLUMBIANA…CHELSEA…

* UNTIL 645 PM CDT

* AT 619 PM CDT…THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING NICKEL SIZE HAIL…AND DAMAGING
  WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.  THIS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR SAGINAW…
  OR 6 MILES WEST OF COLUMBIANA…AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 19 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR…
  COLUMBIANA BY 630 PM CDT…
  CHELSEA…7 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WESTOVER…8 MILES WEST OF
  WILSONVILLE AND 8 MILES SOUTH OF HIGHLAND LAKES BY 645 PM CDT…

WINDS OF 60 TO 70 MPH WILL BREAK LARGE TREE LIMBS AND CAUSE SOME
DAMAGE…ESPECIALLY TO SMALLER STRUCTURES.

IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS…CONTINUOUS CLOUD TO
GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. MOVE INDOORS
IMMEDIATELY! LIGHTNING IS ONE OF NATURES NUMBER ONE KILLERS.
REMEMBER…IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER…YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE
STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.

WVUA TV’s Richard Scott

Friday Afternoon Thoughts

Things have been pretty nice across West Alabama today.  We’ve had a mix of sun and clouds, a nice breeze and mild temperatures.  You probably noticed, as I did when I went out to grab a bite to eat, that the humidity is up a little bit.  We’re getting warm, moist air out of the south from the Gulf of Mexico.  This is ahead a cold front that will move in to the area tomorrow, and stay for a day or so, then lift back north Sunday.  That will be followed by another cold front Sunday.  What’s that mean for us?  Unfortunately, a wet weekend.  We’ll see a good chance for rain and storms right in to Sunday night.  Temperatures over the weekend will be in the upper 70s during the afternoon, and upper 50s to lower 60s in the morning.

Next week, the weather looks to be pretty quiet, with lots  of sun.  Drier air will move in to the area from the northwest behind Sunday’s cold front. That will help keep overnight temps in the middle 40s a few nights!  Daytime highs most of next week will be in the middle to upper 70s.

We’ll have more on the forecast at 4, 5, 6 and 10 p.m.

Robert Stevenson
WVUA Weather

Thursday Afternoon Forecast Discussion

We’ve had another day with comfortable temperatures and periods of sunshine. There have been a few more clouds around and this has helped to keep the temperatures down a couple of degrees. Tonight we will have a partly to mostly clear sky, with lows near 60-degrees.

It looks like more active weather will impact portions of the nation tonight, with severe weather possible over portions of Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. Be sure to join us at 6:00 tonight to see video of a tornado which impacted Texas yesterday. The active weather will stay to our north tonight and tomorrow we will be seeing another day with a partly to mostly sunny sky. Highs tomorrow will be reaching the lower 80s. I do think tomorrow will be dry; however, a stray shower or thunderstorm will be possible tomorrow night. If you’re attending the Alabama and Auburn Baseball game, be sure to carry a poncho, just to be on the safe side.

Saturday a cold front will move in and bring a better chance of a passing shower or thunderstorm in the afternoon. The storms will weaken Saturday night, with another flare-up of rain and storms on Sunday. There will be some upper support passing just to our north on Sunday and this may allow for some storms to pulse to the severe level. We will be monitoring things closely and we will keep you posted on any changes. Monday the chance for rain will drop off, with sunshine and pleasant temperatures making a return for the mid portion of next week. Be sure to join us tonight for more details and also, tune in for a detailed look at the forecast for Talladega!

Wes Wyatt
WVUA-TV Chief Meteorologist