Nice and Cool Week Ahead, Some Tropical Action, Dry Weather…Monday Afternoon Forecast 4:40 pm
February 6, 2012 Leave a comment
Good Monday afternoon to you! It’s been a very nice day across central and west Alabama, with ample sunshine and mild temperatures. After a cool start to the day, many spots have reached the lower to middle 60s. Some spots in Alabama did deal with a little extra cloud cover today, but skies are gradually becoming clear in those spots. Dewpoints are in the 30s across our area, and air temperatures will likely reach that late tonight. This will happen as skies continue to clear out and winds go calm. On average, most spots will fall into the 33 to 38 degree range by daybreak Tuesday morning.
Clouds will gradually increase on Tuesday, as an upper air shortwave trough moves our way. As a cold front works into our area on Wednesday, skies will become mostly cloudy at times. There will not be enough moisture to bring any rain, but the front will be strong enough to cool highs back into the upper 50s on Thursday and Friday. Lows at night will remain in the middle to upper 30s through Friday morning. A secondary upper air shortwave and surface cold front will move into the deep south on Friday. Again, moisture will be in limited supply, so don’t expect any rain in the area. We will notice more clouds at times on Friday, but skies will become mostly sunny again on Saturday as a surface high moves our way.
An eastern US trough will remain rooted into the east and northeast, so don’t expect a quick warm-up over the weekend or next week. As upper air disturbances move along the base of the trough, we’ll continue to experience shots of cooler air. This means, it’s back to reality in terms of winter weather. While it will be a little cooler, there are no signs of any extremely cold air. Instead, temperatures will return to average, with highs in the 50s and lows near or just below freezing. You can expect these temperatures on Friday through Monday. Skies will become sunny over the weekend and early next week.
We had some tropical activity over the Gulf this weekend, but wind shear has torn the system apart since then. Conditions aren’t all that favorable for a tropical storm to develop. It’s interesting to note we had a system nearly become a named storm in February, but that has happened before. We’ve had a tropical storm as early as February 2, but that happened in 1952. While this is something us weather folks call very interesting, it is not a sign of an active season ahead. We’ve had early storms over years in the past, with a rather inactive season to follow. The official start of the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season doesn’t get kicked off until June 1st. The water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean are rather warm for this time of the year, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a rare early season tropical system over the next few months. These things usually don’t grow that strong and turn into a breezy, rainy event this time of the year.
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WVUA Chief Meteorologist Richard Scott
