Tuesday Morning Weather Update – 10 AM

Good Tuesday morning! Light rain and clouds will be moving out later today, and we’ll notice more sunshine in our forecast. The rain this morning is in response to a small scale disturbance. These are often hard to predict and can bring an unexpected rain. The system will work westward today and should be out of here by tonight. As hurricane Earl tracks northwestward, we’ll begin to feel the effects. Earl will not bring clouds or rain to Alabama, but it will bring something that is not usually thought of when talking about hurricanes effects… dry weather. Along the outer edges of a hurricane, we often have a large area of subsidence, or sinking air. This is where the saying, “Calm Before the Storm” comes from. Fortunately for us, Earl will stay well away from Alabama.

This may be a different factor for the Eastern US, as Earl is expected to brush the coastline. It’s a challenging forecast for the east coast, from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to Boston. Does Major Hurricane Earl brush the coast, or get close enough to cause serious damage. The good news is that an approaching Trough will kick Earl northeastward over the weekend, and leave the northeast dry for Labor Day Weekend. That same trough will be responsible for bringing us a nice weekend here in Central Alabama.

If you have plans outdoors for the weekend, we’re looking good. Other than a thin band of showers on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday are looking dry and pleasant. The front will bring a nice shot of dry and slightly cooler weather. Temperatures during the day will top out in the upper 80s, while it’s possible to see some upper 50 degree readings at night. Also, expect full amounts of sunshine. This will be perfect for the 1^st Alabama football game of the 2010 season. Lots of people are expected here in town, so we could use the nice weather conditions. The dry conditions look to continue through the early portion of next week. Be sure to join us this afternoon at 4, 5, 6, and 10 for more on your local weather, news and sports on WVUA-TV. Have a great day!

WVUA Meteorologist Richard Scott

Tuesday Afternoon Discussion Update

We managed to see a few stray showers this afternoon over portions of northern Pickens County, southern Lamar, and Fayette Counties. This activity was in response to energy from an upper air disturbance spinning over Texas. The main storm system to our west will finally make an eastward move starting tomorrow and continuing into the day on Friday.

For now we will continue to have partly to mostly cloudy skies, with lows in the 50s tonight. Tomorrow the clouds will be around and we will have a good chance for a passing shower or thunderstorm. Highs tomorrow will be in the middle 70s. Thursday we will have another good chance for a passing shower or thunderstorm. I can’t rule out a strong or severe thunderstorm.

A cold front will be dropping into the area on Friday and this front will bring a return to cooler temperatures for the weekend. Temperatures won’t be too bad during the daytime hours as we enter the weekend. The big story will be at night, as lows will be dropping into the 30s in many locations. I still can’t rule out the freezing mark for outlying locations like Berry, Samantha, and Belk, areas north of Tuscaloosa. Lots of sunshine can be expected over the weekend.

Look for a warming trend to quickly begin by Monday, with a pleasant start to next week. Another rainmaker will be arriving around the Wednesday/Thursday timeframe of next week. Join us at five, six, and ten for more details!

Updated by: Chief Meteorologist Wes Wyatt