Tonight: Mostly cloudy skies will build back into the region as temperatures remain mild in the lower to middle 60s for Birmingham and much of western Alabama. Drier air will filter into eastern Alabama, dropping lows into the middle to upper 50s.
Monday: Morning clouds will give way to afternoon sunshine as highs reach the upper 70s to lower 80s with a southeasterly breeze around 5-15 mph.
Election Day: The weather is looking great with comfortable, yet warm temperatures in the upper 70s to lower 80s with more clouds than sun. A stray shower can’t be ruled out, but most of us remain dry.
This Week: Our weather pattern grows more interesting moving into the middle and end of the week as the tropics attempt to brew the next named storm, Rafael. A ridge of high pressure will remain off the eastern coast of Florida with an approaching cold front on Wednesday from our northwest. This collision will create a funnel of moisture into central Alabama, causing our rain chance forecast to be more tricky.
Due to the increase in moisture between these two systems and Patty moving north into the Gulf by Thursday, an increase in cloud cover will certainly enter the forecast. Showers will be very spotty on Wednesday and Thursday. It now appears once the tropical system nears the northern Gulf, we could see more showers thrown our way on Friday and Saturday as it gets pulled north, cooling our temperatures down to the 70s for highs. Overnight lows remain quite mild in the 60s. Depending on where the tropical remnants track will heavily influence our rain chances for the end of this week, so stay tuned.
Tracking the Tropics: Potential Tropical Cyclone 18 has formed in the southern Caribbean, forecast to become a Category 1 hurricane nearing western Cuba on Wednesday. It will then track into the Gulf of Mexico and weaken, but confidence is low on where the remnants will track.
