Weather Aware Wednesday for Heat
Today: An area of high pressure at the surface is along the East Coast, and it is pumping in more humid air. Aloft, there is an area of high pressure and this is making it hot. Together, they will make Central Alabama partly cloudy, hot, and humid with a few pop-up showers. High temperatures will be in the middle 90s, and the heat index will be back around 105-110°. A Heat Advisory is in effect from 11 AM until 9 PM for most of Central Alabama.
4th of July: Thursday will stay hot and humid, but we will have a better chance for spotty storms during the afternoon and early evening. High temperatures will be in the middle 90s and the heat index of 105-110°. The storms should end in time for the Fireworks around 9 PM for Central Alabama with muggy temperatures in the 80s.
Friday will remain hot and humid ahead of a cold front moving into Alabama from the northwest. It will be partly cloudy with scattered showers and storms. Some downpours are to be expected. High temperatures will be in the middle 90s, and the heat index will be 105-110° before it storms.
Weekend Outlook: The cold front will stall across Alabama this weekend, and this will bring us some storms. Saturday and Sunday will be partly cloudy, hot, and humid with scattered showers and storms. High temperatures will be in the lower 90s and the heat index around 100-105°.
Tracking the Tropics: Powerful Category 4 Hurricane Beryl continues to move WNW across the Caribbean with winds of 155 mph. It will remain a Category 4 for the next 24 hours as it tracks over Jamaica. Once in the central to northwestern Caribbean, Beryl will battle strong westerly wind shear, and that will slowly weaken the hurricane down to a Category 1 by the time it makes landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula Friday morning. It will track over land and into the Bay of Campeche where it is forecast to be a messy tropical storm before moving back into Mexico or South Texas this weekend. While some forecast models show the system turning north and northeast, it will be once inland over Mexico/Texas. Eventually, the inland remnants of Beryl could bring rain to the Gulf Coast States next week.
Invest 96L, a tropical wave, has become less organized, and the thunderstorm activity has diminished. Conditions are only marginally favorable for development as the wave battles Saharan Dust and is in the wake of Beryl. This system will bring rain to the Lesser Antilles later this week. NHC is giving this system a low chance of developing.
