Tonight, we'll dip into the mid 60s and with a shifting wind, Friday will not only be hotter, but it will also be slightly more humid. Regardless, our forecast remains free of rain chances until the weekend.
Of course, the weekend rain chances will be determined by the tropical system currently in the Gulf of Mexico. Per the last update from the National Hurricane Center, Potential Tropical Cyclone 3 is still just a tropical disturbance and not yet a tropical depression. However, this system is expected to strengthen to a tropical storm (named storm: Claudette) by landfall. Once this system becomes more organized, model guidance will have a much better handle on a forecast for this weekend.
At this point, the remnants of this system look to track VERY near North Alabama. This means that a deviation of just a few dozen miles to the north or south will have a pretty big impact on our rainfall totals and/or threat for rotating storms. Parts of North Alabama, especially our southeastern counties, are looking at picking up an inch to an inch and a half with spots closer to northwest Alabama getting less than half an inch of rain. Wind will be picking up too, but gusts shouldn't exceed 25 MPH.
As the tropical remnants shift eastward, scattered showers and storms are still expected Monday due to an approaching cold front. Expect widespread activity from Monday into Tuesday with the passage of the front and an additional inch or so of rain with locally higher amounts possible. Cooler temperatures return Wednesday as we'll be running about 10 degrees below average.
