Warm with a daily chance for showers through the weekend, Changes to Rafael’s track
Tonight: The upper-level wave will move northeast of Alabama and take the rain away by Thursday morning. It will be mostly cloudy with just a few showers. It will be mild and muggy, with lows in the lower to middle 60s.
Thursday will be a drier day as a cold front stalls to the northwest of Alabama. This will keep us mostly cloudy and muggy with just a stray shower. It will be warm with highs around 80.
The front will move across Alabama on Friday, but it will not have much energy. We will be mostly cloudy with a few showers. It will be warm and humid with high temperatures in the upper 70s.
Weekend Outlook: It now looks like Hurricane Rafael will stay away from Alabama and in the Central Gulf of Mexico. The cold front will retreat north as a warm front on Saturday. This will keep us mostly cloudy and set off spotty showers. Highs will be in the upper 70s. Sunday will stay mostly cloudy with more spotty showers as a weak cold front moves into Alabama. Highs will be in the 70s.
Next Week Outlook: Monday and Tuesday will be mostly cloudy with a few showers as a weakening cold front moves across the state. A stronger cold front will move across the Birmingham area with scattered showers and storms Wednesday into Thursday. Highs will be in the 70s. We will turn cooler and drier on Friday with highs in the 60s.
Tracking the Tropics: Hurricane Rafael is a Category 3 with winds of 115 mph. It will move over Cuba tonight and into the SE Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane will stay a Category 2 hurricane on Thursday but will start to weaken. It will battle strong wind shear, dry air, and cooler water temperatures. A ridge of high-pressure northeast of the hurricane will now build back to the west. This will steer Rafael to the west across the Central Gulf and away from Alabama. There is still some uncertainty with the final landfall location and strength of the storm. It is possible that Rafael could dissipate over the western Gulf and get absorbed into a cold front next week.
Be sure to follow the CBS 42 Storm Team:
: Chief Meteorologist Dave Nussbaum , Meteorologist Michael Haynes , Meteorologist Alex Puckett , and Meteorologist Jacob Woods .
