Above average temperatures this week

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – First Alert AccuTrack shows partly cloudy skies over Central Alabama this evening after a warm, windy and dry Sunday – and expect more of the same tomorrow! We’ll likely start Monday morning with partly cloudy skies with temperatures in the low to mid 60s. Tomorrow afternoon will likely be partly sunny to mostly cloudy with highs in the low 70s. The wind remains strong from the southeast with speeds of 10 to 25 km/h. We may end up only being a few degrees cooler than today.

Above average heat: Temperatures are expected to remain well above average as we enter the first full week of November. We will likely see high temperatures climb into the upper 70s and lower 80s, with nighttime temperatures in the low to mid 60s. Temperatures will easily remain 10-15 degrees above average, while humidity will also be higher than normal. We may be very close to matching record temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday. Our average high/low temperature for early November is 69°F/47°F.

Next big thing: Rain chances increase again this week as humidity increases across the area and a front approaches from the northwest, eventually extending south. For now, we have at least a 20% chance of some isolated showers starting on Election Day and lasting through Thursday. Depending on what happens in the Gulf of Mexico, we could see at least some tropical moisture move north to the southeast, which could increase rain chances heading into the weekend. However, there are more questions than answers at this point. Slightly cooler air is possible next week around Veterans Day, but overall the weather pattern still looks unseasonably warm for November.

Tropical update: We now have a potential Tropical Cyclone Eighteen in the Caribbean that will move north towards Jamaica and eventually become ‘Rafael’. The system could strengthen into a hurricane in the Caribbean as it approaches the Cayman Islands and Cuba, before potentially weakening as it encounters less favorable conditions in the Gulf of Mexico late in the week. Either way, tropical moisture will be carried north into the Gulf of Mexico, so more rain is possible later in the week – the only question is where at this point.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Rafael has two additional disturbances with a low probability of development that will need to be monitored throughout the week. Closer to Europe, subtropical storm Patty will leave the Azores and continue east towards Portugal before transitioning to an extra-tropical system. The hurricane season lasts until November 30.

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