First Alert Weather: Excessive Heat Watch in effect for Thursday

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - First Alert AccuTrack shows a mostly clear sky across Central Alabama tonight, making for a quiet yet warm evening. Northeasterly winds will be light overnight and rain coverage will be at 10% or less. The best chance for a stray shower or storms will be in our southwest counties, but most of us will stay dry.

Mostly Dry and Hot Wednesday: The big story we will be tracking Wednesday is a cluster of storms that could develop in parts Arkansas and Missouri this evening and tonight. This organized cluster of storms are forecast to move through Mississippi late Wednesday morning and into the afternoon hours. The Storm Prediction Center is highlighting a severe threat for parts of Mississippi tomorrow where a few storms could produce damaging winds and large hail. There’s a chance a few showers or storms could clip far west Alabama including Marion, Winston, Lamar, Pickens, Sumter, and Greene counties. Odds of seeing rain tomorrow remain low at 20%. For most of us, we will likely end up mostly dry and hot. Temperatures are forecast to start out in the upper 60s. Highs will likely climb into the mid 90s. The system that pushes into the Southeast tomorrow will likely remove the dry air from our area and replace it with muggier conditions. The heat index Wednesday afternoon could approach 100°F in spots. We’ll likely see a mostly sunny to partly cloudy sky Wednesday afternoon. Parts of west Alabama could see a mostly cloudy sky during the early afternoon hours as thunderstorms pass by.

First Alert Weather Days for Dangerous Heat Levels: We have declared Thursday through Saturday as First Alert Weather Days for dangerous heat levels across Central Alabama. We could see high temperatures climb near 100°F for both days. With increasing humidity, the heat index will easily climb into the 105°F-115°F range. An Excessive Heat Watch has already been issued for west Alabama including Marion, Winston, Cullman, Lamar, Fayette, Walker, Jefferson, Pickens, Sumter, Greene, Hale, Bibb, Tuscaloosa, Shelby, and Chilton counties Thursday. It is very likely that this watch will get upgraded to a warning tomorrow. East Alabama will likely see heat levels that will warrant a Heat Advisory. Heat at these levels can be very dangerous. You’ll want to limit outdoor activities. If you have to work outside, you’ll need to stay hydrated and take several breaks. Make sure you wear light-colored clothing. Darker colors absorb the sunshine and heat you up faster. Never leave pets or children in the car, and you’ll want to make sure you walk your dog on grassy surfaces. Pavement/asphalt can be super hot and possibly burn your dog’s paws.

Increasing Storm Chances: Rain chances on Thursday will be around 20%, but bump up slightly to 30-40% on Friday. Any storm that forms could become severe thanks to all of the heat building in the day. Determining when and where storms will form Thursday through Saturday remains difficult; it all depends on when the ridge of heat breaks down allowing rain and storm chances to develop. We will likely see higher rain chances by Sunday and continuing into next week. We have increased our rain chances around 50% with scattered showers and storms next week. Higher rain chances and increasing cloud cover should lower our temperatures by Sunday and into early next week with highs in the low to mid 90s. It’ll remain very muggy next week. We will likely see heat index values around 100°F-105°F next Sunday and Monday.

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