I hope that you got to enjoy one of the great Independence Day fireworks last evening, like Thunder on the Mountain. In case you didn't, Nature has another planned for tonight. Not of the meteorological variety, but rather of the astronomical type. Look to the western sky tonight after sunset, and you will see a celestial gathering. A slender crescent moon will join Saturn, Mars and the bright star Regulus. The moon will make a graceful exit from the gathering after Sunday night, but by Thursday, Saturn and Mars will make their closest approach in the next fourteen years.
BERTHA: Bertha is boogying across the Atlantic this morning, 1,600 miles east of the Leeward Islands. The system has been traveling over cooler water, so it has not intensified. That same trend should continue through today, but Bertha will strengthen slightly before it encounters increasing wind shear early in the week. A weakness is till expected to form in the Atlantic ridge and allow the storm to recurve harmlessly out to sea in about three days. But that is not written in stone. Recent model runs have moved the storm north of the islands and generally toward Bermuda.
Bertha is the earliest tropical storm to form this far to the east. I am afraid that the early arrival of a Cape Verde type storm this early could be an ominous sign for the Atlantic Hurricane Season. NOAA researcher Stanley Goldenberg has shown that seasons that have had a June or July tropical storm form in the eastern Caribbean or Atlantic have all have had at least normal Atlantic hurricane activity for the year.
CLOSER TO HOME: The same frontal boundary to the north that triggered the showers and storms on Friday is still to our north today. It will trigger more showers and storms today across the area. Some of them could be on the heavy side again, like yesterday. Be on the lookout for dark clouds building in your area, and take shelter when they do. Lightning is a terribly killer, and microbursts can cause wind damage. We will take the rain, however. Expect more of the same on Sunday.
THE WEEK AHEAD: By Monday, the boundary should wash out to our north, leaving us in a rather soupy airmass here in Alabama. Moisture levels will be high through the coming week, and there will be a chance of scattered showers and storms across the region each afternoon and evening. Temperatures will be right around normal for this time of year, with highs ranging between 90 and 92 and morning lows around 70-72.
ON THIS DATE IN 1916: Mobile recorded its highest storm tide ever, with an 11.6 foot surge on the St. Francis Street Wharf. The tide was a result of the 1916 hurricane that made landfall near Pascagoula, Mississippi. Water inundated the wholesale district in Mobile, penetrating four blocks inland from the waterfront. More in today�s Alabamawx.com blog.
TODAY'S WEATHER BLOG HIGHLIGHT: The July 1916 Hurricane.......