Uptick in rain and storms on the way

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Summer doesn’t officially start for another two weeks, but the combination of heat and humidity has been easy to come by across the state. Today and tonight are the exceptions, with much lower humidity values in place.

Unfortunately it won’t stay that way beyond tonight. The humidity levels rise tomorrow and stay elevated for the foreseeable future. It’ll be the classic Alabama mugginess that we’re so accustomed to feeling.

Despite the big dip in humidity today, we still reached 90 degrees in many places. That is where afternoon highs will continue to top out for the next week. We’ve got highs within a degree or two of 90 degrees each and every day.

It’s entirely possible -- and honestly pretty likely -- that some spots get as hot as 93 or 94 degrees; it’s also feasible that a few spots only reach 85 or 86 depending on the day.

The typical June heat and humidity will come along with increasing chances for showers and thunderstorms. No one day will bring washout conditions or rain for the entire region. However, there will be some days with noticeably higher shower and storm coverage.

Picking out the days with higher coverage of rain is very difficult to do given the pattern we are entering. What we can say is that the days with 40%, 50% or 60% coverage have our attention as bringing a pretty solid covering of showers and storms.

Even those days likely won’t bring an all-day rain for us. Remember that the daily rain chances don’t tell us anything about the duration of rain. They simply tell us how much of the WSFA 12 News viewing area will experience rain at some point during the day.

A few storms each day could be intense with heavy rain, gusty winds, small hail, and frequent lightning. Remember, if you are outside and hear thunder, it’s time to go indoors and wait out the storm.

Something to note that models are suggesting is a chance of some stronger to severe storms next week. The pattern we are heading into will be supportive of clusters or complexes of thunderstorms capable of strong to damaging wind gusts, hail and torrential rainfall.

Timing these out and attempting to forecast their evolution is nearly impossible this early on, so be sure to continue checking back for updates as models get a better idea of what will transpire next week.

As always, remember to download the free WSFA 12 News First Alert Weather app. That way you can gain the latest weather information from the First Alert Weather Team wherever you go. Just search WSFA Weather in the Apple App Store or Google Play store today.

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