6:00 AM | ****All eyes on Hurricane Isaias...the first of the Atlantic Basin tropical season...landfall likely late Friday along central Gulf coast...possibly right near Mobile Bay****
Paul Dorian
6-Day forecast for the Huntsville, Alabama metro region
Today
Mainly sunny, quite warm, highs near 90 degrees; N-NE winds around 5 mph
Tonight
Partly cloudy, mild, lows near 60 degrees
Friday
Mainly sunny, quite warm, upper 80’s for afternoon highs
Friday Night
Mainly cloudy, mild, chance of showers late, lower 60’s for late night lows
Saturday
Mainly cloudy, very windy, periods of rain and some of the rain will be heavy, maybe a strong-to-severe thunderstorm, not as warm, mid-to-upper 70’s
Sunday
Partly sunny, windy, chance of showers, warm, upper 70’s
Columbus Day
Mainly sunny, warm, middle 80’s
Tuesday
Mainly sunny, warm, middle 80’s
Discussion
All eyes are now on Hurricane Isaias – the first hurricane this season in the Atlantic Basin and the latest first hurricane in more than one hundred years. With favorable environmental conditions headed by very warm sea surface temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius, Isaias is likely to climb to a strong category 2 status in the near term, and a “major” category 3 classification cannot be completely ruled out. Landfall is likely to occur late Friday somewhere in the region of Mobile Bay and there can be some weakening just before landfall.
Heavy rain, damaging wind gusts and high storm surge will take place along the central Gulf coast and severe weather will become a risk on Friday night and Saturday in the Deep South: especially, to the right of the northward-moving storm track. After landfall, the impact from Isaias is likely to continue well to the north of the northern Gulf with its rain shield likely moving as far north as the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US with some heavy rain on the table around here by later in the weekend.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Arcfield
arcfieldweather.com