West Alabama Friday Briefing
It is Friday January 26, 2024.
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH is in effect from now through 6:00pm Saturday.
A FLOOD WARNING is in effect for rivers in Greene, Hale, Marengo and Sumter counties. The Black Warrior River in Tuscaloosa County is not impacted.
A week of rain will wrap up with two waves of showers and thunderstorms in the forecast for tomorrow.
Wave 1: Will produce rain and a few thunderstorms between 6:00am and 10:00am Saturday morning. A line will move through West Alabama bringing clusters of thunderstorms, potentially damaging straight-line winds and heavy rainfall.
Wave 2: Will move across the region mainly during the afternoon hours bringing showers and thunderstorms ahead of a cold front. The key question is if there will be a severe weather component?
If the rain tomorrow morning ends early enough and the sun breaks through from time-to-time destabilization of the atmosphere could allow development of a few supercell thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts and a couple of tornadoes. If not, any severe weather threat would be extremely low.
Dry and cooler conditions will arrive late Saturday night and continue through next week.
The Forecast:
Today: A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9am. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 66. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming east in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after midnight. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Low around 60. East wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Saturday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 3pm, then showers likely. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. High near 69. Southeast wind 5 to 15 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43. Northwest wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Sunday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 51. Northwest wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 35.
The New Work Week: Mostly sunny days with highs in the upper 50s to lower 60s. Nights will be mostly clear with lows in the mid 30s to lower 40s.
Topping the News:
Despite criticism from the UN and liberal U-S Supreme Court justices, Alabama used pure nitrogen gas last night to execute convicted murderer 58yo Kenneth Eugene Smith. He was pronounced dead at 8:25pm last night in Atmore. It was the first known use of the gas in an execution.
Gov. Ivey said the execution was justice for the stabbing and beating murder-for-hire killing of 45-year-old Elizabeth Sennett in 1988.
55-year-old Alecia Earnest and 49-year-old Michael Earnest are in Walker County Jail this morning, charged with beating and strangling her 76-year-old father because he refused to give them money. The man escaped and sought medical assistance. The pair face multiple charges, including elder abuse and exploitation.
Tuscaloosa will host the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament February 28 thru March 3rd at Birthright Alumni Hall on the Stillman campus. GCAC Commissioner Kiki Baker Barnes says the 20-team event will bring a quarter million-dollar financial impact to the city.
Stillman will be joining the GCAC conference on July 1st.
Tuscaloosa’s recycling program is being credited by Mayor Maddox for a 825 ton decrease in garbage picked up in 2023 over the previous year. Tuscaloosa disposed of 20,537 tons of garbage and 96,344 yards of trash last year. More than 1.7 million pounds of garbage was recycled.
West Alabama Works has received a $3,000 grant from the Enterprise Mobility Foundation to support the Educator Workforce Academy. The year-long academy aims to address the future needs of the workforce and help bridge the partnership between education and workforce development. K-12 educators meet with industry leaders and tour facilities to better prepare students for a career after graduation.
In an effort to combat hunger and provide support to those in need, the Tuscaloosa Salvation Army is hosting its annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser next Thursday at the Tuscaloosa River Market on Warner Parkway. The event is from 11am-1pm. You can click Tuscaloosaemptybowl.com to purchase online tickets.
Most everybody that was here can remember where they were 10 years ago this coming Sunday. That is the anniversary of "Snowmageddon" 2014. It started out as snow, melted then froze as a solid sheet of ice and paralyzed all of Central Alabama, stranding traffic on expressways and causing 731 traffic crashes and nine deaths in Alabama.
In Sports:
Alabama (4-0-1 overall, 1-0-1 SEC) has been excellent to start the season, but they will be in a tough environment tonight when they face Florida in a meet at Gainsville. They face a Florida team looking for a big early season upset and that puts a target on the Tide.
The meet begins at 6:00pm Tuscaloosa time in front of a sold-out 11,000 seat O'Connell Center crowd. Bama Coach Ashley Johnston relishes the opportunity, "We have a great opportunity in front of us this week as we head to Gainesville against the reigning SEC champs. We feel confident with the squad we've got to be able to go out and compete in a loud environment that the Florida fans will create."
Alabama Men's Basketball (13-6 overall, 5-1 SEC) is coming off a hard-fought upset of 8th ranked Auburn this week and will be home Saturday night to LSU (16-3, 5-1 SEC), a talented team capable of beating anyone they play.
It will take a tipoff to final buzzer effort by the Crimson Tide to tame the Tigers and the team will need another raucous homecourt advantage effort from Tide fans at Coleman.
Tipoff is set for 7:00pm and you can catch the contest on the Crimson Tide Sports Network on Tide 100.9 and 95.3 The Bear and watch it on ESPN.
The Alabama Women return to action Sunday taking on Kentucky at Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide and Wildcats tip at 4 p.m. with the contest airing on the SEC Network and Crimson Tide Sports Network.
The Atlanta Falcons have hired Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris as their head coach. The 47-year-old Morris is a familiar name in Atlanta, having served as the Falcons' interim head coach for the final 11 games of the 2020 season after the firing of Dan Quinn. He previously coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for three seasons.
Have a Great Weekend and ROLL TIDE!!
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