West Alabama Tuesday Briefing

It is Tuesday February 6, 2024. Severe Weather Awareness Week continues with today's focus on lightning.

Alabama ranks ninth in the nation for lightning strikes each year. According to statistics from the latest year available, the state of Alabama had a total of 6,423,162 lightning strikes in 2022, up 3% from 2021.

There are key points to remember about lightning safety:

1. Lightning can strike from as far away as ten miles,
2. Once you hear thunder, that is the sign to head indoors and wait 30 minutes before you head back outside,
3. If caught outside, DO NOT stand under a tree, near metal objects, stand with a crowd or be the tallest object,
4. Stay away from water,
5. Immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges, or peaks,
6. Never lie flat on the ground,
7. Stay away from objects that conduct electricity (such as barbed wire fences, power lines, or windmills).

Going inside is not all the safety precautions you should take. Even though your home is a safer shelter during a lightning storm, you might still be at risk. About one-third of lightning-strike injuries occur indoors. To reduce the lightning threat indoors DO NOT, shower or take a bath, wash dishes, touch electrical equipment, go near windows or storm doors, go out on the porch or use a corded telephone.

Remember, lightning can be a killer.

The Forecast:

Today: Sunny, with a high near 65. North wind around 5 mph.

Tonight: Clear, with a low around 36. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 64. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the morning.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 41. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 63. South wind 10 to 15 mph.

Thursday Night:  Mostly cloudy, with a low around 53.

Friday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 69.

Friday Night: A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 57. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

The Weekend: Rain chances will continue through the weekend before ending late Monday. There is a potential for 2" of rainfall over the weekend. High temperatures will remain fairly night, into the mid and upper 60s. Overnight lows will be relatively mild too in the mid to upper 50s.

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Topping the News:

Budget hearings continue at the State House in Montgomery this morning in advance of the full legislature beginning its regular session this afternoon. That will be followed at 6 tonight by Gov. Ivey’s annual State of the State Address where she is expected to again stress educational improvement, including mandatory kindergarten.

Gov. Ivey has awarded $128.8 million to install five Middle-Mile broadband projects totaling 1,776 miles and connecting 438 anchor institutions in Bibb, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter and Tuscaloosa and other counties. The grants will help fill the gap in broadband expansion to make it more economically feasible and less labor intensive for providers to extend services to unserved businesses and households in West Alabama and the state.

The growing amount of money being lost to scams and online extortion and the growing number of Artificial Intelligence designed fake images have prompted congress to investigate the threat. Alabama Junior Senator Katie Britt told a hearing in Washington that Alabamians were scammed out of $50 million in 2022 and the numbers from last year are expected to be even higher.

Consumer protection groups urge you to keep up with the latest scams and to understand that banks, law enforcement and reputable companies do not call or email asking for your personal information.

Both Alabama U-S Senators Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville oppose a compromise bipartisan border bill on U.S. Border Security. All of Alabama’s GOP dominated House delegation except, Democrat Terri Sewell also are against the bill. They claim President Biden is not serious about securing our national borders at a time that the nation faces so many threats.

The bill would include $20 billion in new border security funding, $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.

Tuscaloosa Police are asking for help from anyone who may have seen a gun fired outside Spades Lounge in west Tuscaloosa before dawn Sunday morning. The club is located off Culver Road, and police say an incident in their overflow parking lot left a 32yo man with a gunshot wound they did not classify as life-threatening.

In Sports:

The Alabama Crimson Tide continues to bolster its coaching staff with the addition of yet another member to Kalen DeBoer's initial Alabama staff. According to a report by Parker Thune of Oklahoma's Rivals page, Alabama is set to hire Oklahoma special team analyst Jay Nunez to be their special teams coordinator.

Alabama’s women’s basketball team came from 12 down in Nashville last night to defeat Vanderbilt 74-66. The Tide is 18-6 overall and 5-4 in the SEC. Bama head coach Kristy Curry tallied her 500th career victory with the win.

The Tide returns home to host the vaunted Lady Vols of Tennessee Thursday at 6:00pm at Coleman Coliseum.

Saturday, the Alabama Baseball Team will host its annual Fan Day at The Joe. The free, family-friendly event will feature inflatable bounce houses and slides along with a face painter and a balloon artist on-site. Kids will have the opportunity to meet Big Al and get autographs from the team. Fans can get a field-level look at the 2024 team by signing up for an on-field experience during the Tide's batting practice session.

The day will begin at 11 a.m. CT when check-in opens for fans who sign up to take part in the on-field experience. Those who registered will be escorted to the field at 11:30 a.m. for stretch followed by batting practice at 12 p.m. The team will then take part in an intrasquad scrimmage scheduled for 1 p.m. Free pizza will be provided at 1 p.m. for all who register in advance. Following the practice, fans can meet the 2024 roster and get autographs from the players and staff. A free autograph card featuring the 2024 schedule will be available to all fans.

Stillman College Athletic Director Terrance Whittle Monday announced the hiring of Theresa Berry-Franks as the Tigers' new women's volleyball head coach. She most recently helped reinstate the Bevill State Community College women's volleyball program as head coach from 2016-2020. She succeeds interim head coach Emiley Madison, who guided Stillman's program from October 2022-December 2023.

Have a terrific Tuesday!!