West Alabama Wednesday Briefing

It is Wednesday February 28, 2024. A Wind Advisory is in effect until noon today. Winds will be 15 to 20mph with gusts upwards to 40mph. The highest wind gusts should peak before noon today, but the remainder of the day will continue breezy. However, gusty winds will pick up a bit again on Friday.

Several days ago, the National Weather Service had concerns about potential severe weather today but the energy for significant storm development will remain well to our north. Instead, we will get a thin line of scattered showers and a few non-severe thunderstorms passing across the area between 9:00am and 3:00pm.

We begin today with spring-like temperatures but as that cold front moves though later today, overnight lows will drop into the chilly 40s.

Unfortunately, today's rain will do little to help moisten the dry topsoil and put an end to the wildland and brush fires here in west Alabama and across the state until heavier rains this weekend. Less than a tenth of an inch of rainfall is probable today. However, more rain is expected as unsettled weather takes place each day through the first of next week and it should be beneficial. Heavier and wider rain coverage with an inch to an inch-and-a-half is possible Friday and as much as two inches possible Monday through Tuesday.

Temperatures should rebound into the 70s this coming weekend as the rain chances continue, with even more widespread rainfall predicted for the first of next week. So, keep and umbrella or raincoat handy. So far severe weather is not part of the forecast at least through mid-next week.

The good news is, although the topsoil remains relatively dry there is no drought indicated anywhere in Alabama at this time:

The Forecast:

Today: Showers, mainly between 9am and 3pm. Temperature rising to near 69 by 9am, then falling to around 53 during the remainder of the day. Breezy, with a south wind 15 to 20 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37. North wind 5 to 15 mph.

Thursday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 56. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers after midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 46. East wind 5 to 10 mph.

Friday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 56. East wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Friday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before midnight, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 53. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

The Weekend: There are 20% to 30% chances of rain Saturday and Sunday. Highs will run from the upper 60s to mid 70s, lows in the mid 50s.

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Topping the News:

Fire destroyed the General Store at Tannehill State Park on Bucksville Road early this morning. Mccalla and Green Pond VFDs responded to the fire around 4:30. Cause of the blaze is under investigation. No injuries have been reported.

Almost 10,000 acres of woodlands have burned across the state this week due to high winds, low humidity and dry topsoil. That wind has complicated efforts by the Alabama Forestry Commission to fight numerous brush and wildfires across the state. The commissions Ethan Barrett says the commission and local firefighters have battled more than 250 fires this week. Seven fires are burning this morning in West Alabama with 2 each in Tuscaloosa, Hale and Pickens Counties. The West Alabama fires are considered contained and none are larger than 40 acres.

63-year-old Steven Cierocke has been reported missing by his family. They told authorities he was last seen late Sunday afternoon in the area of Keene’s Mill Road and U-S 11 when he left on foot wearing black jeans and a camo pullover.

An Advocacy Day rally to protect Invitro Fertilization gets underway at the Capitol at 9:30 this morning. The rally is to voice support for pending legislation to protect IVF Clinics threatened by a State Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryo are children.

Gov. Ivey is back new legislation that would provide legal protections for all IVF clinics in the state that have suspended operations out of fear of prosecution due to the State Supreme Court ruling.

That ruling has brough much ridicule to the state and a visit by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. Former president Donald Trump has also stated that the Alabama high court ruling was wrong.

The gaming and lottery legislation is facing stiff opposition in the Alabama Senate where some GOP lawmakers want to prevent gambling in the state. Gov. Ivey has told reporters those lawmakers are naive if they don’t realize illegal gambling is already here. Estimates are that illegal gambling in Alabama amounts to $1.2 billion annually. The constitutional amendment establishing gaming and a lottery has already passed the house.

Everyone should be back online later today in Pickens County as Vyve Broadband has put in temporary equipment to replace a substation that burned down earlier this week.

The driver of a gasoline tanker died yesterday when his vehicle caught fire behind the TA Travel Center on Buttermilk Road in East Tuscaloosa. The incident happened around 3AM Tuesday.

Cherry Starr, a Birmingham philanthropist and wife of the late Crimson Tide and Green Bay Packer legend Bart Starr has died. According to the Starr Children's Fund, Starr passed peacefully at her Birmingham home with her family and close friends at her side. Her husband died in 2019. Cherry Starr was 89.

Topping Sports:

The Alabama Men's Basketball Team needs to pick up a win on the road tonight to remain in first place in the Southeastern Conference and maintain their #13 national ranking.

The Tide will face an unpredictable but tough Ole Miss squad in Oxford tonight. The 8:00pm game is the last regular season road trip for Bama.

Ole Miss ranks fifth in college basketball averaging 6.0 blocks per game.

You can catch the game on 100.9 The Tide and ESPN2.

Alabama baseball scored three runs in the 10^th inning to come away with a 9-7 win over UAB on Tuesday evening at Regions Field. The 15^th-ranked Crimson Tide is now 9-0 on the year.

Alabama men's basketball guard Mark Sears was named to the 2024 Oscar Robertson Trophy and All-America Watch List, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) announced Tuesday. Sears is one of 40 players named to the list and one of four SEC players to be recognized.

Tenth-ranked ranked Alabama Softball (16-0) will play six games over four days this week, starting with a road trip today at Jacksonville State before returning to Rhoads Stadium to host the T-Mobile Crimson Classic starting Thursday night against Northern Iowa and continuing Friday and Saturday against South Alabama and No. 19 Arizona.

Shelton State Softball has a doubleheader scheduled today on the road at Mississippi Guld Coast Community College. They return home for a Thursday noon game against Northwest Florida State CC.

Have a Wonderful Wednesday and ROLL TIDE!!