Thursday afternoon, November 24, 2016
Forecaster: Ryan Stinnett

TERRIFIC TURKEY DAY WEATHER: After starting the day off with lingering clouds, the sky is gradually clearing and many locations through North/Central Alabama will be seeing more sun than clouds this afternoon. It is another very mild day; temperatures are in the upper 60s and lower 70s, with even some mid 70s in some spots. For tonight, the sky will be mainly clear and we are going to see most locations down in the lower to mid 40s by tomorrow morning.

BLACK FRIDAY: For all you shoppers hitting up the sales early in the morning and throughout the day tomorrow, the weather will cooperate. Expect mainly sunny and dry conditions and highs back in the upper 60s.

FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: No issues expected for those semi-final high school playoff games across the state. The sky should be mainly clear, and temperatures should be falling through the 50s during the game.

OTTO MOVING ONSHORE: Latest update from the NHC, has the eye of Hurricane Otto was located near latitude 11.0 North, longitude 83.4 West. Otto is moving toward the west near 9 mph, but a faster motion toward the west or west-southwest is forecast to begin tonight and continue through early Saturday. On this track, the center of Otto will make landfall within the hurricane warning area during the next several hours, and then move across southern Nicaragua and northern Costa Rica through this evening. The center of Otto is expected to reach the Pacific coast of southern Nicaragua or northern Costa Rica tonight or early Friday. Otto is a dangerous hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 110 mph and higher gusts. Some additional strengthening is possible during the next several hours before landfall. Weakening is expected after landfall, and Otto is forecast to become a tropical storm by tonight and additional weakening is anticipated thereafter. The estimated minimum central pressure is 975 mb (28.80 inches). As Otto moves back over the open waters of the Pacific after crossing Central America, it should get a new name, since it will be going from one basin to the other. Otto should become Virgil.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Both Saturday and Sunday look dry and cool. Northwesterly flow will allow for slightly cooler temps for the weekend. Lows will be around the 40 degree mark on Saturday, then mid 30s Sunday. Highs will range from the lower to mid 60s.

IRON BOWL: A beautiful day for football in Tuscaloosa Saturday. For our state’s biggest game of the year (Auburn at Alabama, 2:30p CT kickoff at Bryant Denny Stadium), the sky will be sunny with temperatures falling from 62 degrees at kickoff, into the 50s during the second half.

RAIN, RAIN, IS ON THE WAY!!!: The weather gets active next week for Alabama. Early in the week, a dynamic storm system will impact Alabama. The main threat of rain and storms will come Tuesday and Tuesday night. Prior to the storms moving in, we will have a strong southerly flow and that means the Gulf of Mexico is open of business Monday, pushing dew points up into the 60s by Tuesday, and setting up a very moist, unstable environment. Also, precipitable water values will be rising to near 2 inches, something we haven’t seen here since summer. A storm system will track from the Red River Valley of Texas, northeast towards the Great Lakes, and it will send a cold front through the Southeast, which will interact with the unstable air mass in place and produce showers and storms. Storms are expected, and we are likely to see a few strong, and perhaps severe storms, but way too early to get into the details of that. What does look very promising is a significant rain event, with many of us likely seeing over an inch of rain!!! Behind this system, the weather will turn much cooler.

AT THE BEACH: Terrific weather through the weekend with no threat of rain and mainly sunny days. Highs are in 70s, while lows are in the mid 50s from Gulf Shores to Panama City Beach. See the complete Gulf Coast 7 Day Planner here .

WORLD TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation was 108.1F at Julia Creek, Australia. The lowest observation was -64.5F at Summit, Greenland.

CONTIGUOUS TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: The highest observation was 88F at Edinburg and McAllen, TX. The lowest observation was 6F at Ely, NV and Mammoth Lakes, CA .

WEATHER ON THIS DATE IN 1863: The battle above the clouds was fought on Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga. Pre-frontal clouds obscured the upper battle- field aiding a Union victory.