Huntsville's Weekend Weather...by James Payton

On the weather map...The remenants of hurricane Gustav are hanging around to the west as Hanna approaches the Carolina coastline to the east. This should keep us socked in with clouds for much of the weekend. However, the moisture will be lacking. We'll include a small chance of rain each day with slight better chances on Friday...but the weekend should be mostly dry across most of the Tennessee Valley.

TROPICS...The are currently three named storms in Atlantic. Hanna is currently in the Bahamas & will likely head for the Carolina coastline for a Saturday landfall possibly as a minimal hurricane. Ike is in the central Atlantic moving westward. Ike will not be a threat to the U.S. until mid to late week next week (if at all). Josephine is way out in the far eastern Atlantic. There is a fairly good chance Josephine will turn out to sea long before even getting close to the U.S. coastline...but we will continue to watch until that happens. Although the tropics are very busy, none of these systems will not affect our weather in the Tennessee Valley this weekend except possibly for a few clouds from Hanna.

MY OFFICIAL TENNESSEE VALLEY WEEKEND FORECAST...

For Friday...Mostly cloudy. 1 in 3 chance of rain & storms. High 85.
Friday Night...Mostly cloudy. Perhaps a lingering shower in spots. Low 66.
Saturday...Mostly cloudy. 1 in 4 chance of showers & storms. High 87.
Saturday Night...Mostly cloudy. a brief shower possible. Low 67.
Sunday...Partly cloudy. 1 in 5 chance of a brief shower. High 88.

FOOTBALL FORECAST...

Tulane at Alabama (6:00 pm - Tuscaloosa, AL)...Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of a shower during the game. Temperatures at kickoff should be around 80 slowing falling through the evening.

Southern Mississippi at Auburn (11:30 am - Auburn, AL)...Mostly cloudy with a chance of a passing rain shower or storm. Temperature should be near 80 at kickoff with a slight warm up through the game.

Alabama A&M at Jacksonville State (6:00 pm - Jacksonville, AL)...Should be mostly cloudy with a slight chance of rain. Temperatures will be in the low 80s at kickoff falling into the 70s during the game.

LAST WEEK'S WEATHER TRIVIA QUESTION...At what point on the hurricane scale is a hurricane considered a 'major' hurricane by the National Hurricane Center? The answer was B. Category 3. The National Hurricane Center officially calls a hurricane major once the winds reach category 3 strength...which start at 111 mph. Since they only do wind speed in five mph increments in their advisories, the actual official number is 115 mph.

THIS WEEK'S WEATHER TRIVIA QUESTION...2004 went on record as the busiest Atlantric hurricane season in US history. How many named storms formed that year?

A. 18 storms
B. 21 storms
C. 24 storms
D. 27 storms

Answer will appear next week.

Have a great weekend everyone!

~James Payton
Huntsville about.com Meteorologist
http://uahweather.blogspot.com

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