West Alabama Thursday Briefing
Good morning, West Alabama. It is Thursday, November 21, 2024.
Thursday Morning Observations:
As predicted, the rain of the last few days has halted the spread but not end the drought. The Current U.S. Drought Monitor reveals most of West Alabama is Abnormally Dry. However, the worst drought conditions continue to be south of the I20/59 corridor where most of Sumter, Perry, Greene, Hale and part of Marengo counties remain in Severe Drought. The largest portion of Marengo County is in Extreme Drought.
Climate forecasters do not believe the drought is going away anytime soon and, in fact, stay around through the winter months.
According to the Nation Integrated Drought Information System, a small portion of northwest Choctaw County is the only area of the state without drought impact. Below are the percentages of the state covered by each drought category:
- Abnormally Dry: 19.4%
- Moderate Drought: 45.9%
- Severe Drought: 30.8%
- Extreme Drought: 3.2%
- Exception Drought: 0.0%
- Total Area in Drought: 79.9%
4.7 million Alabamians are living in areas of some level of drought that was exacerbated by the third driest October in Alabama history with only 0.23 inches of rainfall. That is 2.60 inches below normal.
There doesn't look to be a lot of hope ahead. The National Climate Prediction Center shows a lean toward continued below normal precipitation for the months of December, January and February.
Unfortunately, the one break for moisture in the long-range forecast is over next week's Thanksgiving holiday where computer models are predicting strong to possibly severe thunderstorms with heavy rain.
We will keep you updated.
(Opinions expressed in Morning Briefing are not necessarily those of the ownership, management of staff of Townsquare Media Tuscaloosa).
Weather:
Grab your coat, it will be sunny today and into the weekend, but it will also be breezy making it feel colder.
The Forecast:
Topping the News:
Demolition is underway on the old Tuscaloosa News Building overlooking the Black Warrior River downtown. It will make way for the new Saban Center. Ground will be broken on the state-of-the-art STEM education for education, arts, recreation and discovery early next year.
Doctors from Tuscaloosa and across the state are attending a meeting in Birmingham where they have released a caution. They are concerned about the threat from unregulated gummies and vapes being sold at gas stations across Alabama.
Alabama Junior U.S. Senator Katie Britt believes congress will act quickly on the key points of President-Elect Trumps campaign promises after he is inaugurated. In a post on her Instagram site Britt identified more secure boarders, stable consumer prices and a stronger military will be among the first issues tackled by the GOP led congress and White House.
Alabama's Senior Republican U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville is getting raised eyebrows with his description of President Biden as a "bed-ridden dementia patients."
Topping Sports News: