Drought conditions back off a bit in parts of Alabama
Alabama’s ongoing drought loosened its grip just a little bit in the past week.
The U.S. Drought Monitor released its weekly look at drought conditions across the United States, and some areas in Alabama saw some improvement thanks to recent rain.
Parts of the state got an estimated 2 to 3 inches of rain over the past seven days, according to observations from the National Weather Service:
Parts of north and south Alabama got an estimated 2 to 3 inches of rain in the past seven days.National Weather Service
However, despite that nearly all of the state remains in some stage of drought, according to this week’s report.
Parts of north Alabama and south Alabama are where the improvements are the most apparent.
Level 3 out of 4 or extreme drought was removed from parts of north Alabama in the past week, although they remain in Level 2 conditions. Those areas had been in Level 4 or exceptional drought in the past month.
According to the report, 25.72 percent of Alabama remained in Level 3 drought, down from 33.19 percent last week.
Parts of south Alabama have also been downgraded from Level 2 (severe) drought to Level 1 (moderate) in the past week, according to the report.
This week 47.41 percent of Alabama was classified as in Level 2 drought, down from 56.27 percent last week. The report said 79.95 percent of Alabama was now in Level 1 drought, a decrease from 88.41 percent last week.
As of this week 99.17 percent of Alabama was either in drought or on the verge of drought, which is unchanged from last week. And 0.84 percent of the state was not in drought at all, which is also unchanged from last week.
Next week’s report, scheduled to be released on Thursday, Dec. 14, could also bring more good news if the rainfall forecast holds.
NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center is suggesting that parts of Alabama could get 2 inches of rain or more in the next seven days, with north Alabama expected to get the most.
Parts of Alabama could get up to 2 inches over the next week, mainly from Friday night into Sunday morning.Weather Prediction Center
The bulk of that rain is expected from late Friday through early Sunday as a storm system moves through the region. That system also has the potential to bring a few strong storms along with it for the western part of the state.
Here is the severe weather outlook for Saturday:
A few strong to possibly severe storms will be possible in Alabama from Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning ahead of a cold front. The areas in dark green will have a Level 1 out of 5 risk for severe weather, which means isolated severe storms will be possible. The strongest storms could have wind gusts up to 60 mph, and there will be a risk of a brief tornado. Storms could linger into Sunday morning.Storm Prediction Center
Dry conditions are expected after the weekend and into next week.