Gulf storm to bring rain to parts of Alabama
It’s not a hurricane, but a strong storm developing in the Gulf of Mexico could bring some of those same effects to parts of Florida over the weekend.
Alabama will mostly be on the west side of the system and isn’t expected to see any severe storms, according to forecasters. However, coastal areas could see gusty winds, high surf and dangerous rip currents.
Parts of Alabama also stand to get a few inches of rain.
The National Weather Service will be watching a developing area of low pressure in the Gulf. It is forecast to track to the northeast and over parts of Florida this weekend.
The weather service said the track of the low pressure system is still a bit uncertain, but as of Friday morning it looked like it would move onshore in the Big Bend area of Florida.
The Florida peninsula will see some of the worst weather from the system, with severe weather possible on Saturday. Here is Saturday’s severe weather outlook:
Strong to severe storms are not expected for Alabama on Saturday, but there is the potential for some across the Florida peninsula.Storm Prediction Center
As of Alabama, forecasters expect rain chances to increase on Saturday.
Those along the coast will see the biggest impacts from the Gulf system. According to the weather service in Mobile there will be a high risk of deadly rip currents from now through the weekend.
There is also a high surf advisory in effect, and waves could be 5 to 8 feet.
Offshore a gale warning will be in effect.
The weather service said 1 to 2 inches of rain will be possible across south Alabama, with parts of southeast Alabama possibly getting a bit more.
Most of north and central Alabama will likely see a half inch of rain or less, according to the weather service.
Here is the three-day precipitation outlook from NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center:
Southeast Alabama looks to see the most rain over the next three days.Weather Prediction Center
Winds will also be gusty at times, with possibly the highest gusts being felt along the coast and southeast Alabama, where they could be as high as 30 mph, according to the weather service.
The rain is expected to move out of the state during the day on Sunday, and drier and colder weather is expected to take over starting on Monday and into next week, according to the weather service.