Flooding Downpours Invade Mississippi, Alabama
May 03, 2012; 4:33 PM
Part of the same disturbance that brought downpours to South Florida in recent days is now rolling in from the Gulf of Mexico into Alabama and portions of Mississippi, the Florida Panhandle, Tennessee and Louisiana.
As this tropical moisture continues to flow, downpours, some accompanied by thunderstorms, will spread inland and northward through the end of the week.
Any of these downpours can bring a quick 0.50 to 1 inch of rain.
Video: Everything is Floating in Alabama
Where the downpours repeat over several hours to a day or more, there is the potential for several inches of rain at the local level. This sort of rainfall is capable of producing flash and urban flooding.
On Wednesday alone, Mobile, Ala., recorded nearly seven inches of rain, shattering the old daily record by almost four inches!
The core of the moisture was extending northward today, reaching into northern Mississippi, northern Alabama and middle Tennessee and then into portions of Kentucky and West Virginia tonight before turning to the east, Friday and over the weekend.
The moisture will eventually join up with a west-east zone of showers and thunderstorms marking the edge of cool air to the north and building heat to the south straddling the Midwest and mid-Atlantic.
Unfortunately, as anticipated, the arcing path of this moisture will avoid the hardest hit drought areas of northern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
The disturbance, since it has originated from the tropics, is associated with very humid (high dew point) air. Some folks may notice conditions similar to a sauna bath for the first time this season.
This story was originally published at 10:00 a.m. CDT, Wednesday, May 2, 2012 and has been updated.