Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Huntsville, AL
Issued by NWS Huntsville, AL
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363 FXUS64 KHUN 011142 AFDHUN Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Huntsville AL 542 AM CST Sun Nov 1 2026 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 336 AM CST Sun Nov 1 2026 - Gusty winds 10 to 20 mph gusting to 30 mph will continue into the night. - Medium to high rain chances of rain into the early afternoon today. An isolated thunderstorm or two could occur. - Medium to high chances (40-90%) for showers and a few thunderstorms will return during the middle part of next week. && .NEAR TERM... (Today) Issued at 336 AM CST Sun Nov 1 2026 An area of much needed rainfall was advancing in a west to east manner across portions of the Tennessee Valley. As of 330 AM CST, moderate to at times heavy showers were along and west of a line from near Fayetteville, Madison, and Cullman, moving east around 15 mph. Given stronger winds aloft and elevated instability, some thunder has been noted over portions of NW Alabama. Rainfall totals so far have ranged from a trace to a few hundreds where it has just started, upwards to one inch over parts of NW Alabama. Have noted amounts of 1.5 to 2" along the TN/MS border between NW AL and Memphis. Although soil conditions were very dry before showers commenced, we cannot rule out runoff issues in the heavier showers especially west of I-65 (where the highest rain amounts are expected). Otherwise, rainfall totals through late tonight should range from about 4/10 of an inch over our more eastern area, with 1.5" over parts of NW Alabama. Temperatures today should trend a bit cooler due to clouds, showers, and evaporative cooling that occurs when it begins. Thus temperatures should range in the mid 50s during episodes of wetting rain (greater than 0.05" to 0.10") occurring. Current forecasts maybe too optimistic later today, but cannot rule them rising to the low/mid 60s in the late afternoon as shower coverage decreases somewhat. Reminder - please take notice that the time has changed back from Central Daylight to Central STANDARD Time as of 2 AM this morning. && .SHORT TERM... (Tonight through Tuesday) Issued at 1101 PM CDT Sat Oct 31 2026 The back edge of the weakened longwave trough axis lingers over the Ohio Valley SSW into NW Alabama through tonight. This could produce some additional low clouds and light rain or drizzle. Not much cold air in place behind the associated frontal boundary with this longwave trough axis. Lows tonight should only drop into the upper 40s to around 56 degrees in higher elevations. Winds look to remain breezy with sustained winds of 10 to 15 mph with gusts around 25 mph possible. During the day on Monday, the longwave trough axis dissipates and a strong upper ridge begins to build over the southeastern states. Not sure how much sunshine we will see, especially west of the I-65 corridor on Monday. This will likely help to keep highs from climbing much above the upper 60s to around 75 degrees in most locations. Monday night into Tuesday, the upper ridge continues to amplify and remain over the Tennessee Valley area. At the same time, an amplified longwave trough axis quickly tries to move east into the upper ridge. By this time most guidance moves the center of the upper ridge east over the east coast of North Carolina. The longwave trough axis moves into the Midwestern states as well. This should keep deep moisture and forcing well west of the area. It should be warmer with more sunshine expected. Highs should top out in the lower to mid 70s at least (could be a bit higher than models currently think given the strength of the upper ridge). && .LONG TERM... (Tuesday night through Saturday) Issued at 1101 PM CDT Sat Oct 31 2026 We could get some isolated showers or thunderstorms develop as early as Tuesday evening as the longwave trough axis and associated surface front push east into eastern Arkansas/western Mississippi. Better chances for rain look to develop overnight into Wednesday morning over northwestern Alabama. This still looks to be a heavy rainfall event given several aspects of the evolution of this storm system. Overall surface based instability will be very hard to get and 0-6 km bulk shear does not look quite as strong as a few days ago. However, PWATS will be high for this time of year (1.5 to 1.65 inches). Also, during the day on Wednesday as the front moves closer to the area, upper level diffluence will be strong west of the I-65 corridor and we will be in the right entrance region of the upper level jet. Also, a 40 knot 850 jet will be over the area as well. This all points to very strong/deep lift that will be in place, maybe primarily over areas west of the I-65 corridor into northeastern Mississippi. One to three inches of rainfall with locally up to 4 inches looks possible in those areas. It does look like there will be a decent drop off in rainfall totals near and east of the I-65 corridor (maybe not even over 1 inch). A few models are hinting that higher amounts over 5 inches could be possible in NW Alabama through Wednesday evening. One of the main reasons this setup may occur is the stoutness of the upper ridge just off the coast of the Carolinas and Virginia. The upper low butts heads with this feature during that period before finally moving northward over it late Wednesday night into Thursday, taking precipitation northward with it. Wednesday should be cooler again with clouds and precipitation expected. Highs will only reach the upper 60s to lower 70s. Not much change into Friday with lingering cloud cover as the upper low continues to move northeast into the central Great Lakes region. && .AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 542 AM CST Sun Nov 1 2026 Inclement conditions were occurring, as moderate to heavy showers traverse the area. Embedded thunderstorms were occurring with the heavier showers over NW AL. Thunder for the most part should remain over NW AL where higher instability and shear were present. The area of convection should continue moving eastward, with VSBY and/or CIG values reduced to MVFR. Brief reductions to IFR or even lower cannot be ruled out in the heaviest showers. Shower activity should gradually wind down as we go into the evening. Have denoted the lighter precip as drizzle with some fog. Easterly winds of around 10kt should continue for much of the TAF, although some higher gusts could occur into the mid afternoon. Winds near the boundary layer, ~2000ft aloft were in the 35-40kt range from the SE, therefore have Low-Level Wind Shear indicated at KMSL and KHSV into the mid afternoon. These stronger winds should slowly subside as we go into the evening. && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...None. TN...None. && $$ NEAR TERM...RSB SHORT TERM....KTW LONG TERM....KTW AVIATION...RSB