textproduct: Huntsville

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 813 PM CDT Sat Apr 18 2026

- Gusty winds at times today, with strongest gusts up to 25 to 30 mph mainly in higher terrain areas. - An unsettled pattern will develop next weekend bringing additional chances for rain and storms.

NEAR TERM

(Tonight) Issued at 351 PM CDT Sun Apr 19 2026

Temperatures have climbed into the lower to mid 60s across northern Alabama and southern middle Tennessee at this hour. Winds are still between 10 and 15 mph with gusts around 30 mph in some spots. These winds will subside late this afternoon into the evening hours, as a large area of high pressure at the surface pushes east into the Tennessee Valley area.

Expect calm or light winds tonight into Monday morning. Boundary layer flow around the surface high moving into the area however looks to weakly advect some warmer air into the area. This may be enough to counter very good radiational cooling conditions and keep temperatures from dropping to actual dewpoints values (which should be lower). This will likely keep lows from dropping below the 39 to 40 degree mark in most locations. In fact, this weak warm air advection may be enough to keep lows west of the I-65 corridor in the lower to mid 40s. The exception to this looks to be sheltered valley locations of northeast Alabama, particularly DeKalb and Marshall counties. There lows could drop into the 37 to 40 degree range. Though this may produce some patchy frost, widespread frost is not expected.

SHORT TERM

(Monday through Wednesday) Issued at 1149 AM CDT Sun Apr 19 2026

The center of the surface high shifts northeast into the Mid- Atlantic area on Monday. Still expecting northwest flow to be the dominant synoptic feature over the Tennessee Valley region. Sunny skies though from the start of the day will help to counter cold air advection some though. Highs should climb higher in response into the upper 60s to mid 70s.

Monday night into Tuesday, a disturbance develops over eastern Texas aloft. At the same time, a weak frontal boundary is shown extending SSW from a weak surface low over eastern Canada. Northwest flow lessens in amplitude, but still pushes this front southeast during this timeframe. This and isentropic lift ahead of the disturbance over eastern Texas help to bring cloud cover into the area Tuesday afternoon. Fairly thin, but the clouds will likely will help to tamp down highs a tad on Tuesday. That being said, it will still be warmer, as low level moisture advection will help low temperatures to start out in the 45 to 50 degree range. Highs on Tuesday should climb back to between 75 and 80 degrees.

Model guidance seems to show the the frontal boundary pulling the upper level disturbance over eastern Texas ESE and away from northern Alabama into Wednesday. Though high clouds will likely impact the area until around daybreak on Wednesday, no rainfall is expected. Most guidance shows this cloud cover moving south of the area quickly on Wednesday morning. Thus, high temperatures should be a bit warmer climbing into the 78 to 83 degree range.

LONG TERM

(Wednesday night through Sunday) Issued at 1149 AM CDT Sun Apr 19 2026

A much stronger storm system moves from the Pacific Northwest into the Rockies Wednesday night. However, a strong upper level ridge in place over the southeast will slow its progression eastward. Strong southerly low level flow from the Gulf of America will team up with strong isentropic lift to produce a widespread area of clouds and some precipitation to the west of the upper ridge in the central and northern Plains area on Thursday. This will likely make for our warmest day with highs climbing back into the 80 to 85 degree range.

The upper ridge really seems to break down during the day on Friday over the southeast. This will likely allow for widespread cloud cover and maybe some scattered showers or storms in NW Alabama. Despite the increasing cloud cover, 925 mb temperatures between 18 and 21 degrees could allow highs to climb into the 80 to 85 degree range one more day. Models seem to really increase shower and thunderstorm coverage and intensity sometime Saturday into Saturday night. Good shear and low wet-bulb zero heights could combine with modest instability to produce some more organized severe weather during the period.

AVIATION

(18Z TAFS) Issued at 1200 PM CDT Sun Apr 19 2026

VFR conditions are expected through the TAF period. Some high clouds this morning will push southeast of the terminals between 18Z and 20Z. Northerly winds between 10 and 15 mph gusting to around 25 knots are expected today. Winds should become light and variable this evening. At this time, the airmass appears to be too dry for fog development at either terminal towards daybreak on Monday. Light and variable winds under high pressure are expected on Monday.

HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

AL...None. TN...None.