ABC 33/40 E-Forecast

ABC 33/40 E-FORECAST
Morning Edition For Friday April 20, 2007
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Alabama One Call .... where safe digging starts.

Before beginning any type of excavation work, no matter how large or how
small, be sure to DIG SAFELY and have the underground utilities marked prior
to beginning your work.

Simply call Alabama One Call at 252-4444, 48 hours prior to the start of
your excavation and the member utility companies will send out someone to
mark their facilities free of charge.

Remember - Dig Safely
* Call Before You Dig
* Wait the Required Amount of Time
* Respect the Marks
* Dig with Care

Visit http://www.al1call.com for more information.
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...A Very Nice Weekend Ahead...

While we do desperately need some rain around here; we are about to
enjoy a delightful spring weekend with sunny mild days and clear cool
nights. Afternoon highs this weekend will be in the 75 to 80 degree
range, with early morning lows in the upper 40s and low 50s. Dry air
means no chance of rain, and just a few scattered clouds from time to
time.

NEXT WEEK: At this point we are still looking at dry weather during
the first half of the week, although a few showers might show up near
the Tennessee state line Tuesday afternoon. We will finally have that
long awaited chance at some beneficial rain by Thursday or Thursday
night of next week (April 26) as a strong upper trough advances into
Alabama from the west. The latest medium range computer model data
suggests the system will take its time moving through, and the rain
will linger into Friday (April 27), and possibly part of the day
Saturday (April 28). For now it looks like the rain will be gone
Saturday night, with Sunday (April 29) setting up to be a dry and
pleasant day. But of course, this event is 6 to 8 days away and the
timing might change as we get closer.

AT THE BEACH: The weather along the Alabama and Northwest Florida Gulf
coast will be beautiful this weekend, and through the first three days
of next week. Look for sunny days with highs in the mid 70s along the
immediate coast (temperatures will peak closer to 80 degrees just a
few miles inland). The sea water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico at
the Dauphin Island Sea Lab late yesterday afternoon was 70 degrees.
Panama City Beach reported a water temperature of 68 degrees at the
same time.

TROPICAL SEASON PREVIEW: Hurricane season in the Atlantic basin,
including the Gulf of Mexico, runs from the first day of June through
the last day of November. Dr. William Gray and his team at Colorado
State University expect an active season... here are some quotes from
their outlook issued earlier this month: "We have increased our
forecast for the 2007 hurricane season, largely due to the rapid
dissipation of El Niño conditions. We are now calling for a very
active hurricane season. Landfall probabilities for the 2007
hurricane season are well above their long-period averages. We
estimate that 2007 will have about 9 hurricanes (average is 5.9), 17
named storms (average is 9.6), 85 named storm days (average is 49.1),
40 hurricane days (average is 24.5), 5 intense (Category 3-4-5)
hurricanes (average is 2.3) and 11 intense hurricane days (average is
5.0). The probability of U.S. major hurricane landfall is estimated
to be about 140 percent of the long-period average."

DROUGHT UPDATE: Birmingham's rain total so far in 2007 is only 7.22";
we would normally be at
17.78" by now, so the rain deficiency for the year is up to 11.56".
That figure will rise to over one foot by early next week as the long
dry spell continues. Much of North-Central Alabama is considered to be
in a "severe drought".

James Spann
jspann@abc3340.com

ABC 33/40 7 Day Planner: http://abc3340.com/weather/7day.hrb
ABC 33/40 Weather Blog: http://www.alabamawx.com

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CONNECT 3 ON 3 BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
APRIL 28 IN HOOVER

Connect 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament is coming to Hoover on
Saturday, April 28. This is a competitive tournament for guys and
girls ages middle school through adults. Games will be played on
the parking lot of Hunter Street Baptist Church, 2600 John Hawkins
Parkway in Hoover. Five eligible players will have a chance at the
$10,000 Hot Shot competition!

Players, invite family and friends to the Family Fun Zone, for games,
face painting, food, music and more!

Register today at

http://www.connect3on3.com/HunterStreet

Connect 3 on 3 is sponsored by Hunter Street Baptist Church,
WJOX 100.5 FM, Buffalo Rock, The Stewart Organization, ABC 33/40,
Bruce Business Products, The American Red Cross, Jason's Deli and
Princeton Hoover Medical.
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TODAY
Sunny with a mild afternoon.
Afternoon High 74
WIND: NE 5-10

SATURDAY
Mostly sunny.
Morning Low 48 Afternoon High 77
WIND: E 6-12

SUNDAY
Mostly sunny.
Morning Low 52 Afternoon High 80
WIND: SE 6-12

MONDAY
Partly sunny.
Morning Low 53 Afternoon High 80
WIND: S 6-12

TUESDAY
Partly sunny.
Morning Low 56 Afternoon High 81
WIND: SW 6-12

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Tonight on ABC 33/40:

6:00pm ABC 33/40 News
6:30pm Wheel of Fortune
7:00pm Grey's Anatomy
8:00pm Wife Swap
9:00pm 20/20
10:00pm ABC 33/40 News
10:35pm Nightline

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