MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – The Central Gulf Coast’s intense drought is about to get some help.
A significant shift in the upper atmosphere is underway, and Chief Meteorologist Jason Smith says it could bring showers and thunderstorms to the region by the weekend and into next week — news that comes as a relief to an area now facing an 11.5-inch rainfall deficit for the year.
The culprit behind the drought has been a stubborn high-pressure ridge positioned to the east. That system is finally breaking down, and with it comes a change in the upper-level wind pattern — shifting from a “zonal flow” to a “northwesterly flow.” In simpler terms: the atmospheric pattern that’s been keeping rain away is giving way to one that could bring moisture back into the region…