The Takeaway:
Another late-September scorcher held across the Tennessee Valley Viewing Area, with most sites back in the mid-to-upper 90s and Savannah leading the pack near 99°F. Official NWS climate summaries put Huntsville International at 96/71 and Muscle Shoals at 97/71. The day’s main weather story was a late-afternoon thunderstorm complex over the Huntsville metro that finally put measurable rain on the KHSV books (0.06″), while most of the rest of the network stayed dry. Coolest morning readings clustered near 68°F at Pulaski and Courtland. Fayetteville’s AWOS remained offline with no usable observations.
The Playout:
Huntsville’s climate day was 96°F and 71°F, averaging 84°F — about 10° above normal. NWS recorded thunderstorm, light rain, and fog, with humidity swinging from the mid-90s overnight into the low 40s by afternoon. Muscle Shoals matched the heat at 97/71 but finished with 0.00″ of rain even though thunder was logged.
Across southern Middle Tennessee, Lawrenceburg ran about 95/70 and stayed dry. Columbia reached about 97/73 with early-morning mist and no measurable rain. Lewisburg was about 97/70. Pulaski came in about 95/68 — tied for the network’s coolest low. Savannah was the hot spot near 99/73. Fayetteville: no observations.
North Alabama stayed hot as well. Courtland about 97/68 and dry, with the day’s breeziest report (~16 kt, gust 24). Decatur / Pryor Field about 97/72 — afternoon thunderstorms and a brief shower moved through, but no measurable accumulation. Redstone about 95/71 with overnight light rain early and a brief evening thunder mention, again with no measurable total. On the Mississippi fringe, Iuka finished about 96/71 and dry.
The Rain Bucket:
Measurable rain was scarce. Official CLI: Huntsville 0.06″ for the day, month-to-date only 0.10″ (normal ~2.28″ — still more than 2″ short). Muscle Shoals 0.00″ for the day, MTD 1.05″ (normal ~2.40″). Elsewhere across the twelve-site network, reports were dry or unmeasurable despite a few storm mentions at Decatur and Redstone. September’s drought signal remains loudest at Huntsville.