Tonight, Alberto has been dealing with a lot of dry air that is coming from the southeastern United States. In the above picture, the area outlined in green is an area where the current dew point is below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. That dry air got ingested into Alberto’s southeast half, which as you can see is devoid of convection. A new burst of thunderstorms is occurring over the northwestern quadrant at this hour, which I expect to continue throughout diurnal maximum. The radar and the satellite appearance seem to be lining up just a bit better, but winds according to ascat and TRMM a couple of hours ago have fallen to 45 mph. Officially, I think that winds will remain the same given the recent convective burst. The incoming trough looks to be entering the picture sometime on early Monday morning.

Recon is set up for an afternoon flight, at what time I am not sure. An official schedule has not yet been put up, but the NHC has confirmed it.

For a video update done earlier this evening, check out Joey’s page for a skype update at http://livestre.am/3B23I

On another note, was anyone near the St. Petersburg tornado tonight? I’m looking for first-person accounts and pictures.  Thanks in advance!