RedZone Weather – Hyperlocal weather for your hometown.

6:54PM June 17, 2026

TROPICAL STORM ARTHUR TO BRING HEAVY RAIN & LOW-END TORNADO RISK… Impacts from the remnants of Tropical Storm Arthur will bring heavy rain, an enhanced risk of flash flooding, and the potential for a few, brief tornadoes to south Alabama and northwest Florida on Thursday. Some impacts may begin as soon as the overnight hours across parts of southwest Alabama, thus we encourage everyone across the region to have a way to hear warnings overnight and into Thursday. I will be posting constant updates in the RedZone Weather app. Arthur remains a highly sheared, disrupted system with nearly all of the action located on the eastern side. Unfortunately, this puts our local area in the zone where impacts are most likely.

SEVERE WEATHER TIMING – TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY… Scattered thunderstorms will likely increase in coverage across the region through the overnight hours. There is a low-end tornado risk overnight, specifically in Choctaw, Clarke, Washington, and Mobile counties. The low-end tornado risk spreads to include the entire local area across Alabama and northwest Florida tomorrow morning. Brief tornadoes are most likely to happen from 6AM to 6PM Thursday. These tornadoes probably won’t last long in any given spot, but if a tornado affects you, it’s a big deal. Be able to hear warnings and join us in live coverage if/when we have tornado warnings.

LATEST ON TROPICAL STORM ARTHUR… The National Hurricane Center has the center of Tropical Storm Arthur WELL to the west of all of the rain and storms associated with the system. The center of Arthur is over land in southeast Texas near Bay City, just south of the Houston metro. If you look at the satellite and radar imagery, however, it’s easy to see that shear continues to take a toll on the system and basically prevent any real strengthening. This is excellent news, but there is a caveat. MOST of the impacts from the storm will go right over our area – aka why our region will have heavy rain, flash flooding, and potentially a few tornadoes over the next 24-36 hours.

POTENTIAL HAZARD: TORNADOES… I realize anytime I say the word “tornado,” people tend to get a bit nervous, and rightfully so. Tornadoes that originate from a tropical system (or in this case, a decaying tropical system) are usually brief, short-lived tornadoes that spin up and often weaken just as quick. There are occasional exceptions to this (June 19, 2021 comes to my mind when an EF2 tornado was on the ground for 20+ miles near Brewton and Castleberry) but generally, MOST tropical tornadoes don’t last long at all. Don’t be surprised if we have multiple tornado warnings tomorrow that only last 10-15 minutes each. It could end up being a deal where we have several tornado warnings where we are in live coverage for 15-20 minutes each and have several hours of a lull in between warnings. Regardless of what specifically happens, I’ll be in studio throughout the day ready to “go live” if needed.

POTENTIAL HAZARD: HEAVY RAIN & FLASH FLOODING… The biggest hazard of the next 24-26 hours will likely be heavy rain training over the same areas that leads to flash flooding. 5-7″ of total rainfall will be possible in some spots across the region. We note the Weather Prediction Center has included ALL of the local area in a Level 3 (out of 4) moderate risk of flash flooding all day tomorrow. A moderate risk of flash flooding will also exist on Friday.

COASTAL HAZARDS CONTINUE… Double red flags are now flying at many local beaches meaning the Gulf is closed. Dangerous rip currents will continue to increase tonight and into tomorrow with heavy rain and storms being likely across the northern Gulf in addition to land areas.

MINOR COASTAL FLOODING POSSIBLE… Minor coastal flooding will be possible through Thursday and into Friday morning. The greatest risk of coastal flooding will likely happen near Mobile and the Causeway where coastal flooding of 1-2 feet may be possible. This type of flooding is capable of causing over wash on the Causeway. Very minor coastal flooding impacts could happen near Bayou La Batre, Dauphin Island, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, and Pensacola Beach. Widespread surge and major impacts are highly unlikely. Dangerous rip currents are expected at all local beaches through the weekend. Red flags will be flying at local beaches through Saturday.

HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE AT TIMES FRIDAY; POP-UP STORMS SATURDAY… Heavy rain and flash flooding will be likely at times on Friday, specifically across inland areas of southwest Alabama. A Flood Watch is in effect through Friday evening. I expect the overall coverage of storms to decrease on Saturday. Storms will be more pop-up style in nature, meaning “hit or miss” storms will be possible throughout the day.

TORNADO WARNING POLICY… Any time there is an active tornado warning in effect for southwest Alabama or northwest Florida, we provide uninterrupted, live video coverage on Facebook Live and YouTube Live. Our detailed coverage commitment is outlined at redzoneweather.com/coverage. We are proud to cover all parts of Escambia (AL), Covington, Monroe, Conecuh, Baldwin, Mobile, Clarke, Washington (AL), Butler, Escambia (FL), Santa Rosa, and Okaloosa counties. If you live in any locale in those counties, be sure to tune into our coverage whenever there is an active tornado warning!

APP ALERTS… redzoneweather.com/app is the link where you can download the free RedZone Weather app. We post brief updates throughout each day in the app, keeping you up-to-date about the latest happenings in weather across south Alabama and northwest Florida. Once you have the free app downloaded to your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab (lower right corner) then tap the large Alert Settings button to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.

My next detailed forecast video will be posted by 7:15AM tomorrow morning.

Have a good Wednesday evening!