HEAVY RAIN NEAR ATMORE & BAY MINETTE… The complex of storms we’ve been tracking over the last several hours that moved across portions of Clarke and Monroe counties has reached areas near Perdido, Rabun, McCollough, Poarch, Bay Minette, and Atmore early on this Monday afternoon. These storms continue to slide southeast. More storms will be popping up across south Alabama and northwest Florida in the hours ahead. Be ready for downpours!
STORMS NEAR THE ALABAMA BEACHES… Heavy rain and gusty winds are happening in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores early this afternoon due to an ongoing thunderstorm. We also note that extensive cloud-to-ground lightning is happening. Thanks to Alisa Hart for her “ground truth” report moments ago detailing this (tweet below in previous post). I expect more pop-up storms to happen this afternoon near the Alabama and northwest Florida beaches. Be ready for downpours!
MORE FLOODING ISSUES FOR BIRMINGHAM… For the second day in a row, the greater Birmingham, AL metro area is having extensive flash flooding issues due to training thunderstorms… We note NWS Birmingham has issued a Flash Flood Warning for much of Jefferson County, including Birmingham, Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Bessemer, Homewood, Mountain Brook, Trussville, Hueytown, Gardendale, Irondale, Fairfield, Fultondale, Sumiton, Center Point, Pleasant Grove, Clay, Pinson, Tarrant, Midfield and Adamsville.
For Birmingham NOW and for our area this afternoon as thunderstorms pop up, we encourage everyone to “turn around, don’t drown” when encountering flooded roads. Most flood
deaths occur in vehicles. In hilly terrain there are hundreds of low water crossings which are potentially dangerous in heavy rain. Please do not attempt to cross flooded roads.
I’ll have plenty more updates this afternoon, as needed, here in the RZWeather app and on rzweather.com.