11:22PM October 31, 2018

STORMS TO START IN A FEW HOURS… Storms are setting up to our west and a Tornado Watch has been posted for much of Mississippi and east Louisiana, including MS counties that border the Alabama-Mississippi state line.

I’m about to get a nap so I’ll be recharged and ready in case we have a need for severe weather coverage in the morning.

Don’t be surprised if a Tornado Watch is issued for our local area early in the morning. We’ll bring you the latest info. My next updates will start being posted just after 5:45AM unless warranted sooner. See you then!

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9:47PM October 31, 2018

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8:00PM October 31, 2018

ISOLATED TORNADOES & DAMAGING WIND GUSTS LIKELY THURSDAY… A few tornadoes and damaging wind gusts will be the severe weather concerns on Thursday as a strong squall line/QLCS moves across our local area from west to east. There is a chance that a few discrete supercell thunderstorms may develop out ahead of the main line of storms, perhaps increasing the risk of a few tornadoes and large hail on Thursday during the daytime hours. In addition, heavy rain that could lead to isolated instances of flash flooding will be a concern. ALL modes of severe weather will be possible on Thursday in ALL locations of our primary coverage area in south Alabama and northwest Florida. You need to have a way to receive urgent weather alerts starting in the early morning hours. Let’s look at details…

SQUALL LINE SETTING UP TO OUR WEST… A significant (Level 3) risk of severe weather is in place for parts of southwest Mississippi, Louisiana, and east Texas this evening. We note that several tornado warnings have already happened in the eastern parts of Texas this evening. This is the same system that will be responsible for our severe weather risk on Thursday. No weather issues are expected for the rest of the evening, so if you’re out trick-or-treating, you’re okay with no big weather issues tonight. The potential issues will happen on Thursday.

TIMING OF STORMS… The greatest chance of isolated tornadoes/damaging straight line winds will happen between 5AM and 5PM in our local area with the core of the risk happening from 9AM to 2PM. There is a chance that a few storms may pop up out ahead of the main line of storms, and these discrete storms could be the primary tornado threat of the day. This means you have to be ready for severe weather as early as 5AM. Be ready to take action when/if a tornado or severe thunderstorm warning is issued for your respective area!

HAZARDS… Tornadoes will definitely be a concern, BUT damaging winds will be the main concern. There’s a chance that these damaging straight line winds in the squall line could be intense. I would not be surprised to see several reports of trees being downed across our region. Heavy rain will also happen as the line of storms moves by. In addition to this, because of the risk of the discrete supercell thunderstorms, there will be a threat of large hail as well. ALL modes of severe weather will be possible on Thursday!

TORNADO WARNING COVERAGE… Anytime there is a tornado warning in effect for southwest Alabama or northwest Florida, we are committed to bring you live streaming video and audio coverage in our RedZone Weather app and across our platforms. redzoneweather.com/coverage explains this in extreme detail.

APP ALERTS… Visit the Alerts tab in the bottom right corner of the RedZone Weather app and then tap the large, yellow “Alert Settings” button to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.

BETTER WEATHER LATE THURSDAY EVENING… Once the main (squall) line of storms moves through your specific area, the severe weather risk will end and I’ll be able to give you an “all clear.” Cooler, drier, more stable air will move in late on Thursday evening, paving the way for a gorgeous weekend.

CLOUDS FRIDAY; SUNNY SATURDAY & SUNDAY… Clouds will likely stick around for much of the day on Friday with high temperatures being stuck most likely in the mid- to upper-60s. Plenty of sunshine is expected for Saturday and for Sunday and high temps will rise into the 70s each day. Overnight lows at 6AM on Saturday could easily be near 40 degrees in some spots!

See more details in this special LIVE RedZone Weather severe weather update… Let me know if you have specific questions.

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2:35PM 10/31/2018 – RZW Exec

SEVERE WEATHER RISK THURSDAY… RZW Exec members, good evening! Our first significant severe weather risk of the secondary severe weather season will happen tomorrow (Thursday, November 1). Damaging straight line winds and isolated tornadoes will be the main concerns. We expect a squall line of strong to severe thunderstorms to move from west to east across our local area during the morning/early afternoon hours of Thursday. Let’s look at a few graphics and talk through these…

SEVERE RISK TO THE WEST TODAY

There is an enhanced (Level 3 out of 5) severe weather risk in place for much of southwest Mississippi, Louisiana, and east Texas this afternoon, this evening, and tonight. A few tornadoes, perhaps a few strong ones, could happen in those areas. This is the same system responsible for our severe weather risk on Thursday. It is setting up now over Texas and Louisiana.

LOCAL SEVERE WEATHER RISK THURSDAY

The latest update (posted at 12:23PM) from the Storm Prediction Center shows all of our local area in south Alabama and northwest Florida included in a Level 2 (out of 5) severe weather risk valid in the daytime hours of Thursday. Communities along and south of a line from Butler to Camden to Union Springs to Eufaula are included in this risk zone. Again, all local areas are included in this standard, slight risk. This means that isolated instances of downed trees and other damage will be possible. Straight line wind gusts are the main concern on Thursday as the squall line moves by, with isolated, embedded, brief tornadoes also being a concern. There is some chance that we could have a few supercell thunderstorms out ahead of the main line of storms that may produce large hail and tornadoes as well. ALL modes of severe weather will be possible Thursday.

PROJECTED RAINFALL TOTALS

Most spots across our local area will pick up 1.5″ to 2.5″ of rain. The greatest chance of a location getting more than 2 inches of rainfall will happen in west Alabama west of the Alabama River in Clarke, Mobile, Washington, Choctaw, and Marengo counties.

DAMAGING WIND RISK TIMES

The damaging straight line wind gusts will be the biggest concern as the QLCS/squall line moves through our region on Thursday. This line of storms will most likely move through between 9AM and 3PM. That is when we have the elevated risk of damaging wind gusts.

TORNADO RISK TIMES

If we have discrete supercell thunderstorms form out ahead of the main line of thunderstorms on Thursday, we will need to not only increase the risk of tornadoes, but also bump back the timing a little bit as the cells will form in advance of the main line of storms passing through. Unfortunately, there’s no way to know just yet whether supercell thunderstorms will form out ahead of this line. Regardless, we’ll be in studio starting at 5AM on Thursday monitoring trends and bringing you the very latest in our public-facing products.

FINAL RZW EXEC UPDATE… This is the final RZW Exec update in advance of this severe weather potential as my focus will now shift to preparing for our live video updates tonight and on Thursday. Please continue to monitor the front page of the RedZone Weather app for the very latest. Per our usual policy, if we have any tornado warnings for any part of our 12 county coverage area, we will be streaming live video coverage across our platforms. Let me know if you have any specific questions or concerns. Have a great evening!

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12:53PM October 31, 2018

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