ISOLATED TORNADOES & DAMAGING WINDS LIKELY THURSDAY… Strong to severe thunderstorms capable of producing isolated tornadoes and damaging straight line wind gusts will become possible late Thursday morning across south Alabama and northwest Florida. The Storm Prediction Center continues to suggest that scattered instances of severe thunderstorms capable of downing a few trees will be possible late morning into the afternoon hours. Let’s look at details…
NO MAJOR ISSUES TODAY (WEDNESDAY)… It is Halloween, and for the trick-or-treaters in our local area in south Alabama and northwest Florida, there is a high probability that dry and warm conditions will prevail this evening. There could be a rogue shower or two in west Alabama, particularly in Choctaw, Clarke, Washington, and Mobile counties. Most of us, however, will be dry with temperatures in the 70s tonight.
SHOWERS INCREASE OVERNIGHT… Overnight, I expect a few isolated showers to move north across our region. Again, most in the overnight will be dry, but if you’re out and about in the middle of the night, there could be isolated downpours of heavy rain, particularly in west Alabama.
SEVERE WEATHER RISK BEGINS THURSDAY MORNING… The latest model data continues to suggest that a squall line (quasi-linear convective system/QLCS) will move from west to east across Mississippi, Louisiana, and ultimately into the western parts of Alabama and northwest Florida. The squall line is most likely to reach west Alabama in the late morning hours.
SEVERE WEATHER TIMING… The greatest chance of isolated tornadoes/damaging straight line winds will happen between 10AM and 5PM in our local area. 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 will be something to monitor on Wednesday morning.
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!
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!
APP ALERTS… I’ll have plenty of updates throughout the day in the RedZone Weather app. Once you get the app, be sure to visit the Alerts tab in the lower right corner to customize the handcrafted alerts that you want to recieve straight from me.
Let me know if you have specific questions. Enjoy your Wednesday! Be sure to see the graphics and more details in the video that will be available shortly in the RZWeather app.