HAVE A WAY TO GET WARNINGS OVERNIGHT… Scattered showers and thunderstorms will become likely later this (Friday) evening ahead of a round of potentially strong to severe thunderstorms on Saturday. We will likely have two rounds of rain and storms, although I’m not entirely confident that these will be two DISTINCT rounds. While the core of the severe weather risk will likely happen after sunrise on Saturday, there is at least some chance that we could have a tornado warning in our local area before the sun comes up. Thus, we all need to have a way to receive urgent weather warnings BEFORE we go to sleep tonight.
FIRST ROUND OF STORMS… The first round of rain and storms is developing now in the northern Gulf of Mexico. These showers and storms will move into coastal areas first and spread inland overnight. The tornado risk is low with this first wave of storms since instability values aren’t high and atmospheric winds (shear) aren’t screaming, but the risk is NOT zero. If any tornadoes happen overnight, they’re most likely to occur in coastal counties.
HIGHER SEVERE WEATHER RISK AFTER SUNRISE… Severe weather parameters will increase across south Alabama and northwest Florida after the sun rises on Saturday morning. I expect tornado watches will be required. Isolated tornadoes and damaging straight line winds will be the main concerns in any storms that fire up after sunrise.
FLASH FLOOD WATCH… Covington, Walton, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Escambia (FL) counties are under a Flash Flood Watch until Saturday afternoon. Higher rain amounts are likely in these counties that are on the southeast side of our local area. 2-3” of rain is possible in these counties. Lesser rain amounts (1-2” of rain in total) are likely back to the west.
APP ALERTS… Once you have our free RedZone Weather app downloaded on your iOS or Android device, check out the Alerts tab (lower right corner) and tap the large, yellow Alert Settings button to customize the handcrafted alerts you’d like to receive straight from me.
Let me know if you have any weather-related questions. Again, please have a way to receive urgent weather warnings before you go to sleep tonight. Enjoy the evening!