ISOLATED TORNADOES & DAMAGING WINDS POSSIBLE TODAY… Have a way to receive urgent weather warnings today as a few tornadoes and damaging wind gusts will be possible in the scattered severe storms that are expected to move across our region this afternoon. Normally we do not post a RZW forecast video on Saturday, but we have a chance of tornado warnings today thus we want to bring you the very latest. The threat assessment has not changed since last night: The Storm Prediction Center has included all of south Alabama and northwest Florida in their Level 2 (out of 5) “slight risk” zone valid for today, meaning isolated tornadoes and damaging wind gusts will be the main concerns as a line of storms moves east. There also is a small chance that we could see a few supercell storms in west Alabama. Model trends continue to support a bit more atmospheric instability that could lead to more instances of severe storms happening as the line of storms moves through. We’re also watching temperatures tumble behind the cold front that will move across our region later this evening. Again, please have a way to get the warnings today. Live streaming tornado warning coverage will be provided in the RedZone Weather app as needed. That’s your summary. Here are all the details…
LEVEL 2 SEVERE WEATHER RISK TODAY… All of south Alabama and northwest Florida is included in the Level 2 (out of 5) risk. A Level 2 risk means scattered severe storms could happen. “Scattered severe storms” means a few isolated tornadoes and damaging wind gusts.
WHO IS INVOLVED? OUR ENTIRE LOCAL AREA… This has not changed since last night. Locally, the following communities are included in the Level 2 risk zone: Mobile, Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Milton, Jay, Berrydale, Munson, Crestview, Laurel Hill, Andalusia, Florala, Bayou La Batre, Coden, Dauphin Island, Citronelle, Mt. Vernon, Saraland, Satsuma, Wilmer, Fairhope, Silverhill, Foley, Robertsdale, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Perdidio Key, Daphne, Spanish Fort, Point Clear, Bay Minette, Tensaw, Stockton, Perdido, Loxley, Walnut Hill, Jay, Century, Bratt, Atmore, Poarch, Huxford, Brewton, Flomaton, Evergreen, Castleberry, Lyeffion, Repton, Greenville, Georgiana, Chapman, Monroeville, Uriah, Megargal, Beatrice, Perdue Hill, Tunnel Springs, Thomasville, Grove Hill, Jackson, Coffeeville, Gosport, Chatom, Millry, Leroy, McIntosh, and Fruitdale. We note Tuscaloosa, Demopolis, Camden, and Selma are included in the Level 2 risk in central Alabama.
RISK TIMES… The risk of severe weather will last from 10AM today (Saturday) to 7PM this evening for south Alabama and northwest Florida. Storms will likely enter west Alabama from Mississippi in the late morning hours. These storms will move across our region from west to east through the afternoon hours.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS… The concern today will be due to the isolated risk of isolated, brief tornadoes and damaging straight line winds in the stronger storms that happen. While there will be somewhat of a ‘mismatch’ of severe weather ingredients (with greater shear values to our north and instability fairly limited to the south), there could be one or two tornadoes and a few instances of damage due to strong winds in any storms that can “go severe.” Flash flooding risks will be lower in this system due to the fast forward motion of the line of storms. There could be pea- or dime-size hail in the stronger storms, but larger hail is not expected.
TORNADO WARNING POLICY… Anytime there is a tornado warning for any part of our 12 county primary coverage area, we stream uninterrupted severe weather coverage in the RedZone Weather app and on Facebook Live. See redzoneweather.com/coverage for more information about our coverage commitment.
COLD AIR MOVES IN TONIGHT… After the passage of the cold front that is causing this severe weather potential, significantly colder air will move into our region from the northwest tonight into Sunday. While temperatures will likely not be AS cold as initially indicated, our entire region will likely plunge into the 20s by Monday morning. The daytime hours of Monday look to be a bit warmer than we initially expected as well. High temperatures on Monday will surge into the 50s.
MORE RAIN NEXT WEEK… Another cold front is set to approach our area in the middle part of next week. Rain chances will be elevated late Tuesday into Wednesday. It’s too early to say whether severe weather will be a potential issue. Early model indications point to limited instability, likely meaning no severe weather risk for midweek. Let’s get through this low-end severe weather risk today then we will start focusing on midweek in our forecast videos starting Sunday.
APP ALERTS… Be sure to download the free RedZone Weather app (redzoneweather.com/app is the link for the free download) in your respective (iOS & Android) app store. I’ll have plenty of updates throughout the day as we track the storms moving in from the west. Once you have the app downloaded, visit the Alerts tab (bottom right corner) and tap the large, yellow “Alert Settings” button to customize the alerts you’d like to receive straight from me. I’ll be sending quite a few Low-Level Alerts today.
NEXT UPDATES… MANY updates will be posted throughout the day in the RedZone Weather app. I will be on Facebook LIVE and in the live streaming video tab of the RZW app as needed when tornado warnings are required for our area. Let me know if you have specific questions! Have a good Saturday!