SIGNIFICANT ROUND OF SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE THIS WEEKEND… The Storm Prediction Center has posted an uncommon risk zone 4-5 days out from now valid for Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020 when severe weather, including tornadoes, damaging straight line winds, large hail, and flash flooding will be possible. It is too early to know anything highly detailed about specific hazard placement and timing, although tornadoes and damaging winds seem increasingly likely based on increasing convergent model agreement. Outlook upgrades and changes are expected in the days ahead. Be sure to check back with me over the next few days as this threat continues to evolve. There is a chance this could be a significant round of severe weather.
DEEP TROUGH & WARM SECTOR LIKELY… You may be wondering how and why the Storm Prediction Center posts an outlook like this so far out. SPC uses multiple weather models and simulations to help better understand the possibilities of what could happen across the continental United States for any given day. Model guidance has been consistent enough to warrant an “early red flag,” suggesting there is a growing potential for the outlooked areas to have severe weather. A trough in the jet stream will dip down across the Great Plains and ultimately move eastward. Combine that with the warm, unstable air that will likely be in place across our region on Sunday, and you get a recipe of ingredients coming together that could produce weather hazards, including tornadoes.
TORNADO WARNING POLICY… Any time there is an active tornado warning in effect for southwest Alabama or northwest Florida, we provide uninterrupted, live video coverage on Facebook Live and in the RedZone Weather app. Our detailed coverage commitment is outlined at redzoneweather.com/coverage. We are proud to cover all parts of Escambia (AL), Covington, Monroe, Conecuh, Baldwin, Mobile, Clarke, Washington, Butler, Escambia (FL), Santa Rosa, and Okaloosa counties. If you live in any locale in those counties, be sure to tune into our coverage whenever there is an active tornado warning!
APP ALERTS… Now is the time, long before we get to this severe weather potential, to set up the RedZone Weather app on your smartphone! redzoneweather.com/app is the link where you can download the iOS or Android version of the app. Once you have the app downloaded to your device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab (lower right corner of the app), then tap the large, yellow Alert Settings button to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.
Have a nice evening!