HURRICANE LAURA WELL TO OUR WEST TODAY; NO MORE IMMINENT TROPICAL THREATS… After a historic night with a high-end category 4 Hurricane Laura making landfall in Cameron, Louisiana, impacts continue this morning well to our west across parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and Mississippi. High winds, tornadoes, flash flooding, and coastal hazards like rip currents continue to be a problem this morning for areas to our west. Thankfully, local impacts are not expected due to Hurricane Laura in south Alabama or northwest Florida other than our ongoing rip current threat at the immediate coast. Today, scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to pop up in the afternoon and evening hours locally. High temperatures will be near 90 degrees in most spots. While the National Hurricane Center (NHC) is keeping tabs on a tropical wave emerging into the eastern Atlantic Ocean, that is the norm this time of year. I had several questions about an apparent viral post saying “5 more storms are behind Laura!” Not so fast… No new tropical storms are expected to form over the next 2-3 days. There is a low chance of ONE (not 5!) new tropical storm developing way out in the Atlantic Ocean this weekend. See more details below.

LAURA MOVING NORTH ACROSS LOUISIANA… Laura remains a dangerous hurricane, well inland this morning, across west-central Louisiana. Laura made landfall with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph near the community of Cameron, Louisiana. Winds gusted to 130+ mph in Lake Charles, LA around 2AM. Unfortunately, even before daylight this morning, the images I’ve seen circulating on social media highlight potentially catastrophic damage near Lake Charles. I am afraid that morning light will reveal a bleak situation, perhaps similar to what our area observed in the Florida Panhandle when Hurricane Michael roared ashore in October 2018.

TORNADO RISK TODAY TO OUR WEST… I am not expecting a tornado risk today or tonight across south Alabama or northwest Florida, however there will be a fairly sizable part of the Deep South involved in an ongoing tornado risk through tonight due to Hurricane Laura. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has outlined much of Louisiana, western Mississippi, and Arkansas in their Level 2 (out of 5) tornado risk today. Brief, spin-up tornadoes will continue to be possible in those areas through tonight.

TORNADOES POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHWEST ALABAMA FRIDAY… The northwestern corner of Alabama is involved in a Level 2 (out of 5) tornado risk valid on Friday as the circulation associated with Hurricane Laura continues moving northeast. Places like Decatur, Huntsville, Muscle Shoals, Florence, Russellville, Hamilton, Double Springs are involved in this tornado risk area.

LOCALLY, SCATTERED STORMS ARE THE STORY… Afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms will continue to be our norm over the next week. We maintain at least a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms through Tuesday of the upcoming week. Storms are not expected to be organized or severe in most cases, but some of the storms may be on the strong side, with lightning, heavy rain, and gusty winds being the main concerns. High temperatures will be near 90 with morning lows in the mid-70s.

20% CHANCE OF TROPICAL STORM FORMATION… There is a low-end chance (20% as of now) that a tropical wave currently emerging into the Atlantic Ocean will develop into a tropical storm as the wave moves into the central Atlantic this weekend. Development is not imminent as environmental conditions over the eastern Atlantic near Africa are not suitable for a tropical storm to form right now. This system will move toward the Leeward Islands in 5-7 days. This is more of a curiosity than anything else at this point. Something to watch, not something to stress over. We’ll keep you posted.

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See all the details in your Thursday #rzw forecast video. Have a good day!

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