GUSTY WINDS CONTINUE, BUT ALL CLEAR FROM CORE IMPACTS OF ZETA… Gusty winds and intermittent showers are set to continue across south Alabama and northwest Florida over the next several hours, but the risk of significant impacts from Hurricane Zeta have come to an end across the region. A Tornado Watch continues in areas to our east in southeast Alabama and the Florida Panhandle region in Walton County and points east, but the risk of a tornado in southwest Alabama and northwest Florida has ended.

WIDESPREAD AND APPARENT EXTENSIVE DAMAGE IN WEST ALABAMA… Reports continue to come in from Clarke, Washington, and Wilcox counties in west Alabama indicating that considerable damage has happened. I have seen several reports from Clarke County EMA Director Roy Waite indicating that damage is potentially major across much of Clarke County with numerous trees down and numerous structures sustaining damage. I suspect the first light of day will reveal even more damage in this region where the core of Hurricane Zeta moved through.

FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES… A Flash Flood Warning continues until 3:30AM for parts of Clarke, northwestern Monroe, Wilcox, Choctaw, Washington, and northern Mobile counties in southwest Alabama. If the tree damage wasn’t enough reason, no driving is encouraged in these areas due to ongoing flash flooding issues that may continue for the next hour or so.

SCATTERED TREES DOWN ACROSS THE REGION… I also continue to see NUMEROUS reports of trees being down, not only in west Alabama but really across the entire area in scattered locales. Again, we will get a much better grasp of just how many trees came down during Hurricane Zeta after the sun comes up in a few hours.

POWER OUT FOR THOUSANDS ACROSS THE REGION… The latest power outage count for the state of Alabama continues to rise. 207,000+ customers are without power as of 1:45AM, with vast majority of customers in Clarke and Wilcox counties without power. We note that power outages are also numerous in all of our local southwest Alabama counties.

WHAT TO EXPECT – NEXT FEW HOURS… In short, “better weather.” Winds will continue to gradually subside. The ongoing storm surge issues at the local coastline will slowly recede. We could have scattered areas of rain over the next several hours, even into the morning hours after sunrise. Skies should begin to clear later this afternoon and we will most likely be sunny by the end of the day. High temperatures today will peak in the upper-70s.

SUNNY, QUIET, COOLER DAYS AHEAD… Friday, Saturday (Halloween), and Sunday will be nice, quiet, and sunny. Highs on Friday will be around 70, with highs in the mid-70s for Halloween Saturday and for Sunday. Overnight lows will be in the upper-40s inland with low-50s closer to the coast on both Saturday and Sunday mornings.

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I will have another detailed weather update posted by 7:15AM in just a few hours. See you then!

HIGH WIND ACROSS THE AREA AS OF 11PM… Winds are at their worst right now across the much of the local area. Sustained winds are near 50-70 mph in parts of Clarke, Choctaw, Monroe, Marengo, and Wilcox counties. Sustained winds of 30-40 mph are happening to the south and east. Thank you to everyone submitting wind reports and power outage reports! Hunker down across our area and maintain your shelter until the core of the hurricane passes in about 1-2 hours.

NUMEROUS POWER OUTAGES… Unfortunately, our concerns about power outages are quickly coming to fruition as numerous areas are without power as of 11PM. I have had countless reports of power being out in various spots in nearly ALL local counties. Let me know if power is out where you are. Name/town please!

TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES… The tornado risk is not over just yet for much of the area. We still have another 1-2 hours of enhanced tornado potential across part the region. After that, we will be able to give a tornado all clear once the center of the storm is east of a given location. As of 11PM, the Tornado Watch is CANCELLED for Mobile, Baldwin, and Washington counties in southwest Alabama. The tornado risk has ended in these 3 counties.

FLASH FLOOD WARNING… The following areas are under a Flash Flood Warning until 3:30AM: Thomasville, Grove Hill, Jackson, Whatley, Gosport, Scyrene, Gainestown, Walker Springs, Toddtown, Salitpa, Chatom, Vinegar Bend, Deer Park, McIntosh, Wagerville, Sunflower, Malcolm, Calvert, Citronelle, Wilmer, Mount Vernon, Silas, Toxey, Coffeeville, Pine Hill, Camden, Possum Bend, Fulton, Bashi, Morvin, Bigbee, Millry, Yarbo, St. Stephens, and surrounding areas in southwest Alabama. NO DRIVING is encouraged in these areas as intense wind and heavy rain continues, in addition to the flash flooding risk.

MAIN ZETA IMPACTS END BY 3AM… I expect vast majority of south Alabama and northwest Florida to get an “all clear” from the ongoing impacgts of Hurricane Zeta by 3AM. That is when the storm will clearly be well to our north over central Alabama or even northeast Georgia. Zeta is RAPIDLY moving northeast at 31 mph as of 11PM.

APP ALERTS… redzoneweather.com/app is the link where you can download the free RedZone Weather app. We post brief updates throughout each day in the app, keeping you up-to-date about the latest happenings in weather across south Alabama and northwest Florida. Once you have the free app downloaded to your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab (lower right corner) then tap the large, yellow Alert Settings button to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.

NEXT LIVE VIDEO… My next live video will start at midnight. See you then!