LOW-END SEVERE WEATHER RISK WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING… The Storm Prediction Center has introduced a low-end, Level 1 (out of 5) severe weather risk valid for Wednesday evening into Thursday morning. The concern is that a few thunderstorms may briefly ramp up to strong or marginally severe levels mainly in the early morning hours of Thursday for our local area. Most locales will simply have rain at times as a cold front marches eastward across our area. The main concern in any of the storms that can briefly ramp up to strong or severe levels will be gusty winds capable of knocking down trees. The tornado risk remains low, but not entirely zero for areas closer to the coast. Much cooler, stable air will arrive on Christmas Eve Thursday in the late morning hours, quickly bringing the severe weather risk.

WHAT TO EXPECT WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY… Scattered showers will be the main event for most locales across our region. If you’re farther inland in communities like Thomasville, Monroeville, Greenville, Beatrice, or Coffeeville, the severe weather risk looks QUITE low, if not near zero. Rain and perhaps a few rumbles of thunder will be possible in inland communities. The severe weather issues, if we have any, will likely happen closer to the immediate coast.

GREATER RISK OF STRONGER STORMS CLOSER TO THE COAST… The Storm Prediction Center includes parts of Baldwin, Mobile, Escambia (AL), Covington, Escambia (FL), Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton counties in their low-end, Level 1 (out of 5) marginal severe weather risk valid late Wednesday into early Thursday. These are the zones that have the low-end chance of seeing a strong or severe storm. This includes places like Mobile, Pensacola, Daphne, Fairhope, Bay Minette, Foley, Loxley, Saraland, Satsuma, Prichard, Wilmer, Bayou La Batre, Coden, Dauphin Island, Atmore, Flomaton, Brewton, Century, Walnut Hill, Bratt, Molino, Gonzalez, Perdido Key, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Milton, Pace, Gulf Breeze, Navarre, Jay, Berrydale, Munson, Baker, Crestview, Laurel Hill, Wing, Florala, Destin, Mary Esther, Fort Walton Beach, Santa Rosa Beach, DeFuniak Springs, and surrounding areas.

TIMING – SEVERE WEATHER RISK… The main window for a few strong storms is likely to set up from 10PM Wednesday to 10AM Thursday, with the main window likely being from 3AM to 8AM. We will further refine this time frame over the next day or so as we continue to review the latest model guidance.

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… 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.

I’ll have your next regularly scheduled forecast video posted by 7:15AM tomorrow. Have a great evening!

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