STRONG STORMS POSSIBLE THURSDAY MORNING; INCREASING CLOUDINESS TODAY… Thunderstorms will develop later today across parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi that ultimately will move into south Alabama and northwest Florida overnight into Thursday morning. Some of these storms could be potentially on the strong side, capable of producing gusty winds, hail, and perhaps even a tornado or two. Clearly, the greater risk of severe storms with this system will happen to our northwest across parts of Mississippi but the risk locally is not zero. Unfortunately, it looks like this batch of thunderstorms will arrive in our area quite early on Thursday morning, perhaps in the 1AM-4AM range in west Alabama. This means we all need a way to get warnings before we go to sleep tonight, just in case your specific location becomes involved in a tornado warning polygon. I’ll have updates overnight into Thursday morning as we track the storms as they move across our area.
FEW SHOWERS POSSIBLE LATER TODAY… Clouds will increase in coverage across the region today ahead of a few showers and thunderstorms becoming possible later today, particularly in the hours after sunset. No doubt, we will have some sunshine mixed in, especially this morning before clouds become more numerous this afternoon. I expect most locales to remain dry until the early morning hours of Thursday when the main batch of storms moves across our region. High temperatures on this Wednesday will be in the low-80s.
UPDATE: LEVEL 3 RISK ADDED… Parts of western Mississippi, far northern Louisiana, and southeastern Arkansas are now involved in the Level 3 (out of 5) enhanced severe weather risk zone. This is the zone that has a slightly higher risk of tornadoes and damaging winds later today.
LEVEL 2 (OUT OF 5) SEVERE WEATHER RISK TO OUR NORTHWEST TODAY… Much of Mississippi, the northern half of Louisiana, and much of Arkansas is involved in the Level 2 (out of 5) slight severe weather risk today. Thunderstorms are expected to develop midday that could become severe near the Mississippi River. These storms will be capable of producing tornadoes, damaging winds, and hail. We note the far western part of Alabama is included in this Level 2 risk, including parts of Choctaw, Sumter, Greene, Pickens, Lamar, Marion, and Franklin counties. These are the counties in the state of Alabama that have the greatest risk of severe storms later today into the overnight hours.
LEVEL 1 (OUT OF 5) LOW-END SEVERE WEATHER RISK INTO THURSDAY MORNING… The entirety of south Alabama and northwest Florida is involved in the low-end, Level 1 (out of 5) severe weather risk valid for Thursday, from the pre-dawn hours to the early evening hours. The Storm Prediction Center includes the entirety of the southern half of Alabama and all of northwest Florida in this risk zone due to the low-end potential for a few stronger storms that may briefly ramp up to marginally severe levels. The main concerns in the stronger storms that happen locally will be damaging wind gusts capable of knocking down a tree or two across our region and hail. The overall tornado risk remains low, but not entirely zero. Please have a way to get urgent weather warnings tonight before you go to sleep as our severe weather risk will begin before sunrise tomorrow morning.
RAIN & STORMS LIKELY OVERNIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING… The low-end severe weather risk means most of us will simply have rain on Thursday morning. Rain may be heavy at times, with downpours being possible into the late morning hours. Rain chances will lessen, but will not completely drop to zero Thursday evening. More showers and thunderstorms will happen Friday.
SHOWERS & STORMS POSSIBLE FRIDAY… Another wave of rain and thunderstorms will happen on Friday, mainly in the afternoon and evening hours. High temperatures will be in the mid-80s on Friday with scattered rain and storms around throughout the day.
RAIN & STORMS LIKELY AT TIMES SATURDAY… Unfortunately, trends for Saturday continue to point to wet and stormy conditions. There is a high chance temperatures on Saturday will remain in the mid-70s due to all of the clouds and rain around. While I am not seeing signs of severe storms Saturday, there are indications we could have lightning and thunder around at times.
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.
See all the details in your Wednesday #rzw forecast video… Have a wonderful day!