AN INCREASING RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER ON SUNDAY… The severe weather risk for tomorrow (Sunday, May 2, 2021) has increased. The Storm Prediction Center now includes the western half of our local area in their Level 2 (out of 5) severe weather risk, meaning scattered severe storms will be possible, including a few tornadoes. In addition to an increasing tornado risk, large hail and damaging straight line wind gusts will be possible in the stronger storms. The main timeframe for storms will happen in the afternoon and evening hours in the peak heating hours of the day. Storms should begin to subside tomorrow evening before 9PM in most cases. A few more Saturday evening forecast notes are below.
SEVERE WEATHER TIMING – SUNDAY… 11AM to 9PM will be the ten hour window when strong to severe thunderstorms will be most likely to happen across our local area in southwest Alabama and northwest Florida. 2PM to 6PM will probably be the four hour window when storms are at their peak in terms of coverage and intensity across the local area. Please have a way to get warnings throughout the day on Sunday and join me on Facebook Live if and when we have tornado warnings for our local area.
LEVEL 2 RISK FOR WESTERN SIDE OF REGION… The Storm Prediction Center now includes many locales in the western half of our region in their Level 2 (out of 5) risk zone. These are the locations that have the highest chance of experiencing severe weather hazards on Sunday, mainly in the afternoon and evening hours: Mobile, Prichard, Saraland, Satsuma, Creola, Mt. Vernon, Citronelle, Wilmer, Dauphin Island, Bayou La Batre, Theodore, Fairhope, Daphne, Spanish Fort, Montrose, Point Clear, Loxley, Bay Minette, Stockton, Stapleton, Tensaw, Thomasville, Grove Hill, Jackson, Toddtown, Coffeeville, Whatley, Gainestown, Campbell, Chatom, Millry, Yarbo, Vinegar Bend, Deer Park, McIntosh, Wagerville, and surrounding areas in west Alabama. We also note much of Choctaw, Marengo, Sumter, Greene, and Pickens counties in west-central Alabama are involved in this Level 2 (out of 5) risk.
LOWER-END RISK TO THE EAST… If you are in the following communities, you are currently involved in the low-end, Level 1 (out of 5) severe weather risk valid for Sunday. These are the areas where severe storms may happen, but probably not to the extent of the storms expected to happen farther west. The Level 1 risk zone includes Pensacola, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Foley, Perdido Key, Beulah, Gulf Breeze, Milton, Pace, Warrington, Gonzalez, Cantonment, Walnut Hill, Molino, Bratt, Atmore, Poarch, Jay, Mt. Carmel, Chumuckla, Berrydale, Brewton, Flomaton, Pineview, Barnetts Crossroads, Evergreen, Castleberry, Repton, Lenox, Belleville, Burnt Corn, Monroeville, Uriah, Excel, Frisco City, Mexia, Tunnel Springs, Peterman, Beatrice, and surrounding areas.
GENERAL THUNDERSTORMS FOR BUTLER, COVINGTON, OKALOOSA… Right now, much of Butler, Covington, and Okaloosa counties remain involved in the “general” thunderstorms zone where severe storms are less likely to happen. This means these zones are currently not involved in a formal severe weather risk zone: Andalusia, Opp, Florala, Carolina, River Falls, Red Level, Libertyville, Straughn, Greenville, Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Crestview, Baker, Laurel Hill, Deerland, Dorcas, Campton, and surrounding areas.
MAIN CONCERNS: DAMAGING WIND GUSTS, HAIL, A FEW TORNADOES… All modes of severe weather will be possible on Sunday, including tornadoes, damaging wind gusts, large hail, and heavy rain. While the tornado risk will probably be greatest to our west across parts of Mississippi and Louisiana, we encourage everyone to have a way to get urgent weather warnings throughout the day on Sunday just in case a warning is needed for your location. As always, if we have tornado warnings, we will come on Facebook Live to bring you the very latest info.
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!
SET UP APP ALERTS… We send quite a bit of Low-Level Alerts in our RedZone Weather app. The app is totally free for you! redzoneweather.com/app is the link where you see the download links to your respective app store for iOS and for Android devices. Once you have the app downloaded to your smartphone or tablet device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.
I will have more updates as needed overnight and into Sunday morning in the RedZone Weather app. Have a great Saturday evening!