SEVERE STORMS LIKELY LATER TODAY; BE ABLE TO HEAR WARNINGS… Severe thunderstorms capable of producing widespread damaging wind gusts, strong (EF2+) tornadoes, hail, and flash flooding will become possible on this Wednesday. What happened overnight is that guidance shifted back a bit and it now appears 11AM to 11PM will be the twelve hour window when severe storms will be most likely to happen across southwest Alabama and northwest Florida. Regardless of when storms start in your location, have a way to hear warnings throughout the day and into the evening hours. All of our local area in south Alabama and northwest Florida continues to be involved in the Levels 3 and 4 risk zones, which are quite significant. Thunderstorms should move well to our east overnight and better weather is ahead tomorrow into Friday and the weekend. High temperatures will be in the mid- to upper-70s today.
UPDATED – SEVERE WEATHER TIMING… The projected timing with this severe weather potential has been quite challenging. Uncertainty surrounding the timing is a bit higher than normal for an event like this. Severe thunderstorms continue to seem most likely to happen in the afternoon and evening hours on Wednesday, although timing has shifted (yet again) to be a bit sooner. 11AM this morning to 1AM overnight is the window when storms are most likely to happen across south Alabama and northwest Florida. The “core window” for storms in that 13 hour timeframe will largely depend on what happens with the initial storms that happen early in the window. There is a chance the initial storms are so strong that the atmosphere is completely worked over and stabilized and the severe weather risk ends much sooner (and in the daytime). There is a chance, however, that the initial storms may fizzle, allowing for more intense storms this evening. The big takeaway here remains: Be on guard today into tonight as severe storms will be possible. I will have plenty of updates posted throughout the day in the RedZone Weather app.
A NOTE ABOUT THE “ALL CLEAR” MESSAGES… If we are able to do so, I will be giving incremental “all clear” messages for specific cities and towns as I can throughout the event with a final, big “all clear” for the entire region (likely later this evening or tonight). Until you get the all clear, assume that more warnings will be possible for your location and BE ABLE to hear warnings! I try my best to do this during live severe weather coverage and post in the app when we are not in live video coverage, although sometimes if active weather is in progress, the all clear messages sometimes are pushed to the side for a bit. Regardless, I will post in the RedZone Weather app the final all clear as soon as I am able to definitively do that.
CLEARING SKIES ON THURSDAY… Isolated, lingering showers will be possible on Thursday morning, particularly before 9AM. Most spots across the region will have clearing skies in the afternoon and evening hours. There is a fairly high chance most of us will have some sunshine before the end of the day on Thursday. High temperatures will be in the mid-70s tomorrow.
FANTASTIC WEATHER FRIDAY AND INTO WEEKEND… Skies will remain mostly sunny on Friday with partly cloudy skies likely into the weekend. Overall, the upcoming weekend looks quite nice. Highs will be in the mid-70s on Friday and in the low-80s this weekend. Overnight lows will be in the mid- to upper-40s Saturday morning with 50s likely on Sunday morning.
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 Alert Settings button to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.
I’ll have more updates posted throughout the day in the RedZone Weather app. If you don’t see us in live coverage on Facebook/YouTube, make sure to check the app for the latest info! We will go into live, uninterrupted video coverage if and when tornado warnings become required later today.
Have a good Wednesday and please stay safe!
