NEW TORNADO WATCH FOR INLAND COUNTIES; RISK LESS CERTAIN NEAR THE COAST… After several tornadoes over the last few hours across southeast Mississipi and southwest Alabama, the overall tornado risk is set to continue moving east through 3AM. A new Tornado Watch is now in effect for inland parts of south Alabama. The new watch does not include northwest Florida or southeast Alabama. Conditions remain favorable for the development of tornadoes
NEW TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 3AM… The Storm Prediction Center has just issued a new Tornado Watch valid until 3AM for Escambia (AL), Covington, Conecuh, Butler, Monroe, Clarke, Washington, Choctaw, Marengo, Dallas, Lowndes, Montgomery, Crenshaw, Barbour, Bullock, Macon, Lee, Russell, Elmore, Autauga, and Sumter counties. These are the counties that have the highest probability of tornadoes through 3AM.
TORNADO WATCH POSSIBLE LATER FOR NORTHWEST FLORIDA… Counties further to the south, including Mobile, Baldwin, Escambia (FL), Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton counties, and points east in the Florida Panhandle are in a zone where severe storms remain possible overnight, but less likely. I suspect we will transition to more of an isolated risk in these areas as opposed to the near constant barrage of storms we have had over the last several hours in southeast Mississippi and west Alabama. This is why it is uncertain as to if we will get a new Tornado Watch for northwest Florida. A Tornado Watch may or may not be needed later.
STORMS ARE ARRIVING FASTER THAN GUIDANCE SUGGESTED… The back edge of the severe storms is currently draped from Gilbertown to Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Once this line clears through your location over the next few hours, the severe weather risk will end for the night. It looks like the whole line of storms should be to our east (east of Covington and Okaloosa counties) by 5AM. Hopefully storms will continue to be faster than guidance suggested and we can get rid of the severe weather risk even earlier!
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… If you haven’t already, be sure to download the free RedZone Weather app to keep up with all the latest information on the world of weather in south Alabama and northwest Florida. redzoneweather.com/app is the link for the free download. Once you have the app downloaded to your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab (lower right corner) and tap the large Alert Settings button to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.
I will have updates posted throughout the night in the RedZone Weather app. We will “go live” if/when tornado warnings become required locally. Have a good evening!