SLIGHTLY WARMER TODAY; WINDY TOMORROW; SEVERE STORMS POSSIBLE TUESDAY NIGHT… Mostly cloudy skies over the next several hours will give way to mostly sunny skies this afternoon into the early evening hours. A few sprinkles and areas of light rain will be possible over the next several hours, mainly across inland areas of southwest Alabama. High temperatures will be near the 70 degree mark this afternoon. Breezy conditions are expected for Fat Tuesday ahead of a chance of strong to severe thunderstorms tomorrow (Tuesday) night into early Wednesday morning.
WINDY CONDITIONS FOR FAT TUESDAY… Sustained winds of 10-25 mph will be possible throughout the day on Fat Tuesday into the evening hours. Wind gusts of 30-40 mph will be possible across much of the Deep South ahead of the advancing line of thunderstorms. Wind gusts in the thunderstorms could be in the 70-80 mph range for a brief time as storms pass through, but breezy conditions are likely WELL in advance of the storms. Temperatures on Tuesday will peak around 75 degrees around 3PM.
SEVERE WEATHER TIMING – TUESDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY… 6PM on Tuesday to 3AM Wednesday is the nine hour window for strong to severe thunderstorms across southwest Alabama and northwest Florida. Storms will start on the western side of our region in Mobile and Washington counties and gradually move eastward throughout the night, exiting out of Covington and Okaloosa counties to the east by 3AM. We encourage everyone to have multiple ways to hear warnings Tuesday night – you need something that can wake you up like a loud NOAA Weather Radio, just in case your specific location goes under a tornado warning.
MAIN THREATS LOCALLY: DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND A FEW TORNADOES… Damaging wind gusts capable of knocking down trees will be the main concern on Tuesday night. A few tornadoes will also be possible. For now, this does not look like an event featuring long track, significant tornadoes across our local area, but like I always caution, even if a “weak” tornado affects you, it’s a big deal. Please be able to hear warnings Tuesday night!
DRIER END TO THE WEEK; COLD NIGHTS… Wednesday and Thursday will feature drier conditions across the region. Highs will be in the upper 60s and near 70 on Wednesday with temperatures in the low 60s on Thursday afternoon. The coldest night of the week will clearly be Thursday night into early Friday morning when overnight lows will be in the mid 30s. There is a low-end probability of below freezing temperatures north of US84 but most spots across the region will remain above the freezing mark, however. Friday is expected to be a mostly sunny day with high temperatures near the 70 degree mark.
STORMS LIKELY ON SATURDAY; TOO EARLY TO KNOW IF SEVERE STORMS MATERIALIZE… Our next round of active weather, after Tuesday night, will happen on Saturday. We know that there is a high chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms on Saturday. What is less clear, however, is IF we will have a severe weather setup or if this event will be just a good, old fashioned rain event. High temperatures on Saturday will be in the low 70s. Rain seems likely for much of the day on Saturday. If you have outdoor events planned, make sure you have an indoor backup ready.
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 YouTube Live. 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 will have a detailed forecast video update posted just after 7AM tomorrow morning with the latest information. Plenty of updates will be posted throughout the day in the RedZone Weather app as well. Have a great start to your week!
