SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH TILL 11PM; GUSTY WINDS & HAIL POSSIBLE… Another round of thunderstorms is now developing across southeast Mississippi as of 6PM. These storms will move eastward into south Alabama and northwest Florida over the next several hours. A Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been issued that includes several counties in Alabama and Escambia (FL) and Santa Rosa counties in northwest Florida. Alabama counties involved include Mobile, Baldwin, Escambia (AL), Conecuh, Monroe, Clarke, Washington, Wilcox, Choctaw, Marengo, Dallas, Perry, Hale, Greene, and Sumter counties.
MAIN CONCERNS: GUSTY WINDS & LARGE HAIL… This watch is a Severe Thunderstorm Watch and not a Tornado Watch as the overall tornado risk remains quite low. Damaging wind gusts and large hail up to the size of a quarter will be possible over the next several hours. The tornado risk is not zero, but it is very low.
NOAA WEATHER RADIO ALERTS WILL NOT WORK TONIGHT… The National Weather Service (NWS) in Mobile is currently undergoing a major software upgrade that has required their office to be essentially offline tonight. NWS New Orleans is handling the warning issuing process for our local area tonight. Warnings WILL continue to be disseminated, just not through NOAA Weather Radio. This means that all of the local NOAA Weather Radio transmitters are not broadcasting severe weather alerts. Please rely on other sources, including but certainly not limited to our free RedZone Weather app, for alerts. Cell phone Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) are not impacted. We note that this software upgrade has been on the books for many months and is not something that can be rescheduled. The scheduling was not done by the local NWS office in Mobile but rather by the federal government. Make sure to have something OTHER THAN a weather radio to get alerts tonight!
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 updates posted over the next several hours in the RedZone Weather app. We will “go live” if tornado warnings are needed for our local area. Have a good Tuesday night!
