FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY IN WEST ALABAMA…
LOW-END RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER CONTINUES… Rain and thunderstorms will continue across south Alabama and northwest Florida on this Friday. There is a low-end, Level 1 marginal severe weather risk in place across our area per the latest convective outlook issued by the Storm Prediction Center. This means that the severe weather risk today is LOW, but it’s not zero. It is important that I clearly emphasize the major risk today, which is heavy rain that will cause (and exacerbate in west Alabama) flash flooding. Some spots in Washington, Clarke, and Choctaw counties have already had 6-8” of rain in total with isolated higher amounts. We’re also looking ahead to Sunday when we could potentially have another round of strong to severe storms. Here are the details…
FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCIES CONTINUE… Numerous flash flood warnings (some of which have been upped to very rare Flash Flood Emergency status, aka the “worst of the worst” flash flooding scenarios) continue across parts of Washington, Clarke, and Choctaw counties in west Alabama. Radar estimates peg the rain totals near the Alabama-Mississippi state line in Wayne County, MS near 11-12 inches of rain so far! Cars were stranded along US43 near Thomasville early this morning and several water rescues were reported. Water rescues were also reported in Choctaw County.
DAMAGE & FLOOD REPORTS… Several trees were knocked down in northern Clarke County last evening as thunderstorms moved by. We also had several other reports of trees down in Clarke County, per the EMA reports sent to the local National Weather Service office. Numerous reports of flash flooding were observed from Choctaw, Clarke, and Washington counties in west Alabama.
TORNADO & WIND RISK VERY LOW, BUT NOT ZERO… South Alabama and northwest Florida remain included in the Level 1 (out of 5) marginal severe weather risk zone in the Storm Prediction Center’s convective outlook. This means that a brief, spin-up tornado will be possible in the stronger storms that develop today. In addition, I can’t rule out brief, damaging wind gusts like what we saw last evening in Thomasville in northern Clarke County (see paragraph below). The severe weather risk will end from west to east today as the main line of thunderstorms moves through.
RAIN & STORMS TO CONTINUE… Even after the severe weather risk ends, there will be lingering rain and showers into this evening. More rain will likely develop on Saturday and push into our area from the southwest.
FLASH FLOOD WATCH… NWS Mobile continues to include much of our area under a Flash Flood Watch valid through later today. Washington, Clarke, Monroe, Conecuh, Butler, Escambia (AL), Mobile, Baldwin, Escambia (FL), and Santa Rosa counties are all included in the Flash Flood Watch. Okaloosa and Covington counties are NOT included, as rainfall amounts in those two counties should end up being less than 3 inches in total over the next few days.
STRONG STORMS POSSIBLE ON SUNDAY… There is some model evidence that a warm front may move north across our area on Sunday, potentially setting the stage for yet another low-end severe weather event. There is also a chance that the warm front lifts only northward to the immediate coastline, which would keep most of our area under more stable air which would limit the severe weather threat. We’ll keep monitoring this potential and bring you the latest info in the RedZone Weather app over the next 24-48 hours.
UNSETTLED PATTERN THROUGH NEW YEAR’S… There will be a chance of rain each day through January 2 as a mild, wet pattern remains in place across our region. Most models suggest cooler, drier air will filter into the local area by Wednesday of next week. Sunshine will likely return Thursday into Friday of the upcoming week.
APP ALERTS… Be sure to download the RedZone Weather app if you haven’t already done so. redzoneweather.com/app is the link for the free download. Once you have the app downloaded to your smartphone and/or tablet, be sure to visit the Alerts tab (lower right corner) and tap the large, yellow “Alert Settings” button to customize the alerts you’d like to receive straight from me. We’ll be sending a lot of Low-Level Alerts over the next few days.
See all the details in your Friday #rzw forecast video… Have a great day!