SUNNY, NICE TUESDAY; THURSDAY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT… Enjoy the sunny, beautiful weather we’ll have on this Tuesday as we have another round of strong to severe thunderstorms set to move across Alabama and northwest Florida on Thursday in the afternoon and evening hours. High temperatures will climb into the low-80s this afternoon. More sunshine is in store for Wednesday before clouds start increasing in coverage late in the evening. Thursday gets our attention, however, as tornadoes and damaging wind gusts become possible yet again across our region. The good news is rain clears out early Friday morning and we have a splendid Easter weekend upcoming. Let’s talk details…
SUNNY TODAY AND COOL TONIGHT… It’s all sunshine on this Tuesday with high temperatures in the low-80s by 3PM. Tonight, temperatures will be in the 60s for the evening hours falling to around 56° by daybreak on Wednesday.
SEVERE WEATHER RISK TO OUR WEST ON WEDNESDAY… The same storm system that will ultimately move across our area on Thursday sets up to our west on Wednesday. The Storm Prediction Center has outlined parts of southern Arkansas, eastern Texas, and southern Oklahoma in their Level 3 (out of 5) orange/enhanced risk zone. In addition, a larger swath of the Level 2 risk zone is in place for TX, LA, AR, and OK. No severe weather issues are expected locally on Wednesday as we will have mostly sunny skies in place for much of the day.
SEVERE STORMS POSSIBLE IN P.M. HOURS ON THURSDAY… While Thursday morning will feature increasing wind from the south as our area enters the humid, unstable warm sector out ahead of the advancing cold front, the severe weather issues are MOST likely to happen in the afternoon and evening hours of Thursday. The Storm Prediction Center maintains much of Alabama and northwest Florida in their Level 2 (out of 5) slight risk zone, meaning scattered instances of severe weather will be possible. Tornadoes and damaging winds will be the main concerns.
TIMING OF THE STORMS ON THURSDAY… 2PM to 11PM seems to be the best estimate of a “severe weather timing” window at the moment, although we note that could change as more model data comes in over the next 48 hours. We all will need a way to get urgent tornado warnings on Thursday, particularly after the lunch hour. The good news is the latest trends suggest this will be a daytime/evening event and NOT an overnight event unlike our last round of severe weather that happened on Sunday.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS THURSDAY… While early model indications point to a system that will produce a squall line of strong to severe storms (QLCS – quasi-linear convective system as it’s known in the meteorology world), it’s too early to know whether supercell thunderstorms will be involved out ahead of the main line. Regardless, isolated tornadoes and damaging straight line winds will clearly be the two main hazards across our region as this quick hitting system moves by.
ISOLATED SHOWERS FRIDAY MORNING… Most of the rain should be to our east by Friday, but there could be a few, isolated lingering showers through midday on Friday. High temperatures Friday will be in the low-70s after the passage of the cold front.
GORGEOUS EASTER WEEKEND AHEAD… This is great news! Saturday and Sunday are slated to be sunny with highs around 80°. Picture perfect for Easter Sunday! Overnight lows will be in the mid-50s. Definitely nice to have a glorious, calm, sunny weekend in sight.
See all the details in your Tuesday #rzw forecast video… Have a great day!