TORNADO WATCH FOR WEST ALABAMA; RISK TO RAMP UP ACROSS REGION IN THE MORNING… Have a way to get urgent weather warnings tonight before you go to sleep! Storms will likely develop over our region overnight. Some of those storms could be strong or severe and produce very heavy rain on already saturated soil. Flash flooding has been an issue today and probably will get worse tomorrow with more heavy rain expected. A Tornado Watch is in effect for Clarke, Washington, and Choctaw counties in west Alabama through midnight. There is a pretty high chance that we will have more counties under a Tornado Watch on Thursday morning. Let’s look at a few Wednesday evening details.
LULL IN THE ACTION FOR NOW… As expected, we had round 1 of heavy rain and storms from around lunch to 6PM. Much of our area is now in somewhat of a lull in the action. More storms are expected to develop to our south, to our west, and potentially right on top of our region later this evening and on Thursday morning. Don’t be tricked into thinking the severe weather risk is over. It’s not. Once the cold front passes through your location tomorrow (Thursday) morning, THAT is when you’ll get a final severe weather “all clear.”
MORE STORMS TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING… Another round of storms will develop to our southwest and potentially over our area tonight and into Thursday morning. This round of storms will be capable of producing brief tornadoes, damaging winds, and heavy rain that will likely lead to flash flooding for certain areas. Have a way to get warnings overnight and DO something about it if your location goes under a tornado warning. Have the tornado helmets close by tonight and ready to grab if you go under a warning!
TORNADO WATCH IN WEST ALABAMA… The Storm Prediction Center continues a Tornado Watch for all parts of Clarke, Washington, and Choctaw counties in west Alabama. This includes places like Thomasville, Grove Hill, Jackson, Coffeeville, Whatley, Toddtown, Fulton, Gainestown, Tallahatta Springs, Woods Bluff, Toxey, Silas, Gilbertown, Butler, Needham, St. Stephens, Chatom, Leroy, Sunflower, McIntosh, Vinegar Bend, Deer Park, Millry, Yarbo, Jordan, and surrounding areas. Several counties in Mississippi are also included in this Tornado Watch.
TORNADO WATCH TO THE NORTH TILL 10PM… Marengo, Sumter, Perry, Dallas counties and points north in Alabama are also included in a separate tornado watch valid until 10PM. This means places like Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Clanton, Cullman, Oneonta, Gadsden, Anniston, Huntsville, Decatur, and Tuscaloosa are all involved in a Tornado Watch valid until 10PM.
FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES… The entirety of south Alabama and northwest Florida remains involved in an active Flash Flood Watch valid until 6PM Thursday evening. We’ve already had one Flash Flood Warning in northwest Florida today and I expect more to be needed if we see storms training over the same areas. An additional 3 to 4 inches of rain will be possible in some spots over the next 24 hours.
RAIN LINGERS AFTER SEVERE WEATHER RISK ENDS… Heavy rain will continue to be possible on Thursday, long after the severe weather risk comes to an end. Rain is likely into the afternoon and evening hours. All of the rain will finally shift out of our area Thursday evening. Much better weather is ahead for Friday and into the weekend.
TORNADO WARNING COVERAGE… Be sure to join us on Facebook Live and in the RedZone Weather app if a tornado warning polygon is issued for any part of southwest Alabama or northwest Florida. redzoneweather.com/coverage outlines our coverage commitment when we have tornado warnings. We do this no matter what time of day it is, whether it’s 3PM or 3AM.
APP ALERTS… Many updates will be posted throughout the night in the RedZone Weather app. redzoneweather.com/app is the link for the free download. Be sure to visit the Alerts tab (bottom right corner) and tap the large, yellow “Alert Settings” button to customize the alerts you’d like to receive from me. If you like a lot of info, be sure to toggle ON Low-Level Alerts.
Let me know if you have specific questions. Have a great evening!