ALL CLEAR: SEVERE WEATHER RISK HAS ENDED; DAMAGE REPORTS ACROSS REGION… It is 2:45AM on Monday and the risk of tornadoes and severe weather has now ended across south Alabama and northwest Florida. I can give everyone WEST of Destin, Crestview, Florala, Opp, and Luverne an ALL CLEAR as the tornado threat is now over. The severe weather risk is set to continue across southeast Alabama and the Florida Panhandle east of Destin for the next few hours. The tornado watch has been cancelled locally, but it does continue for areas to our east in the Florida Panhandle, Georgia, and southeast Alabama.
DAMAGE ACROSS THE REGION… We will get a better picture of what has happened across the region after first light around 6:15AM, but what we know this evening is that power is out and trees are down in places across our region. The hardest hit area locally appears to be in southwestern Clarke County, AL near Salitpa and Coffeeville where a likely tornado knocked down numerous trees. Reports of trees being knocked down have come in over the last few hours in parts of Butler, Escambia (AL), Covington, Monroe, and Washington counties as well. If you have damage in your specific location, please let me know in the comments so we can pass that info along to our friends at the National Weather Service in Mobile for their warning verification program.
EXTENSIVE TORNADO DAMAGE IN NORTH ALABAMA & S.E. MISSISSIPPI… I am concerned the first light of day will expose major/extensive damage across several communities in Alabama and Mississippi. Clearly the hardest hit areas overall from this significant severe weather outbreak happened in parts of southeast Mississippi near the communities of Soso and Laurel. Unfortunately, at the time of this posting at 2:15AM, Mississippi officials are confirming 7 tornado deaths in the state. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those impacted by storms earlier, especially the families that lost loved ones in this severe weather outbreak. Boaz in north Alabama, in addition to Jefferson County, sustained considerable damage due to likely significant tornadoes.
THANKS FOR WATCHING OUR COVERAGE… Thank you so much to everyone who liked, shared, and watched our severe weather coverage leading up to the event over the last few days and during the actual event on Sunday into early this morning. It is incredibly helpful to have an army of folks across our region willing to send in excellent photos of the skies, the damage, and the Safe Place Selfies. I greatly appreciate your support and I hope that you and your family have benefited from our coverage.
My next regularly-scheduled forecast video will be posted by 7:15AM on Facebook and in the RedZone Weather app.
Good night!
