HELENE CONTINUES TO STRENGTHEN; LOW-END TORNADO RISK TODAY LOCALLY… While our focus has been on an organizing Helene in the Caribbean Sea, we have a low-end tornado risk setting up across parts of south Alabama and northwest Florida on this Wednesday. Most spots will simply have rain and thunder at times, but a few widely scattered strong to severe thunderstorms will be possible. Note that the storms locally today have nothing to do with Helene. These thunderstorms are happening because of an advancing frontal boundary associated with an upper-level trough. This system is actually part of the “push” that is going to keep Helene to our east, thankfully. High temperatures will be in the mid-80s today.
LOW-END, LEVEL 1 (OUT OF 5) TORNADO RISK TODAY… While I am not expecting widespread severe thunderstorms today, one or two storms that ramp up to strong or severe levels will be possible. The greatest probability of severe storms today will happen across parts of south central Alabama and northwest Florida. West Alabama has a much lower probability of severe storms today. Any thunderstorms that briefly become severe will be capable of producing a tornado or two along with damaging wind gusts. I will have radar updates posted throughout the day, as needed, in the RedZone Weather app. As always, we will “go live” on Facebook and YouTube if a tornado warning becomes needed for our local area.
HELENE TO RAPIDLY STRENGTHEN… Helene, a tropical storm at the time I am producing this video very early on Wednesday morning, is now located in the far northwestern Caribbean Sea near the western tip of Cuba and the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Rapid intensification is expected in the southern Gulf of Mexico over the next 12-24 hours. Helene is expected to be racing across the eastern Gulf with 15-25 mph of forward speed. The National Hurricane Center is calling for Helene to be a major, category 3 hurricane at the time of landfall on Thursday evening with maximum winds around 120 mph.
HURRICANE WARNING FOR PARTS OF THE FLORIDA COAST; TROPICAL STORM WARNING CLOSER TO HOME… A Hurricane Warning has been issued from Anclote River to Mexico Beach, Florida. This includes Port St. Joe, Cape San Blas, Tallahassee, Apalachicola, and much of the Big Bend region. A Storm Surge Warning has been issued from Flamingo to Indian Pass, Florida, including Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor. A Tropical Storm Warning has been issued for the Middle Florida Keys from the Seven Mile Bridge to the Channel 5 Bridge. A Tropical Storm Warning has been issued for the Gulf coast of Florida from Flamingo northward to Anclote River, including Tampa Bay, and west of Mexico Beach to the Walton/Bay County Line. The Tropical Storm Warning includes Panama City and Marianna. Henry and Houston counties in southeast Alabama are currently involved in a Tropical Storm Watch.
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 in the RedZone Weather app. 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!
SET UP APP ALERTS… We send quite a bit of Low-Level Alerts in our RedZone Weather app. The app is totally free for you! redzoneweather.com/app is the link where you see the download links to your respective app store for iOS and for Android devices. Once you have the app downloaded to your smartphone or tablet device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.
I will have more updates posted throughout the day in the RedZone Weather app. Have a good Wednesday!