ISOLATED TORNADO RISK HAS STARTED FOR COASTAL AREAS…
HEAVY RAIN & BIG WAVES NEAR THE BEACHES AS GORDON APPROACHES… Tropical Storm Gordon is now just south of our local area with impacts underway at the Alabama and northwest Florida beaches. A Hurricane Warning remains in effect for Mobile and Baldwin counties and a tropical storm warning continues for Escambia [FL] and coastal areas of Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties. We’re also monitoring scattered pop-up storms that have formed ahead of Gordon.
TORNADO POTENTIAL INCREASES THIS EVENING… So far, the outer rain bands that have moved onshore have not had rotating storms. This trend is expected to change in the hours ahead as the center of Tropical Storm Gordon moves closer to our area. Please understand that the isolated tornado risk has started for coastal areas and will spread inland AND this will be a LONG DURATION isolated tornado risk. We could have a tornado warning in our area basically now through about 2PM on Wednesday. I have a suspicion that we may have a very long night with many tornado warnings. Tornadoes in tropical systems are often “weak,” and usually don’t last longer than a few minutes. Really doesn’t matter if a tornado is “weak” or not, as they still can do considerable damage, even on the low-end of the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
HAVE A WAY TO GET THE WARNINGS… You need to have a way to receive urgent weather warnings before you go to sleep tonight. Again, perhaps numerous tornado warnings will happen in the overnight hours. We strongly recommend everyone know what to do and where to go. The lowest floor of a site-built structure, away from windows and doors is where we recommend going. Protecting your head is VITAL during tornadoes as research consistently proves that most tornado-related injuries happen because of blunt-force trauma to the head. A helmet is a great option, or if you don’t have a helmet, a cooking pot works too. Must have something strong and sturdy to protect your head!
TORNADO WARNING COVERAGE… Per our usual policy, we will provide live streaming video coverage whenever a tornado warning is required for our local area (as outlined at redzoneweather.com/coverage).
CENTER OF GORDON TO MAKE LANDFALL TONIGHT… The center of Gordon will likely cross the Mississippi coast near Gulfport or Biloxi this evening between 8PM and 2AM. Gordon will be a strong tropical storm or a category 1 hurricane at landfall this evening. It really won’t matter whether it’s a 70mph tropical storm or a 75mph hurricane as impacts will be the same.
APP… Be sure to visit the Alerts tab in the bottom right corner here in the RZWeather app and tap the large, yellow “Alert Settings” button to customize the alerts you want to receive straight from me.
NEXT VIDEO… My next video will be posted as needed this evening, likely tornado warning coverage when we get the first warning. In the meantime, there are PLENTY of updates being posted in the RedZone Weather app.
I’ve got the latest graphics and details for you in this special LIVE afternoon video update… Let me know if you have questions and let us know where you’re watching from in the comments!