SEVERE STORMS IN WASHINGTON COUNTY… We have one warning locally as of 7:37PM – it’s a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of southeastern Washington County, AL. The warning is in effect until 7:45PM. Gusty winds and hail possible shortly near Calvert, McIntosh, Sims Chapel, Malcolm, Sunflower, and Wagerville. We encourage no driving on US43 from Leroy south to Mt. Vernon as the hail could be damaging.
TORNADO WARNING FOR BIBB COUNTY… The only tornado warnings in Alabama at this moment are in Bibb and Chilton counties. Centreville and Brent are included in the tornado warning. Jemison is also included. If this storm holds its strength or strengthens, a new tornado warning may be needed for parts of Shelby County, just south of the Birmingham metro.
SPOTTY STORMS FIRING AHEAD OF THE MAIN BATCH OF STORMS… The storms across west Alabama are the “big storms” of the night. Once these cells move through your community, you’ll get an “all clear” for the night. We are seeing a few small storms under severe limits as of 7:37PM. One cell is over Mobile Bay just east of Fairhope, Montrose, and Daphne. Several cells are lined up in Baldwin County from Elsanor south to Elberta, Miflin, Gulf Shores, and Orange Beach. These cells are currently well below severe limits. Good bit of lightning in these small storms, however.
WHAT TO EXPECT – NEXT SEVERAL HOURS… This broken line of supercell storms in west Alabama will continue slowly moving east. We lost some of the upper support for severe storms a bit earlier, thankfully, as a shortwave moved out of the region and to the north. We have another shortwave coming in from Louisiana over the next few hours that will likely amp up some of the storms to be more severe. I expect a new Tornado Watch to be issued within the hour that will likely include many more counties.
Watching radar trends like a hawk tonight! We will “go live” when tornado warnings are needed locally.
