Blog – RedZone Weather

7:38PM January 8, 2026

PROLONGED SEVERE WEATHER RISK KICKS OFF FRIDAY AND LASTS INTO SATURDAY… Multiple rounds of thunderstorms will be possible across parts of the Deep South on Friday into Saturday. The current expectation is that much of the day on Friday should be quiet across the bulk of south Alabama and northwest Florida. Isolated severe storms may happen on Friday in parts of west Alabama. The severe weather risk expands to the entire region on Saturday morning into the afternoon hours. Brief tornadoes, damaging wind gusts, and large hail may become possible in the strongest of the storms tomorrow into tomorrow night and Saturday. While this will be a low-end risk for the majority of our local area, we encourage everyone to have multiple ways to hear warnings over the next 48 hours, just in case a tornado warning is needed for your specific location.

SEVERE WEATHER TIMING – FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY FOR WEST ALABAMA… Multiple rounds of thunderstorms, including a few severe thunderstorms, may be possible across parts of southeast Mississippi and west Alabama from late Friday morning to Saturday afternoon. It probably won’t be raining the entire time, but intermittent storms seem likely. For west Alabama specifically (areas west of the Alabama River like Thomasville, Grove Hill, Jackson, Chatom, Millry, McIntosh, Gilbertown, Sweet Water, etc.), the severe weather potential may kick off as early as 10AM tomorrow and last until Saturday afternoon. For areas further east, see the paragraph below for severe weather timing specifics.

SEVERE WEATHER TIMING – SOUTH-CENTRAL ALABAMA, NORTHWEST FLORIDA, COASTAL ALABAMA… Friday will likely feature a few showers and maybe a few thunderstorms at times across the vast majority of our local area. There is a real chance some communities remain completely dry on Friday. Our focus tomorrow will primarily be on the areas in west Alabama and in Louisiana and Mississippi where severe weather parameters are expected to be a bit higher. The risk across much of our local area will happen from 4AM to 4PM on Saturday. That means you will need to have a way to hear warnings before you go to sleep tomorrow night. This is a low-end risk, but a tornado or two is not completely out of the question. Most communities will simply have rain and thunder at times.

LEVEL 2 (OUT OF 5) RISK FOR WEST ALABAMA, MISSISSIPPI, LOUISIANA… The risk of damaging wind gusts, large hail, and a few tornadoes will maximize tomorrow into tomorrow night across parts of Mississippi and Louisiana. The Storm Prediction Center notes this is the zone where the best combination of atmospheric ingredients will exist to support a few tornadoes. This zone includes Alexandria (LA), Monroe (LA), Jackson (MS), McComb (MS), Hattiesburg (MS), Baton Rouge (LA), and Brookhaven (MS).

LOW-END RISK FOR ENTIRE LOCAL AREA ON SATURDAY… The entire local area across south Alabama and northwest Florida is involved in the Level 1 (out of 5), low-end severe weather risk zone valid on Saturday. Most of us will simply have rain and thunder at times on Saturday due to spotty thunderstorms. One or two isolated severe storms may be possible, including a tornado or two. Most of us probably won’t have warnings, but have a way to get and hear warnings – just in case it involves your location!

FLOOD WATCH TO THE NORTH; RAIN AMOUNTS LOCALLY TO VARY… Rain amounts will vary QUITE a bit across south Alabama and northwest Florida with the greatest rain amounts likely happening in parts of Clarke, Washington, Marengo, and Choctaw counties in west Alabama. Rain totals of 2-3″ are expected in parts of those counties. Lower rain amounts of 0.25″ to 1.5″ are expected across south Alabama and northwest Florida with the higher rain amounts generally happening further inland. A Flood Watch is in effect for much of central Alabama due to the higher rain amounts expected there.

COOL AIR ARRIVES SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY… The warmth our area has been having over the last few days comes to an end Saturday night as temperatures tumble into the upper 40s by Sunday morning. Afternoon highs on Sunday will be in the mid to upper 50s. We’ll be around, if not just below, the freezing mark, on Monday morning across much of the region. Monday night into Tuesday morning will feature overnight lows below freezing in most communities locally.

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 YouTube Live. 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 (AL), 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!

APP ALERTS… redzoneweather.com/app is the link where you can download the free RedZone Weather app. We post brief updates throughout each day in the app, keeping you up-to-date about the latest happenings in weather across south Alabama and northwest Florida. Once you have the free app downloaded to your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab (lower right corner) then tap the large Alert Settings button to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.

NEXT UPDATES… I will have more updates posted throughout the night, as needed, in the RedZone Weather app. My next detailed video update will be posted by 7:15AM tomorrow (Friday) morning with the latest information.

Have a good Thursday evening!