Stormy Across the Country

I love a rainy day, and today has fit the bill. 0.63 inches here at my location in Trussville so far today.

Other spots have gotten much more. I saw JB report 1.74 inches at West Blocton from earlier today.

Rain continues tonight across Central Alabama in a 100 mile wide band that extends southward from about Demopolis to Anniston. The southward progress of the rain area has ceased as the front has stalled.

Next door in Mississippi, showers are increasing over Central Mississippi from Cleveland to north of Meridian. This activity is along the front that is lifting northward as a warm front. This activity will spread into Alabama later tonight.

Flash flood watches are posted starting at 10 p.m. tonight as the rain and storms increase again.

Meanwhile, to the west, a disturbance is swinging through Oklahoma. It is producing increasing storms back int Texas and Louisiana, where tornado watches are in effect.

Tornado watches eastern Texas into NW Louisiana. A tornado warning is now in effect for the Shreveport area. There is a chance for strong tornadoes over the next several hours this evening.

This activity will spread into Mississippi overnight and affect us early tomorrow. It should weaken a bit as it gets into our area but severe weather will be possible after 9 p.m. tonight lasting into tomorrow morning here in Central Alabama.

We get a break later in the day as a surface low slides by and pushes the front southward. But another disturbance will bring another round of rain and storms early Friday morning.

The main event will occur Friday night into early Saturday as the main disturbance swings our way. All modes of severe weather will be possible with this system, including tornadoes.

Flooding in North Dakota: The Red River in Fargo is supposed to crest at 41 feet on Saturday. This will be close to an all time record crest. Thousands of volunteers are working feverishly to raise emergency levees with sandbags. Emergency managers estimate it will take 2 million sandbags to do the job.

It was 12 years ago that the Red River completely flooded Grand Forks, North Dakota.

The winter storm out west: Denver is in a major snow deficit, and this snow will help them. It is expected to bring 15 inches of snow to the Denver Metro where Winter Storm Warnings are in effect. Up to two feet of snow is expected in the ski resort areas of Colorado.

Frequent updates throughout the event right here on the blog.

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