Tornado Watch Canceled for Central Alabama For Now, But Severe Weather Threat Returns After Midnight

The NWS in Birmingham has canceled the current tornado watch since we are in a lull across the area, but the threat has not ended for the night and Thursday morning.

This clears Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton, Dallas, Etowah, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Lamar, Marengo, Marion, Perry, Pickens, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tuscaloosa, Walker, and Winston Counties.

The watch is canceled for all North Alabama Counties but DeKalb, Jackson, and Marshall.

For now, that is. In fact, there will likely be another tornado watch later tonight.

The severe weather threat will ramp back up after midnight as instability values increase ahead of an approaching trough and the low-level feet at 5,000 feet intensifies even further.

Storms may intensify again after midnight, with a few discrete cells capable of still producing a few tornadoes. Damaging winds and hail will also be a threat.

These storms will intensify through the hours after midnight for areas ahead of the front, from Marengo, Perry, Bibb and Shelby counties eastward through the I-65 Corridor over to the Georgia border, including places like Clanton, Calera, Centreville, Marion, Selma, Montgomery, Prattville, Alex City, Roanoke, Auburn, Tuskegee, Eufaula, and Troy.

The threat will last for Central Alabama locations until the cold front moves through.

Here is the HRRR simulated radar at 1 a.m. CST showing some storms starting back up just south of Birmingham.

Here is the Updraft Helicity Product off the HRR, which shows the potential tracks of such storms through 7 a.m. These will of course not be the exact tracks, but it does show there is still a threat.

The significant tornado parameter is not off the charts, but the greenish values are greater than 1, which shows an atmosphere capable of producing a tornado.

Rain should continue through late morning west of I-65 with falling temperatures into the 50s by afternoon for ares west of I-65.

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