A Late Night Look at Our Weather Situation

Radar as of 10:30 pm across North/Central Alabama shows that everything is all quiet for us, but the story is much different back to our northwest and west. A line of strong to severe storms continue to move eastward across the western parts of Kentucky, down through the northwestern corner of Tennessee, and back through a good portion of west and central parts of Arkansas. Showers are just now beginning to cross the Mississippi River into the extreme northwestern parts of Mississippi.

Here is a list of Tornado Watches currently in effect for this incoming storm system:

Tornado Watch #552 continues until 11:00 pm for portions of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee.

Tornado Watch #553 continues for a few counties in Illinois and Missouri until 11:00 pm.

Tornado Watch #554 continues for portions of Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee until 2:00 am Saturday morning.

Tornado Watch #555 continues for portions of Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma until 11:00 pm.

Tornado Watch #556 continues for portions of Arkansas and Oklahoma until 11:00 pm.

Tornado Watch #557 continues for portions of Illinois and Indiana until 2:00 am Saturday morning.

Tornado Watch #558 was just issued for portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas until 5:00 am Saturday morning.

While it is quiet across North/Central Alabama, it has already become quite breezy out there. I was having a little difficult time keeping my vehicle in my lane while returning home from the Van Gogh exhibit at the BJCC.

A Wind Advisory is in effect for Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, Morgan counties in North Alabama until 12 pm Saturday.

A Wind Advisory is in effect for Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Etowah, Fayette, Jefferson, Lamar, Marion, St. Clair, Walker, Winston counties in Central Alabama until 1 pm Saturday.

For the overnight hours up until 6 am Saturday morning, we have an Enhanced Risk (level 3/5) for the extreme northwestern corner of the state, including the city of Florence. A Slight Risk (level 2/5) continues for locations south of that to a line from roughly Hazel Green (Madison Co.) to Grayson (Winston Co.) to Crossville (Lamar Co.). A Marginal Risk (level 1/5) is up south of that to a line from Scottsboro (Jackson Co.) to Cordova (Walker Co.) to Emelle (Sumter Co.).

After 6 am, the Enhanced Risk goes away, and we’ll be left with a Slight Risk for locations along and north of a line from Pleasant Grove (Jackson Co.) to Hanceville (Cullman Co.) to Aliceville (Pickens Co.). A Marginal Risk is up for nearly all locations south of the Slight Risk in North/Central Alabama, except for the southern and southwestern parts of Pike County and the southern 3/4ths of Barbour County.

The main window for the threat of strong to severe storms across the area will be from around 4 am to 6 pm on Saturday. The above map shows a breakdown for the timing in portions of North/Central Alabama. I have 5 am for the start time in the northwestern parts of the state, but it may actually begin just before that, possibly as early as 4 am.

Stay weather aware through the overnight hours. We’ll be with you with updates and any watches, warnings, or advisories that are posted throughout the event.

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS, Severe Weather