Tornado Watch Issued for Mississippi

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Posted 9:04 p.m. Sunday

Intense thunderstorms continue tonight over Arkansas and Louisiana. The strongest ones are over Central Louisiana between I-20 and I-49. A tornado warning is in effect for the area just downstream from Alexandria, for a severe thunderstorm that showed indications of a tornado near the Alexandria International Airport earlier. Half dollar sized hail was reported in Tioga in Rapides Parish.

This storm is turning right now a little so it will pass south of Natchez MS.

To the north, a broken line of supercell thunderstorms, many of which are severe, extends along the Mississippi River from Popular Bluff MO to Clarksdale MS south of Memphis.

This activity is along the pre-frontal trough. Closer to the cold front, other strong storms have formed from the Little Rock area to Fordyce and ElDorado in Arkansas.

A tornado watch is now in effect for much of Mississippi until 3 a.m.

BOTTOM LINE
Will this activity affect Alabama overnight?

The short answer is yes. But there are definite signs that the storms will weaken fairly quickly after getting into Alabama around 1 a.m. Instability levels across western Alabama are almost non-existent. The numbers on the graphic are dewpoint values, and you can see they have dropped to near or below 60F across eastern Mississippi and western Alabama. There is really no mechanism for them to recover before the storms arrive.

There is fairly good consensus among the mesoscale models that the storms will pretty much fall apart as they move across the state. Therefore, the threat for widespread severe weather is very low for Alabama overnight.

But, this is Alabama in April, and our weather watchword is “When it comes to thunderstorms, expect the unexpected.” So we will be monitoring their march across Mississippi towards our front doorstep carefully throughout the night. You should too. Have a source for receiving warnings even while you sleep overnight. And check back periodically for updates.

Category: Alabama's Weather, Severe Weather