Alabama 811 | Know What's Below.

Late Night Update

| April 25, 2015 @ 12:13 am

Showers and storms are beginning to form over North and Central Alabama over into Central Mississippi ahead of a northward moving warm front. Here is a loop of regional radars:

current_anim_se 042415

The storms over North Central Mississippi are stronger. They will start to enter Northwest Alabama’s Lamar and Marion Counties between 1 and 2 a.m. There is a severe thunderstorm warning for three Mississippi counties southwest of Starkville. Look for those storms into West Alabama between 2-3 a.m.

Here is an animation of the simulated radahrrr_2015042503_ref_ser reflectivity from the HRRR model:

A powerful complex of thunderstorms moved through the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex during the early evening hours last night, producing a 76 mph wind gust in downtown Fort Worth that downed trees and tree limbs. There was a tornado warning for Tarrant County for awhile. There were roughly a dozen tornado reports Friday afternoon and evening from Texas, Kansas and Louisiana. There was an impressive image of three landspout tornadoes on the ground in Scott County, Kansas. Flooding was reported around North Texas, including Grayson County.

These storms are in northern Louisiana now northeast of Ruston. They will reach western Alabama between 4-5 a.m. as an upper level disturbance starts to swing across the northern part of the state. Showers and storms will be widespread in the I-20 corridor between 4-8 a.m. gradually pushing south during the morning. They should be out of North Central Alabama by 10 a.m.

STABILIZING FACTOR: This morning’s convection has acted to stabilize the atmosphere over North and Central Alabama, which is good news. But, a warm front moved northward overnight and we find ourselves in the unstable warm sector of a surface low located over southern Illinois. The big question is how much the atmosphere will be able to reload today. Indications are that scattered thunderstorms will form by mid-afternoon over areas mainly east of I-65. Any storms that do form will have the potential to become severe with a threat of hail, damaging winds and a few isolated tornadoes. The greatest threat for severe weather will be between noon and 3 p.m. west of I-65, between 2-4 pm in the I-65 corridor and between 4-7 p.m. over East Alabama. Areas mainly northeast of a line from Hamilton to Oakman to McCalla to Auburn have the best chance for severe weather.

BUST ALERT: This much advertised severe weather event could turn out to produce nothing later today. In fact, recent runs of some of our best mesoscale models have indicated there could well be almost no thunderstorm development over the northern half of the state this afternoon. We will just have to wait and watch.

BIRMINGHAM NOAA WEATHER RADIO: Unfortunately, the Birmingham NOAA Weather Radio transmitter is still down… so we recommend using a smart phone app like MyWarn or WeatherRadio by WDT as a good backup. You can also change the frequency on your weather radio to Mt. Cheaha (162.475) or Tuscaloosa (162.40). There is no time estimate for when the transmitter will be back on the air.

We will have updates throughout the night.

Category: Alabama's Weather, Severe Weather

About the Author ()

Bill Murray is the President of The Weather Factory. He is the site's official weather historian and a weekend forecaster. He also anchors the site's severe weather coverage. Bill Murray is the proud holder of National Weather Association Digital Seal #0001 @wxhistorian

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