Heads Up West Alabama – Tornadic Storms Less Than Two Hours Away
Dangerous storms over Central and Eastern Mississippi are producing possible and confirmed tornadoes late this afternoon. Of initial concern are two tornadic storms, one north of Philadelphia MS and the other approaching Philadelphia from the southwest. These storms are just 90 minutes from northern Pickens, northern Sumter and perhaps Lamar Counties. People in these counties should be making sure they will be in a safe place by around 6 p.m. These storms may be riding along the warm frontal boundary and should hold together. They may even intensify as they move into better instability further east.
Tornado warned storm near Eupora could impact Lamar and Marion Counties before 7 p.m. Residents in these counties should monitor these storms and be ready to move to their safe places before then.
Severe storms with really large hail are moving toward the area between Tupelo and Aberdeen, toward Amory and Smithville eventually. These big storms could impact Marion and Franklin counties between 630 and 7 p.m.
Other storms over NE Louisiana and western Mississippi north of Jackson will also impact West Alabama around 730-8 p.m. The storm near Flora just had a tornado warning issued for it.
Showers are finally developing across Central Alabama. The atmosphere has been non-conducive to convective development with a little bit of an inversion left over our western counties. That lid is now gone from Sulligent to Jasper to Cullman to Piedmont and points south. Instabilities are increasing and are already 50-1,000 joules/kg over much of Central Alabama.
If you’ve been outside, you know the airmass has changed back to more humid in the I-20/59 Corridor. Dewpoints are in the 64-68F range from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham to Anniston/Gadsden.
NOTES
The Columbus MS radar is “hot” meaning that reflectivity values are overstated. These storms don’t need any help looking strong this evening, but on the GWX radar, they will make your eyes pop out. So don’t freak out when you look at that radar.
Winfield NOAA Weatheradio is still off the air. No word when it will be restored. Northwest Alabama residents that depend on that WR
Category: Severe Weather