A Late Night Look at the Alabama Weather Situation

Showers and storms have sagged to the south of I-20 tonight over East Alabama.

A severe thunderstorm warning has just expired for parts of Cleburne County.

The only warnings in effect right now are a Flash Flood Warning for Cullman County, and Areal Flood Advisories for parts of Etowah, Blount, Calhoun and Cleburne Counties.

A tornado watch remains in effect until midnight for parts of East Central Alabama, including Calhoun, Chilton, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Randolph, Shelby, St. Clair and Talladega Counties.

The storms will slowly weaken through the next couple of hours, but there is still over 2,000 joules/kg of CAPE south of the sagging line of storms. The storms remain organized, with high bulk shear still supporting them. The highest helicity values are sliding into Georgia, but values are still over 250 m2/s2 over the southeastern half of Alabama.

The cold front is pushing into West Alabama tonight. It will be over Southeast Alabama by morning, with low pressure located near Chattanooga. Breezy westerly winds will bring in cooler and drier air early tomorrow morning, with temperatures struggling to climb at all from morning lows in the upper 40s and lower 50s. Winds will gust to 25-30 mph at times, making it feel even more uncomfortable with a little light rain at times and a good supply of wraparound clouds.

We will be in the lower and middle 30s tomorrow night. The rest of the week will be cool and dry through Thursday with moderating temperatures and some rain returning for the weekend.

National Weather Service survey teams will be fanning out tomorrow to assess damage. Staff from the NWS Birmingham will be going to Southside in Etowah County and to Jacksonville in Calhoun County. There may be other tornado paths as well. In addition, folks from the NWS in Huntsville will be visiting storm-damaged areas as well.

TERRIBLE NIGHT
We knew that it might be bad, and we fear how bad it might be in places affected by tonight’s tornadoes and hailstorms. The first light of day will reveal the extent of the damage. Our prayers go out to all of the people affected tonight.

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Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS