Update at 12:45 PM: Severe Storms Moving Into North Alabama

A line of strong to severe thunderstorms is moving southeastward at 35 MPH and has now entered the northeast corner of the state. Several Severe Thunderstorm Warnings have already been issued for parts of Limestone, Madison, Marshall, Dekalb and Jackson counties. Damaging winds of 60 MPH or higher, along with hail reaching up to 1 inch in diameter, is possible with this line of storms.

Instability values are ranging from 3500-4000 J/kg across all of the area, along with a very moist airmass with dewpoints ranging in the mid to upper 70s, these storms should maintain their strength as the continue to move into untapped air.

Downdraft CAPE values are well over 1000 J/kg, which means that damaging thunderstorm downdraft winds are possible with any of these storms as they continue to move southeast through North/Central Alabama.

The main window for strong/severe storms will be from now until 10:00 PM tonight. SPC continues a Slight Risk of severe storms for all of North Alabama and much of Central Alabama throughout the remainder of the day. At this point, the Severe Thunderstorm Watch continues until 7:00 PM.

Damage reports are already starting to flow in, as multiple trees have been reported downed in the northern parts of the state and up into southern Tennessee. We’ll have more details on damage reports in our next update.

The Weather Prediction Center has issued a Mesoscale Precipitation Discussion for the northern parts of the area, as the line of storms is now starting to show signs of training. Some of the rainfall estimates are showing rates near to 3.00 inches per hours. Localized flash flooding could become an issue rather quickly.

Stay tuned throughout the day for updates. Any warnings and advisories are immediately published to the blog as they are issued by the NWS.

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS