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Two Tornado Fatalities near Carrollton in Pickens County; Be in Safe Shelter as Dangerous Line of Storms Approaches

| January 11, 2020 @ 12:06 pm

There are two fatalities reported from the tornado that struck near Carrollton in Pickens County around 11:15 a.m. The fatalities and injuries are along Settlement Road.

A line of strong thunderstorms capable of producing widespread damaging winds and tornadoes is pushing across the western half of Alabama at this hour.

It extends from western Limestone through Lawrence into western Winston, Fayette, western Tuscaloosa, Greene and Marengo counties.

There are several kinks and bows in the line that can cause spin-up tornadoes. They are being monitored closely.

Winds within the line could gust to 60-70 mph.

Winds are gusting to 35-45 mph even outside the storms, so trees could be toppled at anytime, even away from storms.

The tornado warning for Tuscaloosa County has been canceled with the storm weakening, but the storms are still dangerous.

The tornado warning for Fayette County has been canceled.

Severe thunderstorm warnings continue for…
…Lawrence County til 12:15 p.m.
…Parts of Fayette, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Sumter and Tuscaloosa Counties til 12:30 p.m.
…Parts of Bibb, Fayette, Jefferson, Shelby, Tuscaloosa, and Walker Counties til 1:00 p.m.

If you are in a severe thunderstorm warning today, we want you to shelter like it is a tornado warning just because of the high probability of damaging winds.

The line will reach Birmingham around 1 p.m. It will reach Anniston and Gadsden between 2-3 p.m.

The activity is moving into an area of 500-1,000 joules of surface-based instability, so it may intensify.

Wind shear is off the charts today. Helicity values are approaching 700 m2/s2 over West Alabama. Surface winds are “backed”, or out of the southeast all across Central Alabama, which is favorable for tornadoes.

Once the main line of storms passes, your severe threat will end.

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS, 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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