Tornado Watch WIll Be Extended Northward

The SPC says that it will be necessary to issue a new tornado watch later this afternoon or this evening further to the north of the existing watch that covers southern Mississippi and Alabama. It could extend up to near the Birmingham area, as you can see in their mesosscale discussion graphic above. See the current watches in the upper left hand panel of this graphic.

Some of the strongest storms right now are along the Alabama/Mississippi border south of Meridian. They are currently affecting parts of Washington and Choctaw Counties. They will move into Sumter and perhaps Marengo Counties in the next couple of hours. They do have the potential to produce small, spin up tornadoes.

Rain continues across the Tennessee Valley, but Central Alabama is currently in a lull.

The center of Tropical Storm Lee (if it is still a tropical storm, we will find out at 4 p.m. when the new advisory is issued) is along the Mississippi River northwest of Baton Rouge. Winds over Louisiana are not very strong right now, with none of the major reporting stations observing gusts over 35 mph right now.

I will insert the particulars from the new advisory here when it is issued.

The low is moving to the north or north northeast right now. It is expected to turn more northeastward tonight.

Rain should increase over Alabama tonight and continue through much of Monday. Rainfall amounts will be heavy, especially near and just west of the track of the low. Rainfall totals could exceed 7 inches in some areas. Flash flood watches are in effect until Tuesday. The tornado threat will continue into tomorrow as well as the center moves northeast. Winds will increase late tonight and become gusty over Alabama tomorrow, averaging 12-25 mph and occasionally gusting to over 30 mph. The good news is…temperatures will remain in the 70s mostly for the next couple of days. Tuscaloosa has reached 81F today.

Category: Alabama's Weather, Tropical