Tropical Soaker; A Few Small Tornadoes Possible

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HOT, DRY WEATHER IS OVER: The remnant circulation of Tropical Storm Lee will impact Alabama in a big way with the dual threat of flash flooding, and isolated, small tornadoes.

Flash flood watches remain in effect for all of Alabama through tonight. Additional rain totals of 2-4 inches are likely statewide, with isolated amounts of 4-8 inches. There will be many flash flood warnings issued today, so if you live in a flood prone area be ready to move to higher ground if a warning is issued for your part of the state. Creeks and streams will also be out of their banks in many cases.

There will be breaks in the rain at times, but occasional heavy, tropical downpours are likely.

TORNADO WATCH: SPC has much of Alabama in a tornado watch until 4:00 this afternoon; this includes basically all of the state along and south of U.S. 278, with the exception of Cullman County. See the Weather Xtreme video for the graphics.

This is NOTHING like April 27. Tornadoes in spiral bands in a landfalling tropical system are generally weak, short lived, and low topped. They are often under the radar, meaning they can touch down with no warning, like the one in Rainbow City yesterday afternoon. Trying to warn for these small tornadoes is almost like throwing darts.

Where small tornadoes do touch down today, they often last no longer than a few minutes, so by the time a warning is issued, they are long gone.

So, you might hear of many tornado warnings today, and if you are in a polygon go ahead and go to a safe place, but please understand the nature of what we are dealing with.

REST OF THE WEEK: The remnant low moves away from Alabama, and our weather improves with only a few lingering showers. Then, the rest of the week (Wednesday through Friday) looks rain-free with mostly sunny days and cool nights.

FALL WEATHER IS HERE! The 90s are long gone, at least for now. Highs for the rest of the week will be only in the 70s, with lows down in the 50s. In fact, we are looking at the potential for 40s across the cooler pockets of North Alabama at daybreak Wednesday. Fall weather fans will be celebrating.

WEEKEND PEEK: An upper low is expected to form northwest of the state, and that might bring a few scattered showers Saturday and Sunday, not nothing really widespread. Highs will be in the low to mid 80s.

WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 90 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40. We will record this week’s episode tonight at 8:30 p.m. CDT.

FOLLOW ALONG: Here are our weather team Twitter accounts….

Stay tuned to the blog for running updates on the flash flood/tornado threat today…

Tags: Lee

Category: Alabama's Weather