The severe storm risk for the day appears to be more limited as the day continues on, and the SPC has trimmed the size of the slight risk area over parts of North/Central Alabama for the remainder of this event. Most of the state remains in a slight risk, but now a small part of western Alabama has been removed and placed in a marginal risk.
The system slowly moving along the southwestern part of Alabama, southern portions of Mississippi, the extreme eastern parts of Louisiana, and back over the Gulf of Mexico is limiting the destabilization of the atmosphere over the area. Now we will still have a more limited risk for severe storms later this afternoon as storm development is still expected along and just ahead of a cold front that will move through the area this evening and into the overnight hours.
The better threat for severe storms for the northern half of the state, including damaging winds, large hail, and a few brief tornadoes, are possible over the northwestern parts of the area, with risks declining in nature as the storms move to the east across the area. The threat is pretty equal for mainly all of the southern half of the state, but maybe a smidge more likely the farther south you go.
Approximate timing for the storms today in much of North/Central Alabama will be from 3:00PM-8:00PM in the western parts of the area (west of a line from Demopolis to Cordova to Huntsville), 7:00PM-12:00AM in the central parts (west of a line from Lowndesboro to Sylacauga to Fort Payne), and 10:00PM-3:00AM for the eastern parts. Timing for the southern parts of Central Alabama will be from now until 8:00PM tonight.
So the best advice is to be sure you have a way of getting warnings. A NOAA Weather Radio is the baseline, and a good smart phone app is the other tier. Identify the safe place in your home, and be sure everyone knows where it is. And, in that safe place have helmets for everyone, along with hard sole shoes and preferably a portable airhorn in case you need help. Be prepared for the possibility of severe storms anytime this afternoon or evening.
The rain and storms should begin to move out of the area after midnight, and Friday is really going to turn out to be a really nice day. Skies will be mostly sunny, and temperatures will be just fine, making it into the lower to mid 70s for most, with a few upper 70s in the southern parts of Central Alabama.
