The Wednesday morning edition of the Weather Xtreme video is available on the player below, and also on iTunes. Note the video is loaded daily at 7:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m…. the blog discussion is usually posted about 30 minutes before the video is ready.
MAJOR SEVERE WEATHER THREAT: SPC maintains a moderate risk of severe weather today for the southern two-thirds of Alabama and Mississippi. A tornado watch is up this morning for Alabama in the general area from Tuscaloosa to Gulf Shores, and as I write this a tornado warning is in effect for Marengo County. That Marengo storm produced a tornado earlier this morning in Laurel, MS with major damage and a few injuries. It is a marginal warning for Marengo, but based on the storm’s history I think it is valid.
HOW IT WILL UNFOLD: A large band of rain and storms is moving through Alabama this morning associated with the warm front. I still don’t expect any major severe weather problems until after 9:00, although a few isolated tornadoes are not out of the question along and south of U.S. 80.
After 9:00; we expect an increase in the number of showers and storms statewide, and the storms in the 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. could show signs of rotation and produce a few isolated tornadoes. We note the storms to the west are forming into a line over far West Mississippi; if the storms roll through here in a solid line like that the main threat will come from damaging straight line winds. We also note the line of storms in beginning to accelerate; we worst of the weather could be over by late afternoon.
CALL TO ACTION: If you read this blog, then you probably will be close to a good source of warnings today. Schools and businesses might want to review their severe weather safety plan early this morning. We strongly suggest that schools do NOT dismiss early due to the high percentage or rural Alabama children that live in mobile homes. Also, there is no need to delay the start of school this morning due to weather.
SEVERE WEATHER COVERAGE: Don’t forget, you can watch our radar anytime on the live stream, and of course in the event of a tornado warning, we will put our wall to wall coverage on the stream. Just go to our main page and click on the live stream button on the upper right.
J.B. and Bill Murray will keep the blog updated with fresh information all day. We have canceled all scheduled weather programs today and we will all concentrate on working this potentially dangerous weather event….
And, most likely due to ongoing weather I won’t be able to crank out a Weather Xtreme video this afternoon. I am sure you understand!
