The Storm Prediction Center has upgraded the risk for much of Central Alabama to a Slight Risk for severe storms through the rest of today and tonight. Continue reading →

Much of the north and central parts of Alabama are free from shower and storm activity at this point, but what will grab your attention is the big thunderstorms that are rolling through Lamar and Fayette counties. These storms are producing torrential amounts of rainfall, plenty of dangerous cloud-to-ground lightning, and gusty winds in excess of 40 MPH. All of these were moving southeastward at around 20 MPH, and will be affecting Vernon, Sulligent, Beaverton, Crews, Bedford, star, Pine Springs, and the Lamar County Airport and Public Lake. Continue reading →

At 10:40 AM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms along a line extending from Winfield to near Bluff to Blooming Grove. Movement was southeast at 20 mph. Winds in excess of 40 mph will be possible with these storms. Continue reading →

A boundary of drier air has set up over the northern parts of the state, and this is really inhibiting any storm development in the Tennessee Valley and into the northern communities of Central Alabama. At this point, just about all of the shower and storm activity has pushed south of the I-20 corridor, with the exception for the storms located over Calhoun and Cleburne counties. Continue reading →

It is definitely clear to see by looking at the latest radar image that a boundary has set south of a line from Hamilton to Guntersville to Fort Payne. That is where much of the activity has fired at this point, with more activity a little farther south of that. There may be a rogue shower or storm that forms north of that line, but much of the Tennessee Valley could stay dry for the remainder of the afternoon hours. Continue reading →

At this time across North/Central Alabama, we have a few small showers starting to pop up on radar as we are approaching that magical time of the day when convective showers and storms start firing. We have a small shower just to the southwest of Fultondale, along with very few showers popping in the north Tuscaloosa and in southcentral Talladega counties. These will most likely continue to grow while more will develop within the next hour or so. Continue reading →

Showers and storms have started to pop up back over the western and northwestern parts of the state, as the cold pool that I mentioned earlier has been worn away. Surface-based instability values have climbed back up into the 2500-3500 J/kg range over much of the northern-half of the state, and with current temperatures in the mid 80s to the lower 90s where it hasn’t rained yet, convective development will continue to occur for a little while longer. Precipitable water values in the 1.5-2.3 inch range, so if you’re caught under one of these strong storms, you can expect very heavy rainfall that could total up to an inch or more within a short time. Continue reading →