Showers and thunderstorms were becoming more numerous across a broad part of Central Alabama this afternoon. However, they were scarce in the Tennessee Valley.
Within the last hour, the showers and storms have developed further north into Lamar, Fayette and Walker Counties over to near Gadsden. They thin out again down over South Alabama. The strongest thunderstorms and heaviest rain were over the east/central part of the state.
The National Weather Service in Birmingham issued a Special Weather Statement until 2:15 for these counties:
Chambers
Clay
Coosa
Randolph
Shelby
Talladega
Tallapoosa
The NWS calls this a Significant Weather Alert, short of a warning. They were tracking numerous strong thunderstorms from South Talladega County to South Randolph County. The storms will move east at 15 mph.
The storms could produce winds up to 40 mph and the usual old nemesis–frequent cloud-to-ground lightning. Rain amounts of 1 inch are possible with these storms.
In the Birmingham Metro Area, heavy showers were over SW Jefferson County west and SW of the city.
If you were up last night, you probably witnessed the most brilliant lightning possible.
We are also looking to the west where showers and storms were increasing in number and growing stronger over East Mississippi, especially West and Northwest of Columbus.
