The SPC and NWS Huntsville has issued a Tornado Watch starting immediately for the following counties in North Alabama: Colbert, Jackson, Lauderdale, Limestone, and Madison. The watch is set to expire at 9:00 pm tonight. Here is the text of the watch from the SPC:
Primary threats include…
• Several tornadoes and a couple intense tornadoes likely
• Scattered damaging winds and isolated significant gusts to 75 mph likely
• Scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 3 inches in diameter likely
SUMMARY… Severe storm development is expected by mid-afternoon and storms will persist well into this evening. The storm environment favors supercells capable of producing a couple of strong tornadoes and very large hail near the size of baseballs. As storms cluster more into the evening, the threat for damaging winds will increase, including the potential for hurricane force gusts.
The tornado watch area is approximately along and 40 statute miles north and south of a line from 105 miles east northeast of Muscle Shoals AL to 60 miles west of Memphis TN.
REMEMBER… A Tornado Watch means conditions are favorable for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area. Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible warnings.
