First Alert Weather Day for severe storms and tornadoes Thursday

The first round of rain showers and storms will move in overnight into Thursday morning. Heavy rainfall, lightning and small hail will be possible with this first round of storms through the morning commute.

Thursday, March 25th, is a First Alert Weather Day due to a setup that could create severe thunderstorms. As of right now it looks like we could see storms capable of producing damaging 70+ mph winds, large hail and strong, long-track tornadoes. Heavy rainfall and thunderstorms will continue through the morning and severe storms will likely develop into the early afternoon and continue will continue into Thursday evening. In addition to severe weather, the storms could also produce significant cloud to ground lightning and flash flooding with over 2 inches of rain in a short period of time, a Flash flood Watch is in effect for all counties until 1AM Friday and river flooding will also be a concern.

Take time to prepare for this developing storm system. We are entering the peak of our spring tornado season in North Alabama and Middle Tennessee. While these setups don’t always produce severe weather, it is best to be prepared. The window for severe storms appears to open around Noon Thursday and close around Midnight. If you go without power is it possible it could still be out after sunset. We will continue to monitor the development and pass along the latest on TV, Digital and on social media. The severe threat will end late Thursday night into early Friday morning.

Friday will give us an opportunity to dry out with plenty of sunshine and highs in the low to middle 70s. The weekend forecast looks wet as well with scattered rain showers and storms expected Saturday and Sunday, these storms could be stronger in nature with heavy rain, frequent lightning and gusty winds.