Tornado Watch

It looks like potentially a long night for some of us, especially in the Western counties of the Tennessee Valley. Anywhere in and near this watch area, be ready to shelter within five minutes if you go under a Tornado Warning polygon. 

Small room on the lowest floor of a sturdy house (NOT a mobile home!), near the center of the building, away from any windows. And cover your body in case of debris as best you can, especially the back of your head and neck. This could turn out to be serious business for some folks, and tornadoes are hard to confirm at night sometimes. Take care of yourself and your loved ones. 

Make sure if you don't have a weather radio, at least Wireless Emergency Alerts will wake you up on a cell phone. If you have a reliable way to get the warning and a decent safety plan as described above, you'll be fine. But don't get caught in a mobile home, and please don't get caught out driving through any severe weather tonight either. Plan stops along your route, even if it's a 24-hour-hour gas station or truck stop, where if you had to, you could get inside for a few minutes. We don't want anybody getting hurt tonight. And we have had plenty of advance notice that conditions are becoming favorable for severe thunderstorms and even tornadoes. So let's respect the risk and get through this night together, much as families get through the God-awful crud that's been going around this holiday season together. If you've had somebody in your family hacking his or her head off with this stuff, you know it's real. And so is this weather. It's not a huge threat, but we have to respect it. It's a reasonable threat for severe winds or a tornado. Numerous tornado warnings are already in effect in Mississippi. 

9:10 PM - We now have a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Lamar, Pickens, Sumter, Greene, even down to Choctaw Counties with this squall line as it starts to cross the MS/AL state line now. Kevin Laws from the National Weather Service in Birmingham did a great job in writing this warning and emphasizes that considerable damage is possible, even if these all turn out to be damaging straight-line winds. And also threw in a reminder that tornadoes can develop quickly in an environment like this. So in these areas, I would get into that small central room on the lowest floor of a sturdy house or other strong building. Treat it just about like you would a Tornado Warning in this case. 

9:29 - Lamar County has now been upgraded to a Tornado Warning. 

9:34 - And now Marion and Fayette Counties have been put under Severe Thunderstorm Warnings. Please remember that even these straight-line winds in this squall line have the potential to produce significant property damage and/or serious injury. 

TORNADO WARNING MARION COUNTY AL - STARTING NEW POST

SEL2

   URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED

   Tornado Watch Number 722

   NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK

   810 PM CST Sat Dec 28 2024

   The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

   * Tornado Watch for portions of 

     Northern and Central Alabama

     Northeast Mississippi

   * Effective this Saturday night and Sunday morning from 810 PM

     until 400 AM CST.

   * Primary threats include...

     A few tornadoes likely with a couple intense tornadoes possible

     Scattered damaging winds likely with isolated significant gusts

       to 75 mph possible

     Isolated large hail events to 1 inch in diameter possible

   SUMMARY...A line of thunderstorms should continue to pose some

   threat for a few tornadoes and scattered to numerous damaging winds

   as it moves east-northeastward this evening and overnight. Any

   sustained supercell ahead of the line could produce a strong

   tornado, although severe/damaging winds should eventually tend to

   become the main threat overnight.

   The tornado watch area is approximately along and 50 statute miles

   east and west of a line from 20 miles north northeast of Muscle

   Shoals AL to 30 miles southwest of Selma AL. For a complete

   depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update

   (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).

   PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

   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.

   &&

   OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 720...WW 721...

   AVIATION...Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail

   surface and aloft to 1 inch. Extreme turbulence and surface wind

   gusts to 65 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean

   storm motion vector 26040.

   ...Gleason

 WOUS64 KWNS 290206

   WOU2

   BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED

   TORNADO WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WT 722

   NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK

   810 PM CST SAT DEC 28 2024

   TORNADO WATCH 722 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 400 AM CST FOR THE

    FOLLOWING LOCATIONS

   ALC001-007-009-021-033-043-047-057-059-063-065-073-075-077-079-

   083-085-091-093-103-105-107-115-117-119-121-125-127-133-

   291000-

   /O.NEW.KWNS.TO.A.0722.241229T0210Z-241229T1000Z/

   AL 

   .    ALABAMA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

   AUTAUGA              BIBB                BLOUNT              

   CHILTON              COLBERT             CULLMAN             

   DALLAS               FAYETTE             FRANKLIN            

   GREENE               HALE                JEFFERSON           

   LAMAR                LAUDERDALE          LAWRENCE            

   LIMESTONE            LOWNDES             MARENGO             

   MARION               MORGAN              PERRY               

   PICKENS              SHELBY              ST. CLAIR           

   SUMTER               TALLADEGA           TUSCALOOSA          

   WALKER               WINSTON             

   MSC013-017-057-081-095-115-117-141-291000-

   /O.NEW.KWNS.TO.A.0722.241229T0210Z-241229T1000Z/

   MS 

   .    MISSISSIPPI COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

   CALHOUN              CHICKASAW           ITAWAMBA            

   LEE                  MONROE              PONTOTOC            

   PRENTISS             TISHOMINGO          

   ATTN...WFO...BMX...MEG...HUN...

 

   Mesoscale Discussion 2308

   NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK

   0659 PM CST Sat Dec 28 2024

   Areas affected...Central/Northern Alabama into extreme southern

   Tennessee

   Concerning...Severe potential...Tornado Watch likely 

   Valid 290059Z - 290230Z

   Probability of Watch Issuance...80 percent

   SUMMARY...Tornado watch will likely be warranted later this evening

   from central Alabama, northward, possibly into extreme southern

   Tennessee.

   DISCUSSION...LLJ continues to strengthen across MS into middle TN

   early this evening. Low-level warm advection is intense ahead of the

   primary squall line, and this is primarily responsible for scattered

   convection that is evolving along the MS/AL border. While the lead

   warm-advection storms are likely a bit elevated, surface dew points

   have risen into the lower 60s as far north as Jackson TN. With time

   lower 60s dew points will surge across the remainder of northern AL.

   While surface-based buoyancy will remain a bit weak across this

   region, intense shear will contribute to the longevity of upstream

   squall line, along with scattered warm advection storms.

   New tornado watch is likely warranted downstream.

   ..Darrow/Gleason.. 12/29/2024