We’ll have a mixed bag of weather today across Central Alabama ranging from very comfortable conditions with afternoon highs climbing into the upper 60s to the lower 70s across the area, but we’ll have a few showers and storms move across the area, mainly south of the I-59 corridor, through the daylight hours. After that, strong to severe storms will be possible across the southern and southeastern parts of the area during the evening through the pre-dawn hours. Plus, for locations north of the severe weather threat areas, wintry mischief will start to occur from the extreme northwest around 9 pm and continue to spread east and southeastward until moving out of the area by daybreak on Saturday morning. Here is a breakdown of everything that is forecast to happen:
SEVERE WEATHER THREAT
- Roughly from 7 pm tonight through 3 am Saturday morning.
- Slight Risk for severe storms up for locations south of a line from Lowndesboro (Lowndes Co.) to Roanoke (Randolph Co.), which includes the cities of Auburn, Eufaula, Montgomery, and Troy.
- Marginal Risk up north of that to as far north as Sweet Water (Marengo Co.) to Clanton (Chilton Co.) to Ranburne (Cleburne Co.), which includes the cities of Alexander City and Selma.
- Threats include damaging winds up to 60 mph and a possible tornado.
WINTER WEATHER THREAT
- Winter Storm Warning from midnight tonight until 9 am Saturday morning for Marion and Winston counties in Central Alabama; from 9 pm tonight until 9 am Saturday morning for Colbert, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, and Morgan counties in North Alabama. Potential accumulations of 2-4 inches.
- Winter Weather Advisory from midnight tonight until 9 am Saturday morning for Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Etowah, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Lamar, Pickens, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tuscaloosa, and Walker counties in Central Alabama; from 9 pm tonight until 9 am Saturday morning for Cullman, DeKalb, and Marshall counties in North Alabama. Potential accumulations of 1-2 inches.
- For North Alabama… Significant travel impacts are expected due to the combination of snow and frozen water on roads, and a few power outages could occur due to strong northwest winds that may gust as high as 40 MPH.
- For Central Alabama counties under advisory or warning… Difficult travel conditions are possible, as bridges and overpasses may become snow-covered. Sporadic power outages may occur due to gusty winds up to 40 mph.
WIND ADVISORY
- From midnight tonight until 6 pm Saturday evening for all counties in Central Alabama; from 9 pm tonight until 12 pm Saturday for all counties in North Alabama.
- Sustained winds of 15-25 mph, with gusts up to 30-40 mph at times.
- Combination of winds and snowfall may lead to tree and power line damage.
- Wind chills may fall into the single digits.
FREEZE WARNING
- From midnight tonight until 10 am Sunday morning for Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Dallas, Elmore, Etowah, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Lamar, Marengo, Marion, Perry, Pickens, Randolph, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, and Winston counties in Central Alabama.
- From midnight Saturday night until 9 am Sunday morning for Barbour, Bullock, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Montgomery, Pike, and Russell counties in Central Alabama.
- Sub-freezing temperatures as low as 23º on Saturday morning and 19º on Sunday morning expected.
- Frost and freeze conditions will kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing.
- Some areas in the northern portions of central Alabama may not go above freezing all day on Saturday.
Central Alabama Weather 