First Alert: Severe storms possible Thursday

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - A clear, calm and chilly night is in progress across central and south Alabama; temperatures will drop into the upper 30s and lower 40s by sunrise Tuesday. Valentine’s Day will be a winner! Expect sunshine and afternoon highs close to 70 degrees Tuesday, with a bright supply of February sunshine. Enjoy it, because the second half of the week will offer a bumpier ride!

Clouds will start to increase late Tuesday night; we can’t rule out a rogue shower before sunrise Wednesday, but most of us will stay dry. A front stalls north of us Wednesday, this will be close enough to us to force a mention of at least some rain chance. For now, we think that chance will be fairly low, the rain and storms should be few and far between. We’ll call it a 30% coverage of rain.

A deepening storm system cranks up west of Alabama Thursday morning and tracks through the Ohio Valley Thursday afternoon. The trailing cold front will interact with the warm, muggy air in place over the state to kick off rain and thunderstorms. With ample wind shear, plenty of lift and moisture, some of these thunderstorms could produce isolated tornadoes, damaging wind and/or large hail Thursday afternoon into Thursday night.

You know the drill - you need multiple, reliable ways of getting weather warnings, and you need to plan ahead of time where you’ll go if a Tornado Warning is issued for your location.

The storms end by sunrise Friday; the end of the work week will see a drastic drop in temperature! Afternoon highs Friday struggle to reach the lower 50s, then we’ll drop below freezing Friday night into Saturday morning. A cool, dry weekend awaits us, with afternoon highs Saturday and Sunday in the 56-64 degree range and overnight temperatures dropping into the 30s. Another rain chance arrives early next week.

As always, remember to download the free WSFA 12 News First Alert Weather app. That way you can gain the latest weather information from the First Alert Weather Team wherever you go. Just search WSFA Weather in the Apple App Store or Google Play store today.

Copyright 2023 WSFA. All rights reserved.