Another week in spring, another round of severe storms targeting the southeastern states.
We're looking at an enhanced risk for severe thunderstorms across portions of the Deep South, stretching from southeastern Mississippi to the South Carolina Lowcountry. Strong tornadoes, widespread damaging winds, and occasional instances of large hail are possible across the affected areas.
A trough swinging across the southeastern United States triggered a batch of severe thunderstorms on the southern Plains late Monday night. The complex continued east through the overnight hours, bringing raucous severe storms to Mississippi and Alabama through the early morning.
Today's threat for severe weather will be a messy mish-mash of squall lines and individual thunderstorms. The greatest threat is widespread damaging wind gusts of 60+ mph. These winds can easily cause tree damage and power outages. Higher gusts could lead to damage to homes and buildings. As always, take stock of trees and tree limbs that loom over your home and avoid those rooms when high winds arrive.
There's also enough wind shear in the atmosphere for any thunderstorms to begin rotating and potentially produce tornadoes. The Storm Prediction Center painted a 10% risk for strong, long-lived tornadoes along a swath stretching from south Alabama to southern South Carolina, including Mobile, Montgomery, Dothan, Albany, and Savannah.
Make sure you've got a way to receive severe weather warnings the moment they're issued. Storms on a day like this can move quickly, reducing the amount of time you have to react before the weather at your location goes downhill. Check your phone and ensure that emergency alerts are activated for tornado warnings. These push alerts are proven life-savers that reach your phone the moment your location is placed within a tornado warning polygon.
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