FLASH FLOODING CONCERNS THIS EVENING; STORMS DEVELOPING & MOVING SLOWLY SOUTHEAST… After picking up 9 to 10 inches of rainfall in parts of northern Santa Rosa County last night, we have another, slow-moving band of thunderstorms developing now (as of 5:15PM) extending from Huxford and Atmore to northern Mobile County. This developing band of storms is moving slowly and causing torrential downpours that will very likely lead to flash flooding in some communities. We have also had some large hail reports, including one report of ping pong ball size hail earlier just south of Andalusia. Clearly, heavy rain and flash flooding will be the main concerns over the next several hours as this band of storms moves southeast into Mobile, the Eastern Shore, the Alabama beaches, and into northwest Florida. The tornado threat remains very low, but not entirely zero. Gusty winds and hail up to golfball size will be possible in some of the storms.
NEXT 6-8 HOURS WILL BE THE MOST ACTIVE; FLASH FLOODING MAIN CONCERN… Now to 1AM is the time when thunderstorms are most likely to become severe and produce flash flooding. I emphasize the tornado risk is very low. The threat of damaging wind gusts is low. The hail threat is medium. The flash flooding risk is elevated. Scattered storms will be possible overnight, after 1AM, but most of the activity should continue moving southeast and offshore in the midnight to 1AM time frame. I will be posting radar updates throughout the evening in the RedZone Weather app.
CHECK THE APP, EVEN WHEN WE ARE NOT LIVE… We only “go live” for the most serious weather – tornado warnings. If I went live for every thunderstorm or severe thunderstorm around here, there is a good chance I would never get any sleep! I say that as it is important to be aware that even when I am not broadcasting live, I am usually posting constant updates in our RedZone Weather app when we have active weather across south Alabama and northwest Florida. Tonight will be no exception. Plenty of updates in the app but I probably won’t need to go live. As always, IF we get a tornado warning, we will go into live coverage to bring you the latest information…