Severe weather expected across Alabama late Friday

Marty Roney, Montgomery Advertiser
·2 min read
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For the second weekend in a row, severe weather will threaten Alabama.

Forecasts are calling for a cold front to push through Alabama late Friday night into Saturday morning, bringing with it the potential for tornadoes, winds up to 60 miles per hour, quarter sized hail and heavy rains.

The threat is not as high as the period of March 24-26 when at least 11 tornadoes were confirmed to have struck the state, National Weather Service storm surveys show. Still, the threat is there from about 9 p.m. Friday through 7 a.m. Saturday, NWS forecasts predict.

An area north and along a line from Sweetwater in Marengo County, to Selma, to Clanton, to Alexander City is in a “marginal” level of risk. That’s a one-out-of-five level, with five being the highest threat level. Along and north of an line from Tuscaloosa, to Birmingham, to Gadsden is in a “slight” risk area, or a two-out-of-five level risk.

The Montgomery area, including Autauga and Elmore counties and points south, are not considered to be in the risk area.

Experts are expecting severe weather to threaten areas across Alabama starting Friday.
Experts are expecting severe weather to threaten areas across Alabama starting Friday.

But don’t let words and lines on a map deceive you, said Mary Kaiser, a meteorologist with the NWS office in Birmingham.

“Montgomery may not be in the threat area now, but things can change very quickly,” she said. “Severe weather can occur in Alabama throughout the year, but we are in the height of severe weather season now. Everyone should be aware of the potential for severe weather no matter where you live.”

March through May is considered the time when severe weather most likely can occur in the state.

Forecasts for the Montgomery area for Saturday call for a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms before 1 p.m. Then there will be gradual clearing and a high temperature of 81.

Tuscaloosa and Gadsden will start off mostly cloudy then become mostly sunny with Tuscaloosa reaching 79 and Gadsden making it to 76.

The Palm Sunday forecast calls for sunny conditions statewide with highs in the mid-70s.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Severe weather expected across Alabama late Friday