TORNADO WATCH
.....It goes until 4 am for a large part of North and Central Alabama including all of the Greater Birmingham Area. In fact it stretches all the way fron NE Alabama down to the Mobile area. This of course includes the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham-Gadsden areas.

This is another PDS Watch (A Particularly Dangerous Situation)

The Alabama Counties...

Autauga...Bibb...Cherokee...Greene...Lamar...Macon...Perry...Rand
olph... St Clair....Tallapoosa....Blount...Calhoun...Chilton...Clay...Coosa.
..Dallas...Etowah...Hale...Lee...
Marengo...Pickens...Russell...Sumter...Tuscaloosa...Barbour...Bul
lock...Chambers...Cleburne...
Covington...Elmore...Fayette...Jefferson...Lowndes...Marion...Mon
tgomery...Pike...Shelby...
Talladega...Walker....Winston.

We are very wary of storms around Meridian at this hour where a tornado warning is in effect. The most powerful looking thunderstorm of all was SW of Meridian and moving NE.

There is a report of a possible tornado at Toomsuba, Miss., in Lauderdale County.

Tornado warning will likely be needed in Sumter County, Ala.,later.

Still looks like a long night...we may get a break in the action Sunday morning, then more severe thunderstorms Sunday afternoon.

That is our generqal thinking late tonight...


A long night ahead...stay tuned

SOME MORE NOTES

.....A Tornado Warning has been posted for Dallas County in Central Alabama until 8:45 pm.

.....The Severe Thunderstorm Watch still going until at least 9 pm for a large swatch of North Central Alabama including all of the Birmingham-Tuscaloosa-Anniston areas. It will most likely be extended and possibly updated to a Tornado Watch.

.....All of us in the weather office watching very closely developments in Mississippi east and south of Jackson. Extremely impressive returns on the radar. At least four counties now under tornado warnings.

.....All of this moving NE and we will have to deal with that in a few hours. It looks like we will be under the gun quite a bit of the time from now until Sunday afternoon. There will be some breaks.

.....This still looks like a significent severe weathyer event for Alabama.

.....A long night ahead in the weather office--no sleep for sure.

It is for Central Marengo County in West-Central Alabama. Radar indicated the tornado 14 miles south of Linden moving NE rapidly at 60mph.

It was moving toward Thomaston.

Scan down to see some recent posts also...

The Storm Prediction Center has posted a Severe Thunderstorm Watch that goes until 9 o'clock tonight for much of North-Central and Central Alabama. This includes all of the greater Birmingham area. It extends from Lamar, Pickens and Sumter Counties on the west side of the state eastward to the Georgia border and as far north as Cullman County and as far south as Perry, Chilton and Coosa Counties.

This could be updated to a Tornado Watch later.

Thunderstorms growing in strength to the west and SW and they are moving toward the NE.

Dry air has been present over North Alabama this afternoon but those dew points will go up tonight.

A FEW OTHER NOTES...

.....Around 6 pm, automobiles were blown off the road at Bentonia, Miss.,in Yazoo County.

.....Hail the size of eggs (2 inches in diameter) near Harrisonburg, La.

.....Severe Thunderstorm Warning for South Marengo County in West Alabama.

We continue to watch and wait...James Spann, John Oldshue, Brian Peters all here...James just fed me some 3-day old brownies, temporarily fighting off malnutrition.

Life goes on....

Here are some late afternoon notes.

.....Thunderstorms are growing stronger in Louisiana, South Mississippi and South Alabama and moving NE. Still have low dew points in North Alabama, but those should moisten up during the evening.

.....Two Tornado Watches. One is over the south one-third of Alabama and continues until 9:00 p.m. The newest Tornado Watch #88 goes until 11 o'clock tonight. It covers a big chunk of Louisiana and Central Mississippi as far north as the Columbus area and over to the Alabama border. In both Tornado Watches, they are called PDS, which means Particularly Dangerous Situation.

.....The NWS in Jackson has placed several Louisiana and SW Mississippi counties under a Tornado Warning. All of these thunderstorms will be migrating toward Alabama as the night wears on. All of our area is still under a moderate risk for severe weather which is significant.

.....We will watch and wait. I am with John Oldshue in the ABC 33/40 weather office and we are both hungry.

A few short notes...

.....Heading out to drive down to ABC 33/40 to get started on a 24-hour no-sleep marathon. Had to get used to those during 40+ years of weather work. It comes with the territory. Will do some more posting from there.

.....Still nothing going on in North Alabama, including the Birmingham Metro area...thunderstorms down over south and SW Alabama working their way north.

.....Still our greatest danger in this area is tonight and Sunday. Line of viscious thunderstorms will move eastward from Louisiana and Mississippi tonight increasing our potential for possible tornadoes. Timing is difficult but it could be late tonight for B'ham area, maybe even after midnight. However, other storms before then may give problems.

.....early morning hours Easter Sunday will probably be dangerous also, then calming down somewhat by mid morning, only to have more severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes Sunday afternoon.

......Should caution that this time line could get out of phase.

.....Tornado watch continues for South 1/3 of Alabama until 9 tonight. It is described as a particularly dangerous situation.

......headed out...hope there are no speeders on 459.

Put a short video update on the site. Changes occurring so rapidly it's probably best to try to stay current with other sources.

New Tornado Watch in MS and LA. Just a matter of time before that dew point discontinuity moves far enough north to begin affecting central Alabama.

Another round of thunderstorms/severe weather likely tomorrow. Review your safety plans now.

-Brian-

Here is a quick update on what is going on now, but scan all the way down to the 9:20 a.m. briefing for a lot of exra information.

Big powerful thunderstorm moved north from the Pensacola area and is now curving NE across parts of South Alabama. Barn roof blown onto US-231 near Brundidge in Pike County. Marble to half-dollar sized hail covered the ground in that area.

Baseball-sized hail also reported earlier in Covington County. Large hail and high winds earlier at Opp in Coffee County blew the windshield out of two vehicles.

NEW TORNADO WATCH
It goes until 9:00 o'clock tonight CST. It covers parts of SE Louisiana, South Mississippi and about the southern 1/3 of Alabama. It includes the general area from Marengo, Dallas, Montgomery, Tallapoosa, and Chambers Counties southward to the Gulf Coast. It is classified as a PDS Watch, which means a Particularly Dangerous Situation. This is just a hint of what we are in for.

NORTH ALABAMA
Still quiet as a mouse at 2:00 p.m., but things will change. Moist air is spreading northward. Some more showers and storms were developing over South Alabama that will move northward. We may have some storms in this area before the afternoon is over. We still think our most dangerous time will be tonight and Sunday. We could even be under the gun as late as Sunday afternoon.

EASTER SUNDAY CHURCH SERVICES
May be a dangerous time and every church should have a game plan on where to move church members in case a tornado threatens. First, they've got to get the warning and a weather radio is essential, but only if you have someone to monitor it.

Stay tuned as this dangerous weather situation continues to unfold.

Lone big severe thunderstorm now approaching Piike County in South Alabama. Warning issued. May pass near or SE of Troy.

.....produced baseball size hail in Covington County.

.....produced golf ball size hail that covered the ground in Pensacola before noon.

.....In Coffee County, at Opp, golf ball size hail along with high wind. Windshields blown out of two vehicles.

.....For weather fans, max DBZ in that storm reached 77.5

.....Still nothing going on in Central/North Alabama. That will change.

Scan down for additional updates that are still valid

NOTE: We will post brief updates like this as the severe weather event unfolds. However, please scan down to a more extensive briefing by James Spann posted at 9:20 am. That contains lots of good information that is still valid. These shorter updates will be more of a progress report.

Nothing going on in North and Central Alabama early this afternoon but a Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect for 17 South Alabama Counties until 4 PM, CST. Also for South Goergia and North Florida. A warm front is moving inland.

Down in extreme South Alabama, a big thunderstorm has produced baseball size hail shortly after noon in Covington County adjacent to the Florida border.

Earkier, golf ball size hail was covering the ground at Pensacola. These storms will migrate northward into South Alabama.

LOOKING WEST: Nothing from Alabama all the way out to Texas. But that is misleading. We don't have to wait till those move from Texas to Alabama. New storms will be fornming in the warm/humid air later this afternoon.

Lots of hail around Austin last night breaking out windows in cars and buildings. Very little tornado activity so far.

And would you believe that the Texas Panhandle is getting a nice covering of snow today...3 to 4 inches so far on the ground...

Life goes on...again scan down to the 9:20 am post by James.