The latest is a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Etowah County until 11:30 PM.

Jefferson County now getting a break but more strong to severe storms are moving NE from West and SW Alabama. The Severe Thunderstorm Watch goes on until 4 am CST.

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings linger for Blount and St. Clair and Cullman County until 11:15.

Scan down to see other reports...don't have time to repeat everything on each update, however...

Quarter size hail reported at mile-marker 289 in Blount County and also in Grayson Valley in the NE edge of Birmingham...although the big storms now out of Jefferson County

The Severe Thunderstorm Watch goes on until 4 am...

Stay tuned...the coffee is fresh.

Little Miss Molly is really frightened by the house-shaking thunder.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning for St Clair County until 11:15...The severe thunderstorms are now over NE Jefferson county...rolling toward the NE.

...House shaking thunder at my place in NE Trussville.

...Scan down to see additional information.

...another large batch of severe storms in West and SW Alabama...a new Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Pickens County near the Mississippi border.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning extended for jefferson County until 11 PM.
Severe thunderstorm Warning for Blount County until 11 PM for Blount.

.....Severe thunderstorms now rolling through Birmingham area with large hail and unusually severe lightning.

.....Golf ball size hail reported in Empire.

.....Large hail breaking automobile windshields along Sullivan Road in Sumiton. This is NW of Birmingham.

.....The Severe Thunderstorm Watch continues until 4 am CST

Scan down as see additional information from earlier posts.

Hope you will excuse typos...no time to correct.

1/4 inch size hail in NE TRussville at 10:25

.....Golf ball size hail amost covering ground Bagley/Dora area

Big thunderstorms rolling into Jefferson County from the SW, some of them severe and containing large hail.

.....Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Jefferson County until 10:15 and is most certain that it will be extended.

......Severe Thunderstorm Warning also for Walker County until 10:15.

.....This is a big cluster of thunderstorms and it will likely affect all of Jefferson County.

.....The Severe Thunderstorm Watch lasts until 4:00 a.m. CST. It covers 37 of Alabama's 67 counties all the way to the Georgia border. All of the Birmingham area, of course, is included.

.....Vicious lightning is rampant with these thunderstorms. Take precautions.

.....McCalla and Forestdale now reporting hail.

Chase, in Tuscaloosa reports pea size hail at his location and very vivid lightning.

.....Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Bibb County until 10 pm and for Tuscaloosa County until 9:45...also Hale County until 9:45.

...Just issued...Severe Thunderstorm warning for jefferson.

....New Severe Thunderstorm watch until 4 am for the entire area

.....A new tornado watch being issued further into Central Alabama.

.....Severe Thunderstrorm Warning for Hale and Tuscaloosa County until 9:45

.....Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Pickens County until 9:30

.....large hail reported at Eutaw, Greene County

Things will be moving quickly

The Tornado Watch issued earlier this evening is still in effect until 1 am CST. It includes several counties in West Central and SW Alabama.

Choctaw...Hale...Sumter...Clarke...Marengo...Tuscaloosa...Greene.
..Pickens and Washington.

At 8:15 pm, intense thunderstorms were moving into SW Alabama's Washington and Southern Choctaw counties. They were moving NE.

Other thunderstorms are beginning to develop in Arkansas and those will be advancing eastward into Alabama late tonight.

At Mid-afternoon, the Storm Prediction Center placed almost all of Mississippi under a "moderate risk" of severe weather overnight. In fact, the moderate risk area extends into Extreme West Alabama to include such places as Florence...Vernon...Tuscaloosa...Demopolis and Livingston. Most of this action will be past midnight and into Thursday morning.

Most of the rest of Alabama is under a slight risk.

This unfolding severe weather threat will again come in at least two parts as showers and thunderstorms again increase Thursday night and through much of Friday morning.

Scan down to see the post by James Spann for a lot more details.

SOCCER WEATHER
None of this severe weather talk should prevent you from going to Legion Field tonight to see the World Soccer game between Team USA and Guatemala. Dru pleasant weather is expected all evening with temperatures between 65-68. Enjoy. I would love to see it.

We will post often in the next 24 hours as we face yet another period of adverse weather. But, remember, this is normal for this time of year.

It is only eight weeks until the official beginning of hurricane season June 1. Surely, surely Florida will not have four hurricanes again this year.

The Wednesday afternoon video is on the server:

http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/video.hrb

The forecast remains complex... so again lets take everything in time-line fashion to make it easier to understand...

TONIGHT: SPC has expanded the moderate severe weather risk for late tonight down into north Mississippi, and the slight risk all the way down to Mobile. We expect all of the showers and storms in Alabama to come after midnight.

Tonight's storms will be in advance of the cold front trailing the intense surface low over the midwest. Seems like the instability and helicity values are pretty impressive over Mississippi, and I expect storms over there to indeed be severe in spots. As they move into Alabama after midnight, the air here will be getting more stable with time, so I think the greatest risk of severe storms in Alabama will come late tonight from about midnight until 4:00 a.m. mostly for areas along and west of I-65. Folks along the Mississippi border will really need keep an eye on the storms late tonight.

TOMORROW: Rain and storms will continue tomorrow morning, and some heavy amounts of rain are very possible. The rain should end from northwest to southeast during the middle of the day, and there should be a break in the rain tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening.

THURSDAY NIGHT: The second round of storms should invade Alabama, and again it looks like they get in here after midnight Thursday night. Instability parameters are very marginal, and I am not very sure that severe storms will be a problem. But, the models are all over the road on the placement of the developing surface low.

FRIDAY: Rain and storms are likely Friday morning, with the rain tapering off by afternoon. We will have to watch for flash flooding problems since the ground should be totally soaked from the rain tomorrow morning. The WRF puts a strip of 3 to 5 inch rain totals for the next 48 hours along I-20 from Birmingham to Atlanta. It will be interesting to see if that verifies. The NAM is not nearly as aggressive with rain totals.

THE WEEKEND: The sky should clear Saturday, and the sun will be out in full force on Sunday. I still think we go into the upper 30s early Saturday morning, and maybe some scattered light frost for the coldest valleys, but most places should stay well above freezing.

NEXT STORM: Looks like another stormy period next week around April 6. Maybe another severe weather threat....

We will keep a close eye on all of this, and I will see if my associate J.B Elliott can post some updates here through the evening while I handle radio and TV duty...

The Wednesday morning web video is on the server:

http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/video.hrb

Pretty tricky forecast package today... lets take it one period at a time:

TODAY: Should be a nice day with a partly sunny sky and temperatures in the low 80s by mid afternoon in many areas. A powerful upper trough will move through the upper midwest, however, and there is a moderate risk of severe storms today over much of Illinois and Indiana. Big storms will move through this midwest during the afternoon, but staying well to the north of us.

TONIGHT: The cold front trailing from the midwest system will approach northwest Alabama around midnight, and a band of showers and storms will move into the state after midnight. SPC has a slight risk of severe weather for the northwest corner of the state late tonight for these storms, but instability values don't look too impressive at this time. We do expect periods of rain and some thunder during the pre-dawn hours tomorrow.

TOMORROW: Rain and storms are likely during the morning, but the rain should taper off by early afternoon. We expect a pretty decent break in the rain tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening. Then, rain and storms will increase again late tomorrow night, mainly after midnight. SPC has a slight risk of severe weather across Alabama from Birmingham south for those late night storms. The model track of the surface low really doesn't suggest a big severe weather threat right now.

FRIDAY: A big disagreement between the GFS and the NAM. The GFS takes the surface low from near Jackson to Greenville, SC, while the NAM takes the low from near Pensacola to Dothan to Augusta. Either way, the low should be too far south for a big severe weather threat. But, some significant rain totals are very likely. Rain totals from midnight tonight through 6:00 p.m. Friday should average around two inches, with a few heavier amounts possible. The rain should begin to taper off Friday afternoon from west to east.

THE WEEKEND: Looks great, with lots of sunshine on Saturday and Sunday. The latest GFS is spitting out 45 for Saturday morning with warmer thickness values, so any chance of a light freeze in the valleys looks very small now.

DOWN THE ROAD: Looks like the next storm periods will be centered around April 6 and April 11.

Bottom line is that the severe weather threat to us at this time looks rather marginal, but heavy rain will fall at times, with most of the rain coming from midnight tonight through noon tomorrow, and midnight Thursday night through 2:00 p.m. on Friday...

We will await the 12Z model runs and have an update here later today...