Tornado Outbreak Eyes Deep South, Southeast

The year is preparing to go out with a bang, with a multi-day severe threat likely to rip across the Deep South and Southeast this weekend.
 
Although the calendar does read late December, the ingredients coming together across the region are more typical of February or March.
 
An area of low pressure will quickly slide northeastward from the Mid-South into the Ohio Valley today, drawing copious amounts of Gulf moisture northward into the Deep South and Upper Tennessee Valley. The low’s cold front will deliver a punch of cool and drier air from the Plains and Rockies. The result will be a dangerous mixing of the atmosphere, leading to strong to severe thunderstorms from Texas to Alabama.
 
The biggest threat today will be found from central Louisiana across Mississippi into western Alabama, where numerous tornadoes are likely, including some that could be particularly strong, as well as wind gusts of 65 to 75 mph and hail to the size of baseballs. The threat is significant enough that the national Storm Prediction Center considers it an Moderate Risk for severe thunderstorms. Cities at risk for these powerful storms include Alexandria, La., Greenville and Jackson, Miss., and Tuscaloosa, Ala.
 
Surrounding this core of powerful storms will be a large area of severe thunderstorms developing across eastern Texas then expanding across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as the evening progresses. Here, the Storm Prediction Center has placed an Enhanced Risk and Slight Risk for severe thunderstorms. This includes Houston, New Orleans and Shreveport, La., and Mobile and Birmingham, Ala. Wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph and a few tornadoes are the primary threats here.

ATornado Watch was issued for parts of eastern Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, including Tallahassee and Pensacola, Fla., Montgomery, Ala., and Atlanta, Macon and Albany, Ga.,

Unfortunately for most folks' holiday weekend plans, inclement weather will drag down the mood as storm systems soak the Northwest and the eastern half of the nation. 

The storm threat will continue into Sunday as the storm and its cold front advances toward the Eastern Seaboard. With plenty of warm air in place across the Carolinas and Georgia, severe thunderstorms will be possible in cities such as Atlanta, Savannah and Macon, Ga., Columbia, Charleston and Greenville, S.C., Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C., and Roanoke, Va. A few rumbles of thunder could be found as far north as Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Washington, D.C. The Storm Prediction Center has already issued a Slight Risk for severe storms on Sunday from eastern Alabama and Georgia northward to central Virgina.
 
Even though it is late December, remember what to do during severe weather, and have a plan to get to your safe place even at night. If you are visiting friends or family in the threatened area, try to familiarize yourself with where the best place to go during a tornado. Know the difference between a watch and a warning, and follow the storm threat on WeatherBug throughout the weekend.