BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Warm Half Of Winter Storm Threatens Severe Weather In The South On Saturday

Following
This article is more than 5 years old.

Dennis Mersereau

Severe weather in the south during the winter is just about as reliable as snow is up north. The southern half of winter storms blanketing northern communities in snow have a nasty habit of spawning severe thunderstorms, and that’s just what we could see in parts of the south on Saturday.

The Storm Prediction Center has issued a slight risk for severe weather across much of the deep south, including most of Alabama and parts of Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, and Florida. The slight risk is in effect due to the risk for damaging wind gusts and the potential for some tornadoes. The potential is lower—but not zero—in nearby areas under the marginal risk for severe weather.

The storms will develop along and ahead of a powerful cold front extending off the low-pressure system causing all the wintry problems up north. The surge of warm, moist air across the southeast will provide thunderstorms the fuel they need to develop, while upper-level winds will allow them to turn severe.

Thunderstorms should fire up in a hurry across Mississippi on Sunday morning, steadily advancing east toward Alabama into the afternoon hours. As we see so many times in a setup like this, the severe weather threat will evolve as a one-two punch, with discrete thunderstorms developing ahead of the main line along the leading edge of the cold front. The risk for tornadoes is greatest in the discrete storms that roll through first, while the risk for damaging straight-line winds is greatest in the main line that comes through a little later on.

Make sure you have a way to receive severe weather warnings on Saturday and Saturday night. Severe thunderstorms in the winter are particularly dangerous because people have their guards down and it gets darker earlier, precluding your ability to go out and look at a bad storm before it arrives—something of an instinct, and a bad one at that, for folks who live in storm-prone areas.

It’s common to see severe thunderstorms in the middle of the winter in the south. We typically see a couple of severe weather outbreaks during the month of January as strong storm systems sweep across the United States. We lucked out last year with below-average severe thunderstorm activity across the board, but each year is different; 2017, 2013, and 2012 all saw particularly rambunctious January severe weather events.

Despite the partial federal government shutdown, the dedicated scientists of the Storm Prediction Center and local National Weather Service offices across the country continue to work day and night without a paycheck in order to fulfill their duties and do their part to keep the country safe from hazardous weather.