South faces multiday severe weather risk

AccuWeather

Millions from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic coast face the threat of locally damaging storms from Friday through Sunday.

Transcript

00:00 We have two seasons when it comes to severe weather.

00:04 The primary season, it's probably what comes to mind first, right?

00:07 The beginning of spring as we get to the very beginning of summer,

00:11 and then we go downhill for a little while, severe weather fades.

00:14 But then our clash of air masses,

00:17 cold air from the north,

00:18 gulf air from the south,

00:19 start to come back together for our secondary season as we get through the fall,

00:23 and very early winter months.

00:25 But you know what?

00:26 We really haven't had too much with this secondary season.

00:30 It's been a really quiet couple of months, but here we go again.

00:34 We are looking at severe weather ramping up as we head toward the weekend.

00:38 I know we always joke that the worst weather happens on the weekends and

00:40 the best weather happens like on a Monday or a Tuesday or something.

00:43 But unfortunately, my friends, it's not really a joke this time.

00:47 Make sure you're prepared, have multiple ways to get watches and warnings.

00:50 Of course, you've got one right here in the AccuWeather network.

00:52 You can have the AccuWeather app on your phone.

00:54 Those watches and warnings will go right to the palm of your hand.

00:56 And don't forget the oldest trick in the book, a little word of mouth.

01:00 Calling your friends and family, shooting them a text or a DM,

01:02 however you get in touch, is not a bad idea.

01:05 Let's start with Friday.

01:06 We've got three in a row, triplet severe weather days.

01:09 Friday's the first one as we start to see some showers,

01:12 some thunderstorms moving across the south central states.

01:14 Now I will say this, this is our most limited severe weather day of the next three.

01:20 We are looking at the potential of some hail and some gusty damaging winds.

01:23 And I think you could have some really uncomfortable travel in terms of rain as well.

01:27 This is from Springfield to Fort Smith back toward Little Rock.

01:30 And again, it's a limited area, but it's severe weather,

01:33 and you don't want to mess around with that.

01:34 Now, as the cold front that's spawning all the issues continues its way east,

01:39 we start to gain some strength here.

01:40 We gain some more energy, and that's going to help drive more in the way of severe weather.

01:45 From the Gulf all the way to the lower Ohio Valley, that's a pretty wide area here.

01:50 Looking from cities like Louisville on Saturday to Nashville,

01:53 back toward Birmingham, all the way from Houston across I-10 to Mobile,

01:57 that's where we have that some risk again.

01:59 You can see it depicted in yellow.

02:00 That's where spotty severe weather is the bigger issue.

02:03 But then you'll notice the moderate bullseye, the orange here from Memphis to Jackson.

02:07 That's where we could see a few more severe storms, more numerous severe storms.

02:12 Hail is still a problem.

02:13 Damaging gusty winds still a problem.

02:15 And flooding downpours are a concern as well.

02:17 Although I will say we desperately need rain in this part of the country.

02:20 So in the long run, it's not such a bad thing.

02:24 Finally, here's the last of the trio here on Sunday.

02:27 Severe weather moves with the front along the eastern seaboard.

02:30 And this is once again a pretty widespread area.

02:35 Not every single town in this yellow is going to see severe weather.

02:38 That's why it's a some risk.

02:40 It's spotty severe here and there.

02:42 And really, we're looking at a damaging wind threat more than anything else.

02:46 But it extends all the way from essentially Philadelphia down through Tampa, Florida along

02:50 I-75, really through the first half of the Florida peninsula.

02:53 Again, a widespread area with millions of people involved.

02:57 So if you have any Sunday and Sunday night plans, just make sure you're staying tuned

03:00 to the forecast.

03:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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