Winter heat wave to bring threat of tornadoes to Deep South

The main window for severe weather is Wednesday at 4 p.m.to Thursday at 2 a.m., although severe weather could arrive Wednesday at noon. “This is not a one-shot, late afternoon Wednesday, boom, you’re done”.

More unsettled weather is in store for the rest of the week along with highs in the 70s.

The setup is a bit different from most of our severe weather events. Even though there is a chance of rain through the weekend, the strong storms are expected to be moving so fast the chance of flooding is minimal, he said. The first storms will likely develop in MS and track into Alabama through the afternoon.

On Christmas Day in 2012, a storm system spawned several tornadoes across the South and damaged homes from Texas to Alabama.

Since severe weather can develop quickly and without warning, please identify areas of safe refuge and be prepared to move to safety if severe weather occurs. Damaging winds, hail and tornadoes, are possible.

The area of enhanced risk – the bull’s eye for the storms – covers the western half of Tennessee; northern MS; much of northern Alabama; eastern Arkansas; parts of northern Louisiana; western Kentucky; southeast Missouri, and the southern tip of IL, according to the Storm Prediction Center’s outlook for Wednesday.

Because of the potential for severe weather, campus tornado shelters at North Campus Storm Shelter, East Campus Storm Shelter, and the Magnolia Parking Deck BARA are available to students, faculty and staff who feel safer on campus than in their off-campus residences. Something we are hopeful will happen, but not optimistic.