The year is preparing to end with a bang as a severe threat lasting several days is expected to rock the Deep South and Southeast this weekend.

Although the calendar shows the end of December, the ingredients that come together in the region are more typical of February or March.

A low pressure system will move rapidly northeast from the Mid-South today into the Ohio Valley, pulling large amounts of Gulf moisture north into the Deep South and upper Tennessee Valley. The low’s cold front will deliver cooler, drier air from the Plains and Rocky Mountains. The result will be dangerous mixing of the atmosphere, which could lead to strong to severe thunderstorms from Texas to Alabama.

The greatest threat today is from central Louisiana through Mississippi to western Alabama, where numerous tornadoes, including some that could be particularly strong, as well as wind gusts of 65 to 75 mph and hail the size of baseball balls are likely. The threat is so great that the National Storm Prediction Center classifies it as dangerous Moderate risk for severe thunderstorms. Cities at risk from these strong storms include Alexandria, La., Greenville and Jackson, Miss., and Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

A large area of ​​severe thunderstorms will develop around this core of strong storms in East Texas, spreading across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama during the evening. The Storm Prediction Center has placed one here Increased risk and low risk for severe thunderstorms. These include Houston, New Orleans and Shreveport, Louisiana, as well as Mobile and Birmingham, Alabama. Wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph and some tornadoes are the main threats here.

ATornado watch was issued for portions of eastern Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, including Tallahassee and Pensacola, Florida, Montgomery, Alabama, and Atlanta, Macon and Albany, Georgia.

Unfortunately for most people, bad weather will dampen the spirits of most people’s holiday weekends as squalls wreak havoc across the northwest and eastern half of the country.

The storm threat will continue into Sunday as the storm and its cold front move toward the East Coast. Because there is an abundance of warm air in the Carolinas and Georgia, cities such as Atlanta, Savannah and Macon (Georgia), Columbia, Charleston and Greenville (SC), Charlotte and Raleigh (NC), and Roanoke (Virginia) may experience severe thunderstorms . Some rumbles of thunder were heard as far north as Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Washington, DC. The Storm Prediction Center has already issued an advisory Low risk for severe storms Sunday from eastern Alabama and Georgia north into central Virginia.


Even though it’s the end of December, remember what to do during severe weather and plan to get to your safe place even at night. If you are visiting friends or family in the at-risk area, try to figure out the best place to stay during a tornado. Know the difference between a watch and a warning and track storm threat all weekend on WeatherBug.