The National Weather Service in Mobile issued a mid-day update ahead of severe weekend weather.

“We’ll have multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms going from tonight to tomorrow, with our main event focusing on Saturday,” said Jessica Chase with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Mobile. “The potential is going to be there for strong long-track tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail over our whole area.”

According to Chase, isolated severe storms are possible as early as Friday night, primarily west of I-65, with damaging winds and large hail as the main threats. Although the weather service does not expect a lot of overnight storms, Chase notes anything that develops has the possibility to become severe. 

The primary concern, however, is for Saturday, when conditions are expected to worsen throughout the day. Forecasters anticipate isolated supercells forming by late morning, followed by a squall line moving from west to east by late afternoon and into the night.

Crenshaw County EMA Director Elliott Jones urged citizens to be vigilant of changing weather conditions in a social media post.

“Tomorrow afternoon will be a dangerous setup for severe weather,” Jones said. “All storm shelters throughout the County will be open as well as the Courthouse basement rear entrance will be open at 4pm ahead of the more dangerous weather. We will continue to send out updates as they come into the office.”

A wind advisory has been issued for Saturday at 10 a.m. through midnight Saturday night. Portions of south-central and southwest Alabama can expect winds between 20 and 25 miles per hour (mph) with gusts up to 40 mph.