A dangerous outbreak of severe storms and tornadoes is expected to threaten the South and Southeast on Wednesday and Thursday, officials said.
Portions of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are under “high” and “moderate” risk prospects, as heavy hail and strong winds are expected to move from the southern plains to the southeast, according to the Weather Service’s Storm Forecast Center National. The prospects for a severe high-risk climate are rare.
“The last time this happened in March was nine years ago,” said NBC co-host TODAY, Al Roker.
The impacted areas are at risk of strong long-term tornadoes, which remain in the ground for a long period of time.
The storm attack is expected to continue into the afternoon and night, the Meteorological Service said.
Night tornadoes are especially dangerous because people are often asleep and do not hear warnings. For this reason, nighttime tornadoes are 2.5 times more likely to kill than daytime tornadoes. To compound the danger, there is the fact that storms move quickly under the cover of darkness, in a region characterized by hills and trees that can further block visibility. Storms that approach quickly will mean less time to prepare.
Meteorologists are asking people to take the time now to make sure there is a way to get tornado warnings that can alert and wake them up if necessary. This can be done by making sure that the notification settings are enabled for mobile devices.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey declared an emergency on Tuesday afternoon, ahead of severe weather.
“The threat from potentially dangerous weather conditions is increasing for much of Alabama tomorrow,” Ivey said in a statement. “As a precaution, I issued a state of emergency for all 67 counties to ensure we are ready to act in any necessary way from the state level. Projections show that this is likely to be a widespread event, with some of the harshest weather conditions expected on Wednesday night to early Thursday morning. “
The heavy storm is expected to arrive from southern Virginia to parts of the south on Thursday, including the states of Georgia and Carolinas, according to the Meteorological Service. Widespread and harmful gusts are expected to continue and several tornadoes are possible.
