On the warm side of a winter storm that will track from Texas to the Northeast this week, parts of the storm-fatigued South are in the bull’s-eye for yet another severe weather threat Tuesday and Wednesday.
A large upper-level area of low pressure will punch into the South on Tuesday, and that will spawn the development of a surface low-pressure system near the Gulf Coast. As that surface low encounters warm, humid air surging northward off the Gulf of Mexico, the atmosphere will turn unstable and become primed for the development of severe thunderstorms, including tornadoes.
Severe thunderstorms are possible near the mid- and upper Texas coast Tuesday afternoon before spreading eastward Tuesday night into parts of southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, southwestern Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, these storms will be capable of damaging wind gusts and tornadoes, a few of which could be EF-2 or stronger.
HOW YOU SHOULD PREPARE FOR A TORNADO
“So we do have a very likely setup for southeast Louisiana, really paralleling I-10 through southern portions of Mississippi and Alabama,” FOX Weather meteorologist Britta Merwin said. “In fact, New Orleans all the way to Pensacola (Florida), we have a high potential that we could see some isolated tornadoes, some of which could be as strong as an EF-2 or higher, which specifically for this area, that’s a pretty large threat.”
Less than two weeks ago, a deadly severe weather outbreak pummeled nine states across the South, which included an EF-3 tornado in Alabama that killed seven people as it tracked more than 76 miles from Autauga County to Chambers County.
“It’s been a rough several weeks, and unfortunately, Tuesday night into Wednesday morning will be a timeframe to watch very closely,” Merwin said. “A lot of this threat will be during the overnight hours, and that’s always a very large concern because you will be sleeping. So Tuesday night into Wednesday morning is when you want to have that phone right next to your bed with your notifications turned on, so if you do get a Tornado Warning, you can act immediately.”
NIGHTTIME TORNADOES FAR MORE LIKELY TO TURN DEADLY THAN DAYTIME ONES
On Wednesday, strong to severe storms could impact portions of the Southeast and southern mid-Atlantic states, the FOX Forecast Center said.
The storms will pose at least some risk for damaging wind gusts and tornadoes.
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As the storm system moves off the East Coast Wednesday night, the severe weather threat will diminish for the remainder of the week.