BATON ROUGE, La. – It’ll be a summer stormy day across much of the Southeast on Saturday, putting a damper on outdoor weekend plans.
Thunderstorms were already roaming around central Mississippi and Alabama on Saturday morning along the boundary of a weak cold front. The storms will likely intensify into the afternoon as the warm and muggy atmosphere becomes increasingly unstable.
NOAA‘s Storm Prediction Center has put a sliver of the Gulf Coast into a Level 2 on their 5-point severe weather risk scale Saturday, including Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Mobile, Alabama and stretching across the Florida Panhandle into Jacksonville.
THE 5-POINT SEVERE THUNDERSTORM RISK CATEGORY SCALE EXPLAINED
As thunderstorms develop, some of the more intense storms may cluster together and create damaging wind gusts over 60 mph. Isolated areas of large hail are possible as well. The tornado threat is minimal.
With grossly humid air in place, any thunderstorms can wring out torrential rains, bringing potential for brief flash flooding.
SECRETS OF THE SPC: HOW DAILY CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK GRAPHICS ARE MADE
Additional showers and thunderstorms are possible Sunday, but the severe threat is lower.
There is a second area of severe weather concerns Saturday in the central Plains.
A few supercell thunderstorms are forecast to develop Saturday evening into early Saturday night.
The SPC has put parts of western Kansas in a Level 2 risk as well, warning of potential golf ball-size hail and thunderstorm-triggered wind gusts of 60 mph or higher.