The most serious risk – a level of 3 out of 5 – exists for about 9 million people in areas of southern Mississippi, parts of the Florida Panhandle, southern and central Alabama and Georgia, and parts of South Carolina, the forecast center said. Storms already hit areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Tuesday morning. Strong winds pushed trees in areas of northwestern Louisiana and heavy hail was reported in Rankin County, northeast of Jackson, as well as in Marengo and Choctaw counties in western Alabama, according to the National Weather Service. Tornado clocks are valid until 11 am CT for parts of northeastern Louisiana and much of central and southern Mississippi, and until 2 p.m. CT for parts of central and southern Alabama and parts of the Florida Panhandle, the meteorological service said. As the system moves east, the Atlanta area could see conditions worsen by 11 a.m. ET and see strong thunderstorms until the afternoon. The following cities will see the greatest chance of strong thunderstorms from 4 to 10 p.m. ET: Tallahassee, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina? and Charlotte, Raleigh and Wilmington in North Carolina.
Most likely weather in the south on Wednesday
Tuesday’s strong weather is the latest in a series of storms to hit the southern United States for three consecutive weeks. Four people were rescued Monday night from fast-moving waters in McKinney, Texas, about 30 miles north of Dallas, Monday night, officials said. McKinney Fire Department said on Twitter that it had carried out three separate rescues in the water. No one was injured. The first system triggered a deadly EF-3 tornado just outside New Orleans and 25 tornadoes in Texas last month. Many of the same areas that have seen severe weather in recent weeks will be threatened again next week, Bill Bunting of the Storm Forecast Center told CNN. “The very humid wind blowing north from the Gulf of Mexico, which has helped develop storms in recent weeks, is once again what we will see this week,” Bading said. By Wednesday, a separate system will be formed, bringing another round of storms to the South and extending the serious threat for another day. Wednesday’s highest risk – level 3 out of 5 – covers about 10 million people in Atlanta. Birmingham and Tuscaloosa in Alabama. and Chattanooga, Tennessee, said the forecast center. By Thursday, the threat is waning as storms push east coast. While the system is mainly bringing thunderstorms to the south, we will continue to see rain on Thursday in much of the east coast. It will rain everywhere from Florida to New England, so Wednesdays and Thursdays may cause some travel delays at some major airports as this system moves. CNN’s Dave Hennen, Gene Norman, Jennifer Gray and Chris Boyette contributed to this report.
