Twin States Weather Blog

NWS Special Weather Statement:

* Quick note from our friends at the National Weather Service in Jackson:

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
644 AM CST SAT FEB 24 2007

...OUTBREAK OF SEVERE WEATHER EXPECTED ACROSS THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY LATER TODAY INTO THIS EVENING... ...WIDESPREAD DAMAGING WINDS AND SIGNIFICANT TORNADOES POSSIBLE...

A POWERFUL STORM SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AND INTO THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY REGION TODAY IS EXPECTED TO SET THE STAGE FOR A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS OUTBREAK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS...NORTHEAST LOUISIANA...AND MUCH OF MISSISSIPPI.

THE INITIAL STORMS WILL LIKELY DEVELOP THIS MORNING THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON...MAINLY OVER AREAS NORTHWEST OF THE NATCHEZ TRACE CORRIDOR. THE MAIN RISK ASSOCIATED WITH THESE STORMS WILL BE HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS.

BY MID AFTERNOON...MORE FAVORABLE CONDITIONS FOR SCATTERED SEVERE STORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORNADOES...VERY LARGE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL DEVELOP ALONG AND WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

THE FAVORABLE AREA FOR SEVERE STORMS WILL SHIFT TO THE EAST OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS AS THE RISK FOR SIGNIFICANT TORNADOES...VERY LARGE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS CONTINUES. BY 6 PM...AN INTENSE SQUALL LINE OF STORMS SHOULD EXTEND ROUGHLY ALONG THE AXIS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER...BUT SEVERE STORMS COULD BE WELL UNDER WAY WELL EAST OF IT.

DURING THE LATE EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS THE RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES WILL CONTINUE TO SHIFT EAST...EXITING TO AREAS EAST OF THE I-55 CORRIDOR BY 10 PM. THE RISK SHOULD SHIFT ENTIRELY EAST OF THE OUTLOOK AREA BETWEEN 11 PM AND 2 AM AS THE BRUNT OF STORMS MOVES INTO ALABAMA. A SIGNIFICANT RISK OF WIND DAMAGE...POTENTIALLY WIDESPREAD...WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE SQUALL LINE AS IT MOVES THROUGH AREAS NORTH OF THE INTERSTATE TWENTY CORRIDOR. THERE IS STILL SOME QUESTION AS TO HOW FAR THE SQUALL LINE WILL EXTEND INTO SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI AS STORMS MAY TEND TO REMAIN MORE DISCRETE IN THESE AREAS THROUGH EVENING.

RESIDENTS OF EXTREME SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS...NORTHEAST LOUISIANA AND MUCH OF MISSISSIPPI SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE WEATHER SITUATION TODAY AS WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. PEOPLE PLANNING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES ON THROUGH THIS EVENING SHOULD ENSURE THAT THEY HAVE WEATHER INFORMATION READILY AVAILABLE...AND HAVE A PLAN TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF SEVERE WEATHER APPROACHES.

Labels: Forecast Discussion

posted by Chris Whited @ 8:34 AM