Both forecasters and Alabama residents will be watching the skies today. Heavy rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast. Weather watchers say west central Alabama should be on the lookout for potentially severe weather which could include tornadoes. Northwestern parts of the state could see power outages. Gary Goggins is a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Birmingham. He says strong winds are a concern for Thursday….
“We are going to see 30 to 40 mile an hour wind gusts outside of any thunder storm so just during the day on Thursday we will have gusty winds that could contribute to a few trees going down and will lead to some sporadic power outages,” said Goggins.
Goggins also wants citizens to keep an eye on weather alerts and to tie down anything in the yard that could be easily blown away. Heavy rain will start in the mid afternoon and continue through midnight as the system moves into Georgia. Goggins says having more than one severe weather radio or cell phone APP is a good idea.
“You always need to have more than one way to receive a warning. So if you have something on your phone that may alert you. You also need a weather radio in case either one of those sources goes down. So that way you are able to get the warning and are able to take action appropriately.”
Goggins says it’s also It is also important for individuals living in a mobile home to know the safest place to be during severe weather.