NOAA

Days of unrelenting downpours flooded Mobile and prompted the Mayor of Spanish Fort to urge residents to stay home. Swollen rivers rose to near record levels across Kentucky on Monday, submerging neighborhoods and threatening a famed bourbon distillery in the state capital.

Investigators with the National Weather Service is establishing the intensity of tornadoes reported in Alabama. Three people were killed during the weekend weather that included at least five confirmed twisters.

The threat of tornadoes moved east into the Mississippi Valley and Deep South on Saturday, a day after a massive storm system moving across the country unleashed winds that damaged buildings, whipped up dust storms that caused deadly crashes and fanned more than 100 wildfires in several central states. Alabama is under what forecasters called a rare “level 5” storm alert.

Governor Kay Ivey is declaring a state of emergency in all sixty seven counties in Alabama. A sweeping storm system moving across the U.S. threatens to bring tornadoes, blizzards and possibly wildfires to different regions of the country. The National Weather Service says an outbreak of severe storms could spawn tornadoes over the weekend.

Snow is reportedly falling along the Tennessee Valley and that means the possibility of icy driving conditions in the coming hours. Forecasters with the National Weather Service in Huntsville say after the possible wintry mix or freezing rain, motorists should be on the alert for slippery conditions on roads and bridges tonight and into tomorrow.

Here’s a listing of schools in central and northern Alabama that are closing or holding virtual classes on Friday (1/10/2025) due to the forecast of winter like conditions. Parents should check with their child’s school to confirm operational plans for Friday.

The forecast calls for the coldest temperatures this week tonight with the upper teens along the Tennessee Valley. Communities from Decatur to Mobile are opening warming stations to help those without heat.

Rafael may be gone, but forecasters are now watching a new disturbance in the Caribbean. That new system could become a tropical storm by mid November. Rafael was no threat to Alabama’s Gulf coast. But, the National Weather Service says that past storm is a reminder that a tropical system doesn’t have to hit Alabama directly to have an impact.

Florida is about to begin what expected to be a long recovery from Hurricane Milton. That storm as well as Helene have heightened concerns over misinformation about post storm relief efforts from the federal government.

Weather watchers are tracking the progress of what could soon become Hurricane Helene. The system grew to Tropical Storm strength as it made it way north through the Gulf of Mexico. Helene is expected to make landfall along the Florida panhandle overnight on Thursday, perhaps as a major hurricane. That path is east of Alabama. But, September is also National Disaster Preparedness Month.