The Storm Prediction Center has placed the entire viewing area under a severe risk for Sunday. The area of greatest concern is in yellow (level 2/5) and includes hometowns in the southside and portions of central Virginia.
The greatest risks are damaging wind gusts and localized flash flooding. We’ll also watch for a very low risk of an isolated, spin-up tornado and some hail.
Sunday’s severe weather threat comes after multiple tornadoes left a path of destruction across Texas, around the Houston area, on Saturday. Damage was also reported from Louisiana and Mississippi over the weekend. At least two people were killed by the storms.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center has forecast a Level 2 out of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms from the eastern Gulf Coast to southern Virginia. This region covers more than 20 million people, including Charlotte and Raleigh in North Carolina.
A larger part of the country, from North Florida to Cleveland, Ohio, is also at a Level 1 risk for severe weather.
Seventeen million people across the South are under the threat of damaging winds, strong tornadoes and hail Saturday.
On Sunday, a Tornado Watch is in effect for parts of Alabama, Florida and Georgia through Sunday morning.
The Southeast’s tornado threat will continue into Sunday night. Eastern Georgia, southwestern North Carolina and most of South Carolina are under a Tornado Watch through Sunday afternoon.
Wind or possible tornado damage has already been reported outside the Atlanta metro region near Woosley, Georgia.
The National Weather Service office in Atlanta/Peachtree City will send a damage survey team to assess the possible tornado destruction in southern Coweta and Fayette counties on Sunday.
Multiple tornadoes have been reported in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi over the past couple of days, including an EF1 tornado (86- to 110-mph winds) near Fullerton, Louisiana, on Friday.
One person was killed and four others had non-critical injuries in a tornado in Brazoria County, the sheriff’s office said Saturday. The office did not provide further details on the death or the victim’s identity.
In Mississippi, one person died in the city of Natchez, Malary White from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said Saturday. The circumstances surrounding the death are unclear but it was related to storms in the area.
The Chambers County Sheriff’s Office in Texas said Highway 124 will be closed for a day or two due to downed power lines and other damage from tornadoes.
