West Alabama Tuesday Briefing
It is Tuesday April 2, 2024. A potential for strong to severe storms is lurking just to our west, poised to move into West Alabama in the late afternoon through mid-evening hours.
The Storm Prediction Center has bumped up the threat advisory to an Enhanced (3 in 5) Risk and increased the coverage area to include all of Tuscaloosa, Pickens, Greene, Hale and Bibb counties northward. Most of Sumter and Marengo counties remain in a Slight (2 in 5) Risk area.
Damaging winds to 70mph, ping pong ball size hair and a possible tornado the forecast in the Enhanced Risk area. Damaging winds to 60mph, quarter size hail and a lesser rick for tornadoes exist in the Slight Risk area.
Embedded supercells are possible within a line of strong to severe thunderstorms that will move through the area during late afternoon and early evening hours. EF2 (Winds 111 to 132mph) or higher tornadoes are possible in the Enhanced Risk area.
The Forecast:
On a 3-to-1 vote the Northport City Council appointed Amwar Aiken to be the vacant 5th District council seat last night. The seated was left empty by the resignation of former council president Jeff Hogg who resigned amid alleged threats made again him and his family over the controversial University Beach project.
A statement of the Saban center website has announced a "strategic alliance" between the center and five prominent architectural and cultural planning firms. The statement quotes Terry Saban as believing, "with the alliance and expertise of these architectural and planning firms, a brighter future for everyone in Alabama is not just possible, but inevitable."
The threat for severe weather this afternoon has prompted Jasper City Schools to shutdown at 1:00pm and cancel all after-school activities for today. Walker County schools will also dismiss at 1:00pm and cancel all after-school programs and activities.
A bill sponsored by Chris Sells, R-Greenville, would add the June 19 holiday, which celebrates the end of slavery, to the current list of 13 days Alabama officially celebrates. It would not be another holiday for state employees though. An employ would select between Confederate President Jefferson Davis' birthday and Juneteenth.
Whitfield Regional Hospital in Demopolis spent part of Monday on lockdown according to Demopolis authorities.
Topping Sports News:
The 11th-ranked Crimson Tide Baseball Team will meet the Samford Bulldogs at 4 p.m. today in matchup at Joe Lee Griffin Field in Birmingham. The game will air on ESPN+ as well as Tide 100.9 on radio. The contest was originally scheduled for a 6 p.m. start but was moved up due to the threat of thunderstorms later this evening.
Alabama Softball's game with Jacksonville State was postponed by on February 28th due to rain, now the rescheduled game for today faces the threat of thunderstorm activity. First pitch is set for 6:00pm on ESPM+ and The Crimson Tide Sports Network at 97.5 FM in Tuscaloosa | nick975.com.