Tornado Threat Continues as Severe Storms Rip Through Southern States Into Friday (FORECAST)

Quincy Vagell
Published: March 31,2016
Damaging severe thunderstorms will continue to flare through Thursday night from parts of the Deep South and Tennessee Valley into the Ohio Valley. Tornadoes, very large hail, damaging wind gusts, and flash flooding all remain possible threats from the storms.
Multiple tornadoes have already been reported since Thursday morning across at least three states in the South.
(MORE: Severe Weather Hammers the South)
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has issued the following watch areas:

• A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect until 10 p.m. CDT for northeast Lousiana.
• A tornado watch is in effect until 1 a.m. CDT Friday for west-central, central and north Alabama, and a small portion of south-central Tennessee. This watch includes Birmingham and Huntsville.
• A tornado watch is in effect until 5 a.m. EDT Friday for west-central and much of north Georgia, east-central Alabama, as well as small portions of adjacent southeast Tennessee and far southwest North Carolina. This watch includes Chattanooga, Atlanta and Macon.

(NEW: Tornado Central Tracker)
Early Thursday evening, a tornado ripped through New Hope, Mississippi, displaying a "debris ball" on radar, indicative of lofted debris. Another storm in southwest Alabama, near Gilbertown, may have also produced a tornado based on radar signatures. Earlier Thursday morning, two relatively weak tornadoes were reported in Louisiana.
Thunderstorm winds caused damage to buildings near Hardinsburg, Kentucky Thursday afternoon. A roof was blown off of the gym at Breckinridge County Middle School according to a National Weather Service report. Damage to trailer homes in Utica, Kentucky may have been caused by a tornado.
Trailers were also flipped by storms in Harned, Kentucky at Nancy Butler Trailer Park. In Louisiana, 2-inch diameter hail was reported from the town hall in Pollock late Thursday afternoon.
In Indiana, wind gusts reached 61 mph at South Bend Thursday afternoon. After additional rainfall on Thursday, Memphis, Tennessee was reporting March 2016 as their fourth wettest month on record.

Current Radar with Watches and Warnings

(MORE: View National Interactive Radar Map | Difference Between a Watch and a Warning)
Below is a look at the current expectation for the severe weather threat into Friday.

Severe Weather and Flash Flooding Forecast

Through Early Friday

Thursday's Thunderstorm Forecast

• States Impacted: Thunderstorms will move across parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee overnight. The strongest storms will impact parts of Alabama into north Georgia. By the early morning hours, isolated severe storms will move toward the Appalachians before gradually weakening.
• Potential Impacts: Damaging wind gusts, large hail and tornadoes are also possible.
• The greatest tornado threat and risk for damaging hail is in northern/central Alabama.
• TOR:CON values are as high as 5 out of 10 in northern/central Alabama. This means there is a 50 percent chance of a tornado within 50 miles of any location in the areas indicated. 
• Cities: Birmingham | Atlanta
• Flash flooding will continue to be a threat overnight, particularly across parts of Alabama and Georgia.

Friday:

• States Impacted: Some severe weather slides east to close out the week from Virginia to the Carolinas, south/central Georgia, northern Florida, southern Alabama, southern Mississippi, and southeast Louisiana.
• Potential Impacts: Damaging wind gusts and large hail, though a few tornadoes are also possible.
• Cities: Columbia, South Carolina | Mobile | New Orleans | Raleigh
• Flash flooding will remain a threat from the Carolinas into the southern half of Georgia, southern Alabama, the Florida panhandle, coastal Mississippi and southeast Louisiana.

Friday's Thunderstorm Forecast

Flood Alerts

Wednesday's Severe Weather

Wednesday afternoon, tennis ball size hail has been reported near Breckenridge, Texas. Golf ball size hail also covered the ground near El Dorado, Kansas. Multiple storm spotters reported a brief tornado near Dexter, Kansas late Wednesday afternoon.
Wind gusts reached as high as 70 mph at Burleson, Texas early Wednesday evening and 67 mph near Waurika, Oklahoma Wednesday afternoon.
Major flooding in Jonesboro, Arkansas prompted a flash flood emergency for the area, which has since been canceled. Some minor to moderate flash flooding was also reported in the greater Little Rock, Arkansas area.
On Wednesday evening, a tornado spun through the north side of the Tulsa, Oklahoma. Damage to buildings and power lines was reported in the Tulsa, Catoosa and Claremore vicinities. Heavy damage was also reported in the city of Dermott, Arkansas, due to a possible tornado late Wednesday night.

Tuesday's Storm Reports

A cluster of thunderstorms rolled across central to south Florida on Tuesday afternoon. The storms were accompanied by some hail, gusty winds, dangerous lightning and locally heavy rainfall.
Three firefighters were injured while responding to a fire when lightning struck an overhang near Boca West. A large tree was knocked down by thunderstorm winds, just to the northwest of Boca West. A wind gust to 56 mph was reported near Boca Grande.
(MORE: Impacts From Florida Storms)
In Nebraska, two rounds of thunderstorms caused marginally large hail across the state. In the morning, hail covered the ground in Albion, requiring a snow plow to clear the highway. Early in the evening, hail also covered the ground to the east of Arthur.

Sunday's Severe Weather Reports

A possible tornado was reported in western Kentucky on Sunday evening with reports of houses and barns damaged near Crofton and Hopkinsville, as well as power outages. Wind damage was also reported near Camden, Tennessee with numerous trees down, along with sheds blown away and a roof came off a barn.
Hail was also reported on Sunday with hail up to the size of golf balls in French Lick, Indiana, near Bluffton, Indiana and near Greenfield, Tennessee.
Heavy rain and flooding was also observed in portions of the Southeast. The Savannah International Airport recorded their wettest March day on record with 3.81 inches of rain on Sunday.

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PHOTOS: Late March 2016 Severe Weather