Lead Forecaster Daniel Crawley
Good Friday morning to everyone across the region, today has the potential to be a very active day in terms of severe weather across a large portion of the Southeast US due to a dynamic storm system.
The 0z model suite has rolled in and has resulted in some changes to the now Day 1 Convective Outlook from the Storm Prediction Center. An Enhanced Risk (Level 3 of 5) has been expanded to include a significant portion of North Carolina including our entire eight county coverage area.
The overall threat for Damaging Winds and Tornadoes has increased with the morning guidance. WNC is now under a 5% probability of tornadoes with the 10 percent range across Central and North Georgia. That may not sound like a high percentage but in terms of severe weather that is elevated. The damaging wind probabilities have also grown now to 30% which is quite high.
As of 4:30 this morning we are seeing line of rain showers and some thunder moving across the region. That is the warm front passing through with an influx of low level moisture. The expectation is for clearing to occur at some point after daybreak across the region.
The degree of clearing and destabilization will ultimately determine how active a severe weather day it will be across the region. Morning guidance continues to suggest it will destabilize effectively and by afternoon numerous storms will be likely.
Our weather team will keep you updated throughout the day with the latest. Make sure and visit our social media outlets for live coverage if warranted. Have multiple ways of receiving severe weather information . Communicate with friends and family! If you’re away from television or computer, receiving a simple text message or telephone call is equally as important method of knowing when you are at imminent risk.