TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — The latest in a series of storm systems will affect the Big Bend and southern Georgia counties Friday, but with distinct differences from the swath of severe storms we experienced Tuesday.
Friday, winds from the southeast and south will draw a warm and moist air mass north across the region. A few spots of showers and rain will stream in from the coastline around sunrise. A couple of them can be mildly gusty as an overall breezy environment takes hold. A few showers and storms are possible early Friday morning around sunrise, but these are not expected to be severe.
Another stronger low-pressure system will move into the Mid-South and Tennessee Valley region. This will promote areas of scattered rain and thunderstorms across the states of Alabama and Georgia during the day.
Locally, we'll continue to have spotty showers and isolated thunderstorms rolling from southwest to northeast around midday. The wind pattern will increase in the afternoon, supporting a couple of storms gaining enough wind gusts to become locally severe. A slight chance for some rotation in the stronger thunderstorm cells can cause a brief tornado to form.
A cold front slides west to east through the area in the late part of the afternoon. The front will trigger a broken line of rain and thunderstorms, which can also be locally severe and gusty. The big difference is that a broad-sweeping squall line of intense wind gusts and widespread severe thunderstorm warnings is not forecast to develop, limiting the overall impacts.
With these in mind, the severe storm activity is expected to few and scattered around the coast to state line counties, and possibly more through middle Georgia.
Rainfall amounts will be mainly one inch or less for the region. Higher totals are possible within some stronger storms, but higher totals will be isolated.
We are in the time of year when organized severe-weather events that lead to tornadoes tend to occur in the Deep South and the tri-state area. Severe storms are not guaranteed for all local counties, but a few of our local neighborhoods can be adversely affected by individual severe thunderstorms.