Birmingham Weather: Slight Risk For Severe Storms Saturday

BIRMINGHAM, AL — After a couple of says of cold weather in Birmingham, temperatures are expected to rise a bit and some severe storms are possible in the area Saturday. The National Weather Service has the Birmingham metro in a "slight risk" zone for severe weather.

The Storm Prediction Center reports that the weather system heading to the area will bring occasional rain and thunderstorms to Alabama as the weekend begins.

"It looks like we will have two rounds of rain and storms," meteorologist James Spann said. "The first will come through during the early morning Saturday, in the general time frame from 1 a.m. until 11 a.m. These storms could produce strong winds and hail, and there is some risk of an isolated tornado or two. The main limiting factor is the lack of surface-based instability; hopefully, this will mitigate the threat to some degree."

After a midday lull, the air will become unstable by Saturday afternoon, Spann said, and additional showers and storms will likely form ahead of a cold front.

"These storms could produce large hail and strong straight-line winds," Spann said. "The wind profiles become somewhat unidirectional by afternoon, so for now the tornado threat looks low with this round of storms.

The NWS said up to 2 inches of rain are likely Saturday, and a few isolated flooding issues are possible.

"Most of the rain will be out of the state by 7 p.m. Saturday, and the sky clears Saturday night as dry air returns," Spann said.