TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Everyone with a NOAA Weather Radio, please be aware there are issues with it right now and you will need to rely on other alerts overnight (03/15-03/16/2025) to wake you up if a tornado warning is issued.
Download our WTXL Tallahassee app and turn on government alerts in your phone's settings to stay up to date with tonight's severe weather alerts.
NEW AT 9pm:
A Tornado Watch has been issued for the Florida Panhandle, including Jackson County.
This means conditions are favorable for producing tornadoes in the next few hours, but there is no immediate threat.
There is a 3/5 Enhanced Risk for severe weather in western parts of the Big Bend and South Georgia.
This extends from Sopchoppy, Tallahassee, Thomaville, and Moultrie westward, including all of Gadsden, Grady, Decatur, Miller, Baker, Mitchell, Liberty, Franklin, and Seminole counties.
If you're reading from Jackson County, this is where the threat increases to a 4/5 Moderate Risk. Severe storms are expected to be a little more widespread there.
This western zone is where the threat of damaging winds, hail, and some tornadoes is highest in our local area. This is where there is also the potential for stronger, long track tornadoes.
A silver lining remains in the fact that the line of storms will be weakening as they approach our area, meaning the risk for damaging storms is not as high as you may have seen west of us along the Mississippi River and parts of Alabama. However, don't let your guard down, as a potent severe weather maker is still expected to move through the area overnight.
If you're reading from eastern areas like Valdosta, Live Oak, Perry, Jasper, Madison, Nashville, Homerville, and Lakeland, these storms have a lower 2/5 threat for severe weather after 8am Sunday, but damaging winds, small hail, and even a brief tornado still cannot be ruled out.
TIMING:
Most showers and storms hold off until after midnight.
Around 2am we will start seeing a line of strong to severe storms roll through western parts of the area, which will begin ramping up the severe weather threat.
These storms move into the Tallahassee area between 4 and 7am, and linger into parts of the Suwannee River Valley late morning, closer to noon.
The severe weather threat will gradually diminish over the course of the morning.
Leon County Emergency Management has already sent out an alert notifying neighbors of the potential for severe weather with advice on how to prepare for the overnight storms and what to do if weather alerts are issued for your neighborhood.
If a tornado warning is issued later tonight, taking shelter in a basement is ideal.
If you do not have a basement, hunker down in a small, interior room on the first floor of your building. Do your best to stay away from exterior windows and walls.
If you are in a mobile home, the safest course of action is to go to a sturdier structure when a tornado watch is issued. This way, if a tornado warning is issued, you are already somewhere you can stay safe without traveling during a storm.
Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website.
Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.
