Tornadoes, wind, heavy rain possible with storm system forecast to hit North Florida

A storm system sweeping across Texas and the Gulf Coast is expected to bring severe weather to the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend late Wednesday into Thursday.

Eric Bunker, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tallahassee, said the storms, which were developing ahead of a cold front, are expected to arrive in north Florida by Wednesday night and in the Tallahassee area early Thursday morning.

“At this time, we’re expecting all modes of severe weather: Severe winds, the possibility of some hail, a few tornadoes,” he said. “Out ahead of this front as it approaches the region, it’s going to be pretty windy for a lot of the area, so folks need to be prepared for that as well.”

The Storm Prediction Center is calling for an enhanced risk (3 on a scale of 1-5) of severe weather for Marianna, Panama City and southeast Alabama and a slight risk (2 of 5) for the Tallahassee area.

Widespread rainfall amounts of 2-4 inches are expected, though some places could see as much as 6 inches, the Weather Service said. A flood watch is expected to be issued on Tuesday. Wind gusts of 35-40 mph outside of the thunderstorms are forecast for much of the area.

Because the storms are coming at night, Bunker urged residents to make sure their cell phone emergency alerts are on and NOAA weather radios ready.

“It’s always good to have more than one, just in case one system fails to get any alerts that we do send out during the overnight period because folks with be sleeping,” he said. “And so we just want to make sure that people are prepared and ready for that type of situation.”

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Flooding, tornadoes possible with storms forecast for North Florida