Severe weather threat late this Wednesday into the evening. Widespread wind damage main threat.

The overnight update from the Storm Prediction Center maintains the Level 4 of 5 and Level 3 of 5 risks across the entire viewing area with very little in the way of changes, except that the Level 4 risk has now been nudged eastward into Wayne County, TN and eastward to include the immediate Shoals metro/Quad Cities area of northwest Alabama. However, the Level 3 of 5 risk is very substantial as well, and it still includes the remainder of everyone. The overall timeline for our area remains roughly 4PM to 10PM from west to east, but we have attached a timeline map to this post to show how that breaks down for specific counties. The main threat is still widespread damaging straight-line winds possibly of 70-80 mph with a few higher gusts not impossible. There is also the secondary but elevated risk of a few tornadoes embedded within the line as well.

Also keep in mind that wind gusts this afternoon hours ahead of the storms may reach as high as 40-50 mph, and this is high enough to knock down trees and cause power outages. Make sure to charge your devices today, and have multiple reliable ways of hearing warnings! Because of the widespread and intense nature of the straight-line wind threat, this is one of those times you need to shelter for a severe thunderstorm warning the same way you would a tornado warning, especially if you live in a mobile home or other off-site manufactured housing.