BEAUREGARD, Ala. - Forecasters are upgrading the likelihood that severe storms and strong tornadoes could strike parts of the South less than a week after a twister killed more than 20 people in Alabama.
A region that includes parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee will be at heightened risk of severe weather Saturday, the national Storm Prediction Center reported Friday. The area includes 2.5 million people, including the Memphis metropolitan area.
The storms will be fast-moving, racing to the northeast at 50 to 60 mph, said Bill Bunting, chief of forecast operations at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
"It means you have to take action when warnings are issued and not wait until you see the threat visually," he said. "If you wait until you see an approaching tornado with damaging winds, it's going to be at your location within seconds."
Saturday night, the threat will likely continue after dark as the storms move east into Alabama, forecasters said. That poses a particular danger as many people are often asleep.
"It can be more difficult to reach people at night," Bunting said. "Just make sure you know how to the get the warnings if it's in the middle of the night."
In the Chattanooga area, showers will begin moving into the area Friday.
On Saturday, isolated rains are forecast early with the possibility for heavy rain and thunderstorms - some severe - developing in the late afternoon and evening, according to WRCB-TV Channel 3 forecaster Alison Pryor's weather blog.
"Some of the storms could be strong to severe with the greater risk for our western counties," she said.
Sunday could see a few showers and storms across the area, but it will be mostly cloudy.