Three immense waterspouts form simultaneously in Alabama. Dozens are unaccounted for after flooding in Virginia, as tropical moisture brings flood threat to the South and Southeast. Plus, today’s weather alerts and more.
3 Immense Waterspouts Found in Alabama
Beachgoers in Alabama saw a real-life weather event that mimicked the scene out of the movie Twister as three waterspouts danced over the top of Mobile Bay.
The event was captured on video. But mother nature was far from finished, as additional waterspouts were spotted along the coast, which prompted the National Weather Service (NWS) to issue a special Marine warning for South mobile Bay, North mobile Bay, and Mississippi sound, Fox reported.
Authorities say there was no threat to land and, although the spotting of three waterspouts at once was rare, the occurrence of fair-weather (i.e. relatively calm weather) waterspouts are actually common during this time of year and can occur from summer into early fall along the Gulf Coast.
What is a waterspout?
Waterspouts typically form out of a line of developing cumulus clouds when strong temperature gradients between the water and land create areas of spin (vorticity, i.e. rotation) at the surface. This happens due to sharp but typically weak changes in wind direction over the bay and Gulf waters, according to the NWS.
Weather alerts for Thursday
Here are the latest weather alerts from the National Weather Service (NWS) for Thursday.
Flood advisory/flash flood warning: central Alabama.
Excessive heat watch: southwestern California; northwestern Utah.
Heat advisory: northern, northeastern, central, and south-central South Dakota; North-central, central, and south-central Nebraska; northwestern, central, and south-central Kansas; north-central, central, and southern Oklahoma; central eastern and southern Texas; central Utah.
Over 44 people missing after flooding in Virginia
Dozens of people are unaccounted for after flooding in Virginia washed away homes. At least 44 people are missing and well over 100 homes have been damaged or destroyed by the flooding.
Search efforts continued on Thursday after the torrential downpour caused landslides, damaged roads, bridges, and buildings, and tore homes away from their foundations, WESH reported.
The Weather Channel posted a video showing astounding images from the area.
Tropical moisture brings flood threat to South over next 3 days
A large area of tropical moisture will hang over the South and Southeast for the next 3 days continuing to bring the threat of flash flooding, particularly on Thursday and Friday, according to the National Weather Service forecast.
The stationary front is poised to deliver heavy, excessive amounts of rainfall while continuing to pose the threat of flash flooding for the region which has already seen devastating flooding in Tennessee on Tuesday and in Virginia on Wednesday, the Weather Channel reported.
On Thursday, the areas of concern are the southern regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, central and southern Georgia, southern and eastern South Carolina, and southeastern North Carolina.
On Friday, the threat hovers over the Gulf along the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida Panhandle, and into southwestern Georgia.
