Christmas Day Forecast: Severe Storms, Threat of Tornadoes and High Winds

First, I wanted to pass this along from the Atlanta NWS at 10:20am this morning:

MEDIA...COULD YOU PLEASE ASK RESIDENTS CHECK THE BATTERIES IN THEIR NOAA WX RADIOS OR INSTALL A SEVERE WEATHER ALERTING APP ON THEIR SMART PHONES? TUE NIGHT COULD BE A LONG NIGHT. THANKS.

Not the type of thing I like to hear from the National Weather Service on Christmas Eve. You think of snow and cold at Christmas, not EF2-3 tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, but that's exactly what is in store for the southeast. 

The Storm Prediction Center had this to say this morning:

MOISTURE AND SHEAR PROFILES SUGGEST THAT ANY MCS THAT BECOMES WELL-ORGANIZED COULD CONTAIN A TORNADO THREAT FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD. FOR THIS REASON...LONG TRACK TORNADOES COULD OCCUR WITH SUPERCELLS THAT REMAIN DISCRETE AND MOVE ALONG THE NRN EDGE OF MODERATE INSTABILITY. IN ADDITION...WIND DAMAGE WILL BE LIKELY WITH LINE-SEGMENTS THAT ORGANIZE ON THE LEADING EDGE OF THE MCS. A THREAT FOR WIDESPREAD WIND DAMAGE MAY DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION TUESDAY WITH WIND GUSTS OVER 70 KT POSSIBLE WITH BOWING SEGMENTS EMBEDDED IN THE LINE. IF A WELL-DEVELOPED AND FAST MOVING SQUALL-LINE ORGANIZES...THEN THE WIND DAMAGE THREAT COULD BECOME SUBSTANTIAL. THE THREAT FOR SEVERE STORMS SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD REACHING THE SRN APPALACHIAN MTNS AND ERN GULF COAST STATES LATE TUESDAY NIGHT.

I know everyone will be enjoying the festivities that Christmas Day brings, but please stay alert for severe weather as the day goes on, and especially into the evening. James Spann, one of the most experienced weather forecasters in the southeast, had this to say:

"The baseline is having a NOAA Weather Radio in your home, properly programmed, and with fresh batteries in case of a power failure. Also, having a good smart phone warning app is even better. We recommend iMap WeatherRadio for iPhone and Android phones, and MyWarn for iPhone. Both will warn you ONLY if you are in a warning polygon (remember, warnings are not county based), you can program in fixed locations."

I will be providing the latest updates here on the Patch through Christmas evening and into Wednesday as conditions warrant. 

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