Published On: 09.11.17 | 

By: Bill Murray

A look this hour at the Alabama weather situation as Irma bears down

9pmfeature

 

Tropical Storm Irma is centered about 55 miles southeast of Columbus, Georgia this evening. Top winds are down to 45 mph and the central pressure is 986 millibars. Barometers in that area are reading as low as 29.12 inches!

Tropical Storm Warnings continue for the following counties in Central Alabama: Barbour, Blount, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Coffee, Coosa, Dale, Elmore, Etowah, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee, Macon, Montgomery, Pike, Randolph, Russell, St. Clair, Talladega and Tallapoosa.

A Wind Advisory remains in effect for these counties in Central Alabama: Autauga, Bibb, Chilton, Dallas, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Lamar, Lowndes, Marengo, Marion, Perry, Pickens, Shelby, Sumter, Tuscaloosa, Walker and Winston. It goes until 6 a.m.

At 7 p.m., winds looked like this:

  • Tuscaloosa-North at 16 MPH
  • Anniston-North at 21 MPH with gusts of 33 MPH
  • Pell City-North at 15 MPH with gusts of 21 MPH
  • Birmingham-North at 20 MPH with gusts of 31 MPH
  • Bessemer-North at 18 MPH
  • Calera-Northwest at 13 MPH with gusts of 25 MPH
  • Montgomery-No Report
  • Auburn-No Report

The center of Irma is expected to track west/northwestward across east central and northeast Alabama tonight. It will weaken to a depression during the early morning hours.

In the Tropical Storm Warning, winds will average up to 35-45 MPH with a few gusts over 50 MPH. That will continue to bring down a few trees. It would be a good night to sleep in a safer room which is not vulnerable to trees or large limbs falling. In the Wind Advisory area, winds will average 15-25 MPH and gusts to 35-40 MPH. This could also bring down a few trees.

Power outages are possible, but they shouldn’t be widespread.

Alabama Power reported its outages were down to 25,000 customers statewide at 8:30 p.m., down from a peak of 45,000 outages earlier in the day. Of those, 13,000 were in Phenix City and Eufaula areas; 4,200 in the Auburn and Dadeville areas; 4,100 in the Anniston, Pell City, Ashville and Oneonta areas; 1,810 in metro Birmingham; 991 in the Mobile area and 779 in the Jasper area.

Irma update: Winds will follow rains through the night in Alabama from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Rainfall amounts are generous, especially over East Alabama but not especially heavy, and the rain band is pushing northwest steadily now.

Some damage reports:

  • Several trees down in Cherokee County in NE Alabama; including one near Centre, one on County Road 86 and 22, Road Blocked. Another near Blanche.
  • Power pole downed by large limb in Cherokee County near New Moon.
  • Calhoun County: trees down near Alexandria and one fell on car and pool house on Hale Street in Oxford at 5:42 p.m. Multiple trees reported down in Oxford.
  • Trees down near Sand Rock in Cherokee County causing power outages.
  • Power lines down on East Fort Williams Street in Sylacauga around 6:50 p.m.
  • Trees down in Gadsden in Etowah County around 5:28 p.m.
  • Trees down near Pell City blocking Mineral Springs Road.
  • Fire Department reports trees down across highway 77 just north of highway 275 in Talladega around 6:47 p.m.
  • Tree on house in Alex City in Tallapoosa County at 6:39 p.m.
  • Tree down in Hayden at 6:25 p.m.
  • Tree on house in Coates Bend in Etowah County around 6:15 p.m.
  • Tree down on highway 75 in Blountsville in Blount County around 6:09 p.m.
  • There are numerous other reports across Russell, Cherokee, Calhoun and Blount Counties.

Follow the AlabamaWx.com weather blog for more updates and weather information.

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