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Violent Weather Continues in South

Aired May 07, 2003 - 15:29   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN: More violent weather is breaking out today, especially in parts of the south. And this pattern, around since sunday, may persist for several more days.
CNN's Jacqui Jeras has her eyes on the current conditions from a busy CNN weather center.

Hello, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, hello Miles.

A tornado warning has cleared for Birmingham but remains for counties off to the east of there, including Talledega County, Shelby County, Calhoun County, and now we have a new one for Hale County. And that is for this little (UNINTELLIGIBLE), which is just developing right there and showing some strong rotation.

You can obviously pick out where the big area of concern is. This is moving right along I-20 here. It's pushing off to the east. It's moving about 35 miles an hour. This system has held together since it started in Mississippi. This is a very dangerous storm system, and likely will continue to live longer as it pushes off to the east.

And there's also another area where we're seeing some developments around Jackson, Mississippi. Some very strong, intense thunderstorms are starting to erupt right here. Going to see a lot of lightning. Probably some large hail and maybe even some damaging winds. We'll be keeping our eye on the potential for any rotation to develop in some of those thunderstorms.

Tornado watches still in effect across central Mississippi, including much of northern Alabama. Just north of Montgomery into Birmingham and up towards Huntsville and clips northwestern parts of Georgia. We are starting to see heavy rain in northern Georgia. At this hour, you've already had plenty on top of it. There you can see clusters of lightning, along with some new developments in that region.

We also have a severe thunderstorm watch, which has been issued and includes the Washington, D.C., area, up toward Baltimore and south central Pennsylvania. These are going to be some strong thunderstorms. Hail and damaging winds will be your primary threat.

How bad is it going to be today? Our numbers of tornadoes are going to be down significantly. However, tomorrow looks like it's going to be a very active day. We have a moderate risk in the same spots that were hit so hard on Sunday.

This looks like a very good outlook, very good potential again for tomorrow. We'll see a few tornadoes today but our big focus will be shifting into tomorrow, and the pattern looks like we may have a severe weather threat at least through the weekend.

O'BRIEN: Jacqui, I suppose it's worth restating what folks should do to prepare, especially in that area there depicted in red.

JERAS: The best thing you can do is have your weather radio. Keep it on. Make sure you have a fresh battery. Make sure that you keep up to date by watching the news, listening to your radio. Make your plans of where you are going to go and where you're going to go.

If you don't have a basement or shelter, particularly if you live in a mobile home, tomorrow is not a good day to stay at home. Go ahead and go to your neighbor's. Make plans to have a play date with your neighbors who have a sturdy home and a sturdy basement.

O'BRIEN: Jacqui Jeras, appreciate the words for the wise there. We hope folks are listening carefully to those. Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 7, 2003 - 15:29   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN: More violent weather is breaking out today, especially in parts of the south. And this pattern, around since sunday, may persist for several more days.
CNN's Jacqui Jeras has her eyes on the current conditions from a busy CNN weather center.

Hello, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, hello Miles.

A tornado warning has cleared for Birmingham but remains for counties off to the east of there, including Talledega County, Shelby County, Calhoun County, and now we have a new one for Hale County. And that is for this little (UNINTELLIGIBLE), which is just developing right there and showing some strong rotation.

You can obviously pick out where the big area of concern is. This is moving right along I-20 here. It's pushing off to the east. It's moving about 35 miles an hour. This system has held together since it started in Mississippi. This is a very dangerous storm system, and likely will continue to live longer as it pushes off to the east.

And there's also another area where we're seeing some developments around Jackson, Mississippi. Some very strong, intense thunderstorms are starting to erupt right here. Going to see a lot of lightning. Probably some large hail and maybe even some damaging winds. We'll be keeping our eye on the potential for any rotation to develop in some of those thunderstorms.

Tornado watches still in effect across central Mississippi, including much of northern Alabama. Just north of Montgomery into Birmingham and up towards Huntsville and clips northwestern parts of Georgia. We are starting to see heavy rain in northern Georgia. At this hour, you've already had plenty on top of it. There you can see clusters of lightning, along with some new developments in that region.

We also have a severe thunderstorm watch, which has been issued and includes the Washington, D.C., area, up toward Baltimore and south central Pennsylvania. These are going to be some strong thunderstorms. Hail and damaging winds will be your primary threat.

How bad is it going to be today? Our numbers of tornadoes are going to be down significantly. However, tomorrow looks like it's going to be a very active day. We have a moderate risk in the same spots that were hit so hard on Sunday.

This looks like a very good outlook, very good potential again for tomorrow. We'll see a few tornadoes today but our big focus will be shifting into tomorrow, and the pattern looks like we may have a severe weather threat at least through the weekend.

O'BRIEN: Jacqui, I suppose it's worth restating what folks should do to prepare, especially in that area there depicted in red.

JERAS: The best thing you can do is have your weather radio. Keep it on. Make sure you have a fresh battery. Make sure that you keep up to date by watching the news, listening to your radio. Make your plans of where you are going to go and where you're going to go.

If you don't have a basement or shelter, particularly if you live in a mobile home, tomorrow is not a good day to stay at home. Go ahead and go to your neighbor's. Make plans to have a play date with your neighbors who have a sturdy home and a sturdy basement.

O'BRIEN: Jacqui Jeras, appreciate the words for the wise there. We hope folks are listening carefully to those. Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com