FPREN

Look for a stormy St. Patrick’s Day in the Florida Panhandle and south Alabama, as a portion of Winter Storm Xylia moves across the region.

The forecast thinking hasn’t changed all that much, according to Megan Borowski -- a meteorologist at FPREN – the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network.

“We’re still expecting strong thunderstorms to roll through late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning,” Borowski said. “We could get a couple of strong storms in our area [Wednesday] during the day, but that line of the strongest storms shouldn’t arrive until Wednesday night.”

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With less than a week until the beginning of spring (March 20), residents in the Florida Panhandle and south Alabama will get a preview of storms that are typical of the Vernal Equinox.

Potentially damaging storms are forecast to rumble across the Florida Panhandle Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

The storms in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties are between the frigid weather earlier this week and more of the same by the weekend. Emergency management officials across the region are bracing for the overnight storms, including Escambia County’s Eric Gilmore.

As Hurricane Zeta readies to make landfall between New Orleans and Biloxi, the outer fringes will lash the Florida Panhandle with wind, rain and storm surge.

That in turn, is affecting early voting.

Early voting continued Wednesday in Santa Rosa County’s 6 locations from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“That will give us time for me to send teams of folks out to all of our sites, get things secured, bring items back that need to be brought back here to our main office,” said Tappie Villane, Elections Supervisor in Santa Rosa.

Fresh from dealing with Hurricane Sally, residents along the U.S. Gulf Coast now have a new storm for which to prepare.

Tropical Storm Delta is moving through the Caribbean, and forecasters say it will hit western Cuba and eventually the Gulf Coast, likely as a hurricane.

“If this sounds familiar, it sounds like a Category-2 hurricane coming to Louisiana that is expected to turn east – sounds a lot like Sally,” said Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson during his weekly virtual news conference Monday.

Sally is now a Category-2 hurricane and continuing to bear down on the northern Gulf Coast. Escambia and Santa Rosa counties were placed in the hurricane warning area on Monday.

“The city is continuing the monitor Sally and we’re in close contact with Escambia County Emergency management,” said Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson, who declared a state of emergency just after his weekly virtual news conference on Monday. “We encourage our residents to monitor the storm as well.”

Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson used his weekly virtual news conference to remind everyone to be vigilant and continue to monitor the progress of Hurricane Sally.

Escambia County is under a tropical storm watch, and a state of emergency for the city of Pensacola was declared by the mayor shortly after his news conference.

“The city is continuing the monitor Sally and we’re in close contact with Escambia County Emergency management,” said Robinson. “We encourage our residents to monitor the storm as well.”

Government forecasters are predicting an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season with the possibility of almost 20 named storms.

During a teleconference with the media Thursday Neil Jacobs, acting administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center, said indications point to an above-average season from June 1 through Nov. 30 -- with the possibility of extreme activity.

Forecasters continue to track a line of severe weather moving across Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas, part of which is taking dead aim at the Florida Panhandle and south Alabama.

The tracking has been going on for the better part of a week by the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network, where Jeff Huffman is chief meteorologist.

Residents in the Florida Panhandle and South Alabama are being advised to stay alert this weekend, as a powerful, organized storm front approaches from the west.

This will be a powerful front, according to Meteorologist Jeff Huffman at the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network, and will catch a lot of attention on Friday with the severe weather developing – especially Friday night across Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.

The squall line will be capable of producing widespread swaths of wind damage, along with rainfall amounts of 1-3 in.

Officials with the Florida Forest Service are warning residents in the Panhandle of the increasing danger of wildfires because of a continued lack of rainfall.

Rain totals in Northwest Florida have been at zero, says Jeff Huffman -- a meteorologist at the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network. And that’s doing a number on crops and lawns, as well as ratcheting up the threat of wildfire.

If it’s mid- to late August, then we’re heading into the busiest time of the hurricane season. Coastal residents are urged to stay alert from now until at least the end of the season on Nov. 30.

“There had been some notable adjustments that have been made by some of the lead forecasters in our circles,” says Meteorologist Jeff Huffman at the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network – FPREN. That includes NOAA – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

As heat advisories continue to be issued in northwest Florida, officials are recommending people take precautions to avoid health issues.