Severe Storms Push Into Southeast

UPDATED 8 AM EST, March 12, 2010

Severe thunderstorms producing large hail are hammering the Southeast this morning. The same weather system will ignite even more severe weather across the Southeast and Florida later today. Besides large hail, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes, flash flooding remains a real threat.

Outdoor activities will likely have to be brought inside later today in parts of the Southeast as the severe weather threat shifts eastward. The greater Atlanta area and Miami will be under the gun for gusty thunderstorms.

The ground is already saturated from yesterday`s 3 to 5 inches of rainfall in parts of the Sunshine State. Today`s round of severe weather will soak an already saturated ground. Flood Warnings continue in Florida`s western panhandle. This latest round of stormy skies is due to a clash of warm, moist air meeting cooler drier air along a cold front. This front will sweep toward the Southeast Atlantic Coast while at the same time, a strong low will develop in the Tennessee and Ohio valleys, greatly increasing the shear, or changing of wind direction with height in the atmosphere. The low moving into the Ohio Valley during the heating of the day will help spark the severe storms while the trailing cold front targets the Southeast and Florida with violent weather.