Alabama Alert Day: flooding rains, gusty winds, and a tornado threat as Francine weakens.

CUSTOMERS WERE WITHOUT POWER IN LOUISIANA AFTER FRANCINE HIT. AND RIGHT NOW I'M JOINED BY METEOROLOGIST JORDAN WEST ALONGSIDE METEOROLOGIST BRYLEE BROWN. YOU GUYS I KNOW HAVE BEEN SO BUSY BACK IN THE WEATHER CENTER FEELING WE'RE FEELING THE EFFECTS OF FRANCINE RIGHT NOW HERE IN OUR AREA. YES, WE'VE BEEN WATCHING IT ALLL WEEK LONG. IT IS AN ALERT DAY. JORDAN'S GOT MORE ON THE SPECIFICS FOR WHAT WE CAN EXPECT AT HOME. WE'RE ALREADY SEEING SOME CLEARING TAKE PLACE ACROSS PARTS OF ALABAMA. LOOK AT THIS VIEW. THIS IS FROM DEMOPOLIS IN MARENGO COUNTY BLUE SKY. THAT MEANS THERE'S SOME POCKETS OF DRY AIR. AND AS WE SEE SOME OF THAT DRY AIR WRAP AROUND THE STORM, WE EXPECT THE TEMPERATURE TO CLIMB A BIT WITH MORE SUNSHINE AND THAT ACTUALLY INCREASES OUR INSTABILITY. AND SO THAT COULD MEAN A HEIGHTENED RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER. THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. WE'VE GOT TEMPERATURES IN THE 60S AND 70S. OF COURSE, IT'S MUCH COOLER TODAY WITH THE CLOUDS AROUND. YOU CAN SEE THE CLEARING THAT'S TAKING PLACE ACROSS SOUTH ALABAMA AND EVEN SOME POCKETS ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA. BUT CLOUD COVER IS MUCH MORE DENSE AS THAT DRY AIR WRAPS AROUND. FRANCINE AGAIN, THAT IS GOING TO PROMOTE SOME CLEARING, AND WE THINK THAT WILL HEIGHTEN OUR INSTABILITY PARAMETERS. AS FAR AS RAIN GOES, THIS IS WVTM 13 LIVE DOPPLER RADAR RIGHT NOW THERE ARE SOME HEAVIER POCKETS OVER SAMANTHA STRETCHING THROUGH ALICEVILLE AND CARROLLTON DOWN TO EUTAW. AND THEN SOUTH OVER DALLAS COUNTIES, BUT JUST NOT MUCH RAIN OUT THERE. WE HAVE NO ACTIVE SEVERE WEATHER AT THIS POININT IN TIME. WE'RE NOT EVEN UNDER A TORNADO WATCH OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. THERE ARE TORNADO WATCHES DOWN TO THE SOUTH AND THIS MAY SHIFT NORTHWARD IN THE COMING HOURS. THIS IS TROPICAL DEPRESSION FRANCINE. THIS IS EXPECTED TO BECOME EXTRATROPICAL OR WEAKEN LATER TODAY INTO THIS EVENING. BUT YOU CAN STILL SEE THE VERY PRONOUNCED COUNTERCLOCKWISE FLOW WITH A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM. AND AS IT SWIRLS UP THE SOUTHEAST, IT'S MOVING THESE BANDS ACROSS ALABAMA. AND SO LATER THIS AFTERNOON, WITH THE PROPER INSTABILITY AND LIFT, WE COULD SEE SOME OF T THE BANDS PRODUCE SOME CONVECTIVE THUNDERSTORMS. AND IN OTHER WORDS, SOME OF THEM MAY ACTUALLY BE HEAVY AND PRODUCE SOME SEVERE CHARACTERISTICS TO HEAVY RAIN. TODAY, STRONG WIND GUSTS. I WANT TO SHOW YOU THOSE REAL QUICKLY. WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO GUST CLOSE TO 35 AND 40 THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON, ESPECIALLY OVER SOUTHWEST ALABAMA FIRST AND THEN THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. THESE WIND GUSTS GRADUALLY SHIFT NORTHWARD. JORDAN'S GOT MORE ON THE SPECIFICS, AND WE'RE ALSO WATCHING THE POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING. HOW MUCH RAIN, JORDAN, EXACTLY DO WE EXPECT? THAT'S RIGHT. WE COULD SEE ANYWHERE BETWEEN 4 TO 6IN OF RAIN IN SOME SPOTS. BUT LIKE YOU SAID EARLIER, TODAY IS AN ALERT DAY. THAT JUST MEANS THAT THERE'S A GREATER RISK THAT SOME OF THIS WEATHER OUT HERE CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS. WE CAN SEE WIND GUSTS, AS BRYLEE MENTIONED, BETWEEN 40 TO 50MPH. THE TORNADO RISK IS STILL THERE, AND WE COULD SEE THAT LOCALIZED FLOODING AS WELL. TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR SCREEN RIGHT NOW. IF YOU'RE IN THIS LEVEL, TWO OUT OF FIVE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK BIRMINGHAM CLANTON ALEXANDER CITY. THIS HERE IN THE YELLOW. THAT MEANS YOU HAVE A HIGHER CHANCE OF SEEING SCATTERED NUMEROUS AND EVEN INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN THIS GIVEN AREA. PLACES OUTSIDE THIS AREA AND THE LEVEL ONE. THE GREEN. YOU GUYS WILL SEE A MORE ISOLATED THREAT. SOME STORMS WILL BE SEVERE, WHILE OTHERS AND MOST WON'T BE. BUT THE FLOOD THREAT IS REAL. TODAY WE HAVE A LEVEL THREE FLOOD RISK FOR ALABAMA AND PLACES LIKE JEFFERSON COUNTY, SHELBY COUNTY GOING UP TO WINSTON WALKER, TUSCALOOSA, BIBB AND CHILTON TALLADEGA YOU GUYS COULD SEE SOME PRETTY HEFTY RAINFALL TOTALS. WILL BE INDOORS AND STAY OFF THE ROADWAYS. IF YOU CAN. OTHER SPOTS IN THIS LEVEL TWO ZONE, THE YELLOW WILL SEE ANYWHERE BETWEEN 2 TO 3IN ACROSS THE STATE. BUT THIS TROPICAL SYSTEM, FRANCINE, IS STILL OVER MISSISSIPPI. YOU CAN SEE THE CENTER OF CIRCULATION, BUT WE'RE WATCHING OUT FOR THESE OUTER RAIN BANDS THAT ARE GOING TO SLOWLY MAKE THEIR WAY INTO THE HEART OF ALABAMA. RIGHT NOW. THEY'RE RELATIVELY WEAK, BUT AS THEY KIND OF COMBINE WITH THE INSTABILITY THAT WE'LL SEE AS WE MOVE INTO THE NEXT, NEXT FEW HOURS, THEY ARE GOING TO STRENGTHEN. BY 8 P.M., THEY'LL START TO STALL WITH PRETTY INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE WAY. AND THEN BY THE TIME WE GET INTO FRIDAY, WE STILL SEE SOME LINGERING THUNDERSTORMS. BUT WE ALSO HAVE A MARGINAL RISK FOR SOME SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS, ALSO PRODUCING SOME PRETTY STRONG WIND GUSTS. AND THE POTENTIAL FOR TORNADOES AS WELL. ON FRIDAY. SO WE'LL WATCH THAT AS WELL. FRIDAY IS AN IMPACT DAY. YOU SAW THE ICON. THAT MEANS THE WEATHER WILL LIKELY IMPACT YOUR DAY. THERE IS A FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR BOTH THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. RAINFALL TOTALS WILL BE A THREAT THAT WE'LL HAVE TO CONTINUE TO WATCH. SPOTTY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINU