With a First Alert Weather Day for Saturday, March 15, 2025, and a rare high risk issued by the NOAA/National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center, we’re looking at statistics on how recently and how often we’ve seen these predictions for central Alabama.

Severe weather is defined as a thunderstorm that produces one of the following: measured wind gusts to at least 58 mph, storms capable of producing wind damage (trees, structures, power lines), hail at least one inch in diameter (the size of a quarter) and/or a tornado.

Severe weather can strike at any time, and when it does, it’s important to understand the level of threat you're facing. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) uses a system of risk categories to communicate the severity of weather events on any given day.