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 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.

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.

At least five people have been killed in a monster storm sweeping across much of the U.S. At least two people were killed in Missouri after a tornado struck the Bakersfield area.