Severe Weather Risks Increase as NOAA Radio Outage Hits Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Severe storms are set to impact Alabama this week, coinciding with an outage of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio service. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Birmingham announced that from May 19 to May 21, their NOAA Weather Radio transmitters will be offline for a scheduled software update.

The update is to the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS), a key tool used to integrate weather data and issue life-saving warnings. NWS officials stated they do not expect any disruptions in weather forecasts or alerts during the software upgrade, but they emphasized the importance of having multiple ways to receive warnings while the radio service is down.

This week’s storms are predicted to produce damaging winds, large hail, and even tornadoes. The severe weather risk will shift Tuesday from Louisiana to Indiana, with Alabama included in the high-risk area. Severe thunderstorms are expected, particularly in northwestern and central Alabama.

NOAA has reported that thunderstorms on Tuesday could bring winds up to 60 mph and the possibility of tornadoes. The Birmingham NWS office covers critical areas including Winfield, Anniston, and Montgomery, all of which will lose radio communications during the maintenance period.

Despite the outage, the forecast office will remain operational and staffed, with backup support from Peachtree City, Georgia, to ensure continuity in weather service. “No impacts to our core services of forecast products and weather watches, warnings and advisories are expected,” NWS assured.

In addition to the severe weather warnings, a heatwave is affecting parts of Texas and Florida, with temperatures reaching into the upper 90s. Nationally, at least 28 weather-related deaths were reported over the weekend from previous storms, highlighting the critical need for reliable weather updates.

As Alabama braces for the potential storm on Tuesday, residents are urged to secure alternative methods for receiving weather updates, including apps and local news sources, while anticipating the return of NOAA radio service by midweek.