Weather officials have extended the tornado watch for the eastern half the local area until 3 p.m. The threat for the western half of the area continues to diminish, EMA director Susan Harris said in an update issued at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday.

“We will likely be able to clear counties from west to east early this afternoon as the threat continues to shift further east,” she said. “While a tornado is still possible, we think large hail and damaging winds are the primary threats.”

The majority of the storms will be east of the area by 3 p.m. However, there is the potential for isolated storms to develop over inland areas of southwest Alabama /south central Alabama along and east of I-65 through earlier this evening ahead of and immediately along the cold front.

Most areas will likely remain dry, however, any storm that develops could produce large hail during this time.