Heavy rain and thunderstorms expected as severe weather threatens Columbus, Phenix City

Potential heavy rains and thunderstorms are in the forecast this week for Columbus and Phenix City.

The National Weather Service in Peachtree City has issued a hazardous weather outlook for north, west and central Georgia counties including Muscogee, Troup, Meriwether, Marion and Chattahoochee.

The best timing for a severe thunderstorm development, according to the NWS 6:25 a.m. update, will be between noon and 10 p.m. Wednesday.

“It’s hard to time directly right now but it will be this afternoon. Around 1 or 2 p.m., the chance will start going up and that should last into the early evening, probably around 4 to 6 p.m,” said Matt Sena, meteorologist for NWS.

A “brief tornado,” large hail and flash flooding cannot be ruled out, according to NWS.

Georgia Power is encouraging its customers to take time to prepare and stay safe. Anyone can subscribe to the free Georgia Power Outage Alert service to receive personalized notifications. Follow Georgia Power on Facebook and Twitter for information every day, and restoration updates during severe weather.

Lee and Russell counties in Alabama should expect strong to severe weather as well.

The National Weather Service in Birmingham issued a hazardous weather outlook at 4:59 a.m. stating that a cold front moving through Central Alabama could potentially bring damaging winds and large hail to the region from 7 p.m. until the front passes through.

Minor flooding will occur along portions of the Tombigbee, Coosa and Black Warrior River Basins in Western, Central and some parts of East Alabama. East Alabama residents may be affected particularly by flooding in the Coosa River Basin, which ends just northeast of Mongtomery, Alabama.

The front may also bring freezing temperatures that could last throughout the weekend, according to NWS.

This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 12:29 PM.