A tornado watch has been issued for the western part of West Tennessee, much of Arkansas and northwest Mississippi until 7:00 pm CDT. This watch replaces the previous watch from this morning that had included Hardin County. Middle Tennessee is not included in the current watch box.

Warm and moist air from the Gulf of Mexico has moved northward into the watch box area because of strong surface winds from the south. Winds aloft are blowing from the southwest with increasing speed. That twist of winds with height can provide tall thunderstorms enough spin for isolated tornadoes. Instability (warm, moist surface air underneath cooler air aloft) combined with a stationary front in Arkansas should allow thunderstorms to build today in the watch box area. The main threats will be isolated tornadoes, large hail and gusty wind.

Although Middle Tennessee has the spin necessary for severe weather, we’re not included in this watch box because we lack the surface instability. As Jeff mentioned this morning, the western edge of Middle Tennessee is included in the slight risk area on today’s severe weather outlook, but we anticipate that most of today’s severe weather will occur west of the mid-state. Check back with us for any changes through the day.

Severe thunderstorm warning for southeast Wayne County until 1:30 pm CDT. Head to the Nashville NWS and click on your county for the latest. It wouldn’t surprise me if a warning was issued for southern Lawrence County. Lots of lightning as well as some pockets of small hail in those areas.

Here’s a link to local storm reports from the Nashville National Weather Service. So far today, wind damage and downed trees for southern and eastern parts of Middle Tennessee. When visiting the page just click the numbered links at the top to peruse the reports.

At 2:07 pm the storms were east of I-65 in Rutherford County, Cannon County, southern Wilson County, DeKalb County, Warren County, White County, Van Buren County and Franklin County. Hail and wind are the primary severe weather threats in addition to lots of lightning and heavy downpours. We anticipate additional storms popping up later this afternoon through evening, although not everyone is guaranteed rain. Most of us could use it, that’s for sure.

At 2:45 pm the storms were headed into Putnam and Cumberland counties. Heads up to people in Cookeville and Crossville (and in between) as these storms have a history of downing a few trees in addition to all of the lightning.

At 12:04 pm severe thunderstorm warnings were in effect for Lewis, Lawrence and Bedford counties. Click the “Watches and Warnings” link above for the latest. I just received an NWS report of trees down in Lawrenceburg. Main threats with the storms in the southern half of Middle Tennessee right now is hail, wind and heavy lightning. Counties likely to see unsettled weather over the next hour or so with these storms include: Maury, Giles, Marshall and Lincoln. A couple of small showers have grown and fizzled in SW Davidson County and in Williamson County over the last half hour; we’ll watch all of the mid-state closely for additional development through the afternoon and evening.

The slow-moving thunderstorm in northeast Davidson and southern Sumner counties is finally fizzling. Lots of lightning and very heavy rain reported with that cell, in addtion to some good-sized hail. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few more storms flare up through the middle afternoon so Davis and I will watch Storm Tracker closely. Thanks to all in the area for their comments below and calls to the station with storm reports!

Severe thunderstorm warnings issued until 2:00 pm for parts of Davidson County and Sumner County. Click the “Watches and Warnings” link at the top of the blog for the latest for your county.

A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued until 7:00 pm for parts of southern Kentucky. News 2 counties included in the watch: Trigg, Christian, Todd, Muhlenberg and Logan. Hail and wind are the severe threats; plenty of lightning and temporary downpours to boot.

Update: an additional severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for the rest of Kentucky until 9:00 pm CDT. All Kentucky counties in the News 2 coverage area are now under a severe thunderstorm watch.

At 9:54 pm hefty thunderstorms are headed toward Nashville from Dickson and Cheatham counties. Lots of lightning, heavy rain and the possibility of some hail. Not a good situation for folks at the concert at LP Field. Another cluster of storms in Benton and Humphreys counties with the same threats. All action headed southeast.

A line of thunderstorms, some strong, is slowly pushing across southern Kentucky just north of the Tennessee border. The main threat with that line of storms is hail and gusty wind. That line of storms is right along the surface front; as we continue to lose the heating of the day and the atmosphere stabilizes a bit my fingers are crossed for some weakening. There are a few isolated thunderstorms in West Tennessee on the southern side of the front; they are being fueled by very moist air in the low levels (dewpoints near 70 degrees). We’ll also need to monitor that area for additional activity over the next couple of hours.

Check the “Watches and Warnings” link above for active warnings. The “NWS Radar Loop” is also available.