Part of Alabama runs the risk of seeing a few severe storms tonight and Thursday. And there could be more storms that affect the whole state over the weekend.

NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center is forecasting a Level 3 out of 5 risk for severe weather for extreme northwest Alabama starting late tonight. A Level 3 risk means that numerous severe storms will be possible.

(Note that the SPC has added a rare Level 5 risk for areas to the northwest of Alabama, including Memphis.)

There will also be a Level 2 risk for more of northwest Alabama, and scattered severe storms will be possible there.

Most of the rest of north Alabama will have a Level 1 risk, as will the northwest part of central Alabama. A Level 1 risk means that isolated severe will be possible.

However, the National Weather Service said confidence in areas outside of northwest Alabama getting severe storms was low.

The risk for a few storms will linger into Thursday for northwest Alabama, and there will be a Level 1 risk.

Here is the severe weather outlook for Thursday:

The rest of the central Alabama and all of south Alabama have no severe weather risk and may not get any rain at all today and tonight, according to the weather service.

Tornadoes, damaging winds, hail and heavy rain will all be possible with the strongest storms in northwest Alabama tonight.

It will also be windy today, and wind advisories have been issued for a large part of the state (the counties in brown below):

The weather service said winds could gust as high as 40 mph today, which is tropical storm strength.

TONIGHT AND THURSDAY

The National Weather Service in Huntsville said there is medium confidence that storms will reach northwest Alabama, and they are not expected to be a concern until midnight or later.

Forecasters added that there is low to very low confidence that storms will affect the rest of north Alabama.

A cold front is expected to stall to the northwest of Alabama for the next few days. That front could generate strong to severe storms.

There is a chance the front could drop farther south than anticipated, which would raise the severe weather chances for Alabama. So the weather service warned those in north Alabama to keep an eye on the forecast today.

THE WEEKEND

There will be additional chances for severe storms that could affect more of Alabama from Saturday night into the day on Sunday.

Above is the severe weather outlook for Saturday. Below is the outlook for Sunday:

Tornadoes, damaging winds, hail and heavy rain will again be possible, according to the weather service.

Storms on Saturday may not affect Alabama until late in the day or Saturday night. They could last into the day on Sunday and possibly Sunday night in far eastern Alabama.

The weather service cautioned that uncertainty still remains about when exactly the storms will arrive and how intense they could be.

Make sure to keep an eye on the forecast over the next few days in case of changes.