More of Alabama could now potentially see strong to severe storms on Saturday and Sunday, according to forecasters.

Rain and storms will be possible in Alabama during the day on Saturday, but the stronger storms will be possible starting on Saturday afternoon. Stronger storms will be possible first in west Alabama on Saturday afternoon. Then storms are expected to track eastward into Saturday night and into Sunday morning. More storms will be possible during the day on Sunday in the southeast part of Alabama.

The strongest storms could have damaging wind gusts, and a few tornadoes will also be possible, according to the National Weather Service.

NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center has enlarged its severe weather risk area for Saturday to include much more of the state and has upgraded the risk slightly for parts of northwest Alabama.

The latest severe weather outlook for Saturday shows a Level 2 out of 5 (slight) risk for areas such as Florence, Muscle Shoals and Hamilton. A Level 2 risk means that scattered severe storms will be possible.

A wider area that includes much of the rest of the state (except parts of east and south Alabama) now has a Level 1 (marginal) risk. A Level 1 risk means that isolated severe storms will be possible.

Forecasters also said 1 to 3 inches of rain will be possible — with north Alabama in line to see more rain than the rest of the state. That could assist with Alabama’s ongoing drought. Most of the state is in some form of drought, with the driest areas in the past week being in the north and central part of the state.

The risk for a few strong storms will begin on Saturday afternoon as a cold front approaches Alabama from the west. Forecasters expect a line of storms to develop ahead of the front and push from west to east across the state. The thinking is that the storms could lose some punch as the get into east Alabama during the nighttime hours.

However, they could re-intensify during the day on Sunday, and that’s why the Storm Prediction Center has added a Level 1 severe weather risk for southeast Alabama:

The National Weather Service in Birmingham had good news to share this week about its KBMX doppler radar: The upgrade work has been completed, and the radar is up and running and ready to track storms on Saturday:

Much cooler weather is expected for the first part of next week after the front moves out.

Here is what the National Weather Service forecast offices across the state were thinking as of Friday morning: