West Alabama Friday Briefing

Good morning West Alabama! It is Friday, February 28, 2025. This is the 59th day of the year with 306 days remaining.

Friday Morning Observations:

While severe weather can happen anytime, the Primary Severe Weather Season begins tomorrow in Alabama. It runs March through May with a secondary severe weather season in November and December.

Now is the time to prepare you and your family to survive a tornado, high winds, flooding, lightning, extended power outages and extreme hail. All of these individually and collectively have left injuries, damage and death in Alabama over the years.

What can you do now to prepare? The most important things to remember are:

MAKE A PLAN - Make a plan with your family of what you will need to do to communicate and stay safe in an emergency as well as finding each other during or afterwards.
GET THE WORD - Have a NOAA Weather Radio, subscribe to your county's alert notification system, set your cellphone to receive Emergency Alerts, Public Safety Alerts, monitor local media.
GET IN - If you are outside, get inside. If you're already inside, get as far into the middle of the building as possible on the lowest floor.
GET DOWN - Go to a basement or underground shelter. Get low to make yourself a small target
COVER UP - Flying and falling debris are a storm's number one killer. Use pillows, blankets, coats, helmets, etc to cover up and protect your head and body from flying debris.
SEEK A COMMUNITY STORM SHELTER - There are Community Storm Shelters in most Alabama counties. Call your county's EMA to find the location of your nearest shelter. Tuscaloosa County Shelters.
DON'T STAY - Leave a mobile home and seek a nearby sturdy building, preferably one with a basement, when a tornado approaches. If there is no shelter nearby, lie flat in the nearest ditch, ravine, or culvert and shield your head with your hands.
DON'T DRIVE- The least desirable place to be during a tornado is in a motor vehicle, no matter how large. If you see a tornado, stop your vehicle and get out. Do not get under your vehicle.

Click on the Tuscaloosa County EMA Website for additional preparedness information.

Now is the time to get prepared. It could save you and your family's lives.

(Opinions expressed in Morning Observations are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the ownership, management, staff or sponsors of Townsquare Media Tuscaloosa.)

Weather:

Calm before the potential storm may be the best way to describe the weather through this weekend and the beginning of next week. After that there is a Slight (2 in 5) Risk for severe weather, including tornadoes Tuesday evening into Wednesday.

The Forecast:

Today

Sunny, with a high near 73. Light west wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning.

Tonight

Mostly clear, with a low around 44. Southwest wind around 5 mph.

Saturday

Sunny, with a high near 71. Light and variable wind becoming northwest 10 to 15 mph in the morning.

Saturday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 35. North wind 5 to 10 mph.

Sunday

Sunny, with a high near 58. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the afternoon.

Sunday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 38.

Next Week

The week will start out with small chances of rain Monday afternoon, through Tuesday. Highs in the mid 60s Monday to low 70s Tuesday and Wednesday. Lows in the mid to upper 50s. Tuesday night will become breezy with thunderstorms possible.

Get our free mobile app

Topping the News:

Dry conditions continue to cause problems in West Alabama and the State

The Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC) continues to urge residents to refrain from outdoor burning due to elevated wind speeds and dry conditions. That combination has heightened the risk of wildfires across the state. Currently three are burning in West Alabama, one each in Fayette, Greene and Sumter Counties. There are some 60 fires statewide.

Nucor Subsidiary Closing Eufaula Plant

Nucor Buildings Group, which has a facility in Tuscaloosa, is closing its Eufaula plant and laying off 79 workers by late April. The Barbour County plant is operated by Nucor’s subsidiary, American Buildings. The action is not expected to impact the Tuscaloosa plant on Warner Parkway.

Black Warrior River Keepers Continue Petition Push

Nelson Brooke and the environmental activist group Black Warrior River Keepers continue to complain about sewage backups and spills in Tuscaloosa over the last 20 years. He claims they ultimately are becoming a major threat to public safety.

The group has just over 2,000 signatures on a petition they have filed to push the city to do something about the problem. It is an issue that prompted ADEM to file a suit last year.

Tuscaloosa Council President Kip Tyner told reporters the city is in the process of upgrading the system, but it takes time and money in a city of this size.

Man Suffering Gunshot Wound Drives Self to DCH

The Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit is investigating a situation where a man, driving himself, showed up at DCH Regional Medical Center with a gunshot wound. The Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office reported the man arrived at DCH around 4:00pm yesterday. There has been no further information released.

House Fire Leaves Damage but No Injuries

Several units from Tuscaloosa Fire Rescue were sent to Cypress Creek Apartments just off Skyland Blvd. yesterday. The blaze was not significant and resulted in no injuries. The cause is still under investigation.

Practice Official Hired by Coach Bryant Recovering from Injury

Eddie Conyers was hire by Coach Bryant to officiate practices at the University of Alabama. The 96-year-old suffered a fall and sustained hip injury last Friday. After an operation in Birmingham, he is recovering in Tuscaloosa.

River Run Park on Schedule to Provide Huge Impact on Northport

River Run Park is set for an August opening in Northport and city leaders predict a huge economic impact on the city.

The $27 million River Run Park will feature nine total ball fields for baseball and softball games, including a "signature" field for each sport that boasts 150 grandstand seats and bleachers to fit 400 more spectators. Those will be able to accommodate play up to the collegiate level

Tuberville Claims Washington Policies Have Hurt Family Farms

Farmers testifying on the agricultural economy before the U.S. Senate Agriculture strongly encouraged passage of a new federal farm bill amid challenges such as high cost of labor, competition with cheap imports, and pest and disease threats. Alabama Senior Republican U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville told the stakeholders he appreciates their distress and doesn't understand what has been going on in Washington to result in the loss of 150,000 family farmers in recent years.

Tuberville told the committee it is time to rescue farmers.

More From CSPAN Coverage: Senate Hearing on Agricultural Economy

Week Four Legislative Round-up

Synopsis of week four of the 2025 Alabama Legislative Regular Session:

Greensboro Democrat Senator Bobby Singleton blasted President Trump, claiming that he is allowing South African born Elon Musk takeover government. He called Musk an “unofficial president”. “Dodge [DOGE] is robbing us blind! And when it happens, everybody around here going to be, ‘Well, we should have did something. We should have said something.’ To blame everybody up in Washington, but this is our state,” Singleton said on the Senate floor.
The Alabama Senate Education Policy Committee voted 9-0 on Wednesday to advance211 SB92, a bill that would implement a cell phone ban in schools across the state.
Democrats filibustered a bill changing the Archives Board’s appointment process, stating it could jeopardize the preservation of Alabama’s history.
Gov. Ivey signs bill creating Alabama veteran's Resource Center.
SB140 passed the Alabama Senate Thursday. It would protect young athletes’ health and increase safety standards in youth sports. The bill now does to the house.
House Judiciary Committee passed amended version of HB202 expanding immunity for law enforcement. Tuscaloosa Democrat Rep. Chris England stated the bill could create dangerous situations for police by creating a sense among the public that officers will not be held accountable for their actions.
HB307, or the Speedy Trial Act, was favorably reported by the House Judiciary Committee with one amendment. Its Senate equivalent, SB178, was also approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. HB43 will be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee next week. HB307 and SB178 now need to be passed by the House and the Senate.
SB132 amended to further regulate the sale of Delta products with stricter penalties and additional product testing in the state.
HB146 passes committee. It seeks to deny youthful offender status to anyone older than 16 that’s charged with murder or capital murder.
SB72 would renew the medical cannabis licensing process and bring in a third party to review applicants.
SB84 would authorize Alfa to offer health coverage to farmers. It is in the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee for consideration.

Topping Sports News:

Tuscaloosa is Indeed a Basketball City

Teams from three Tuscaloosa area high schools have a chance to win state basketball championships today and tomorrow.

Tuscaloosa Academy plays Providence Christian for the high school 2A title at 10:45 this morning.
Paul Bryant matches up with Pinson valley for the Boy’s 6A Championship at 2:45 tomorrow.
On the girl’s side, Hillcrest battled Hoover for the 7A trophy at 4:00pm Saturday. All games are in Birmingham.

Bama Women Pull Off OT Upset of LSU

Big win for the Alabama Women last night in overtime as the 20^th ranked Tide knocked off 7^th rated LSU 88-85 at Coleman.

Alabama (23-6 Overall, 10-5 SEC) led for over 40 minutes compared to LSU (27-3 Overall, 12-3 SEC) who owned the lead for just 23 seconds. The contest marked Alabama's first overtime game of the year.

Bama played the OT without its top two stars Aaliyah Nye and Sarah Ashlee Barker.

Up next are the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman Sunday on the SEC Network and Crimson Tide Sports Network.

Bama Men Face Extreme Road Challenge Saturday

Every game for the remainder of the season has post-season implications. The 6th ranked Crimson Tide (23-5 Overall, 12-3 SEC), faces one of the toughest schedules to finish out the season in the nation. Bama will be at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville for a 3:00pm CST tip against the 5th rated Tennessee Vols (23-5 Overall, 10-5 SEC).

This will be the first Alabama-Tennessee matchup where both teams are ranked in the top six in the AP Top 25 Poll.

Alabama is a 3.5-point favorite.

Clicks TuscaloosaThread.com for the latest West Alabama news, sports and weather. better yet download the app.

Have a wonderful weekend and ROLL TIDE!!