WDAK News Radio 540

01/21/2025

ALL Lee County Roads are deemed IMPASSABLE until FURTHER NOTICE.

LCSO units are having a difficult time reaching emergency calls due to the amount of accidents.

Individuals violating the notice of impassable Lee County roads may be subject to citation under Alabama Code Title 32, Chapter 5a, rules of the road. Individuals traveling to and from work as required by their employer is deemed necessary travel.

Please help by staying off the roads so first responders/public safety personnel can carry out their crucial work. Your cooperation helps us keep everyone safe and ensures that emergency services can respond quickly when needed.

01/21/2025

01/20/2025

UPDATE: The winter storm warning has been expanded to Lee County - this is to better match up with the possible northern extent of the accumulating snow and expected travel problems. It will again be a close call on the northern extent of accumulating snow.

01/20/2025

Winter storm warnings now cover most of the area we believe will have accumulating snow and travel issues. Is there a ‘bust’ factor to this? Yes.. I’m worried about the northern extent of the snow. Will it make it to LaGrange? Will Highway 80 be the cutoff? How much does Columbus get? Lots of questions still, as there often are with winter weather…

By the way - you can get these updates on the WTVM weather app and get updates at the same time we do!

01/18/2025

This post is outdated. Please see latest forecast on weather.gov/bmx

Confidence is increasing that we'll see winter weather impacts across portions of Central Alabama on Tuesday. Travel could be an issue Tuesday through at least Wed morning.
There's still quite a bit of uncertainty on the northern extent of any impacts, so stay tuned to updates!

01/10/2025

11/28/2024

09/27/2024

UPDATE: The eye of Helene is making landfall as we speak - peak winds at 140 mph. Our forecast has not changed here for the Chattahoochee Valley. We will have winds gusting anywhere from 30-40 mph in East Alabama to 50-70 mph in our far eastern Georgia counties. Trees will come down. There will be some scattered power outages. The wind impacts will begin soon in the far southern counties and any of the rain bands that start to move through will have increasingly heavy rain and gustier winds. -DK

09/26/2024

BIG UPDATE - GOOD NEWS: We've made some further adjustments as new data continues to pour in, limiting the major impacts from Helene to the place we had it about a day and a half ago - the Highway 19 corridor from Thomaston to Ellaville to Americus to Albany. The National Hurricane Center has done a big flip with their track, and that flip changes impacts here in a big way.

KEY NOTES:

* I know this seems counterintuitive, but don't worry about what kind of warning you happen to be under (unless it's a flood or tornado warning - take those seriously) - focus on the IMPACTS listed on the graphic.
* We knew these changes would be a possibility - we can't ignore when we get placed under all these advisories, warnings, etc., but we tried to convey the uncertainty with the situation to you all!
* We still expect the SAME impacts, but not as WIDESPREAD impacts, given the track.

-DK

09/25/2024

09/25/2024

BREAKING -- MAJOR CHANGES: Based on forecast trends and consistency, we have made major changes to our impact graphic as the threat has shifted farther west with Helene. You can see the map in the picture and match up the colors with the description of what we expect. Make no mistake - those in the red shaded area will see MAJOR impacts with this system. There will be trees and limbs down along with, perhaps, widespread power outages that may be long-lasting. We have no way to predict which trees will fall, how long that would cause a power outage, etc., but we encourage you to STAY ALERT and begin preparations today and through the day tomorrow for this possibility. WIND IMPACTS WILL NOT BEGIN UNTIL LATE EVENING THURSDAY - and then, it will start in the southern counties and push north through the night. Thursday will be a very wet day with localized flooding.. but no wind problems until late. Friday, this is all out of our hair by daybreak - it will just be a matter of how much damage we have, how many trees down, who has power, etc., to determine school and business closures and whatnot. TO REPEAT: THE ONLY INCLEMENT WEATHER WE WILL HAVE DURING THE SCHOOL DAY TOMORROW IS HEAVY RAIN AND A BREEZE, WITH SOME POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING - NO WIND THREAT UNTIL LATE THURSDAY.

This will be the most significant tropical threat I've covered in my 18 years here at the station, most likely - it will rival Opal's damage in the red shaded area (those that ended up being heavily impacted by Opal back in 1995) if this track holds true. We will hope for a shift back east, but that window of major track changes is getting smaller and smaller.

STAY ALERT for the latest! -DK

09/24/2024

GEMA/HS is closely monitoring Potential Tropical Cyclone #9. This system is expected to become Tropical Depression #9 or Tropical Storm Helene by tomorrow and is forecasted to impact Georgia on Thursday and Friday.

Significant wind damage, flash flooding from heavy rainfall and possible tornadoes may occur. Please stay tuned by following updates from the National Hurricane Center, your local National Weather Service office, and other reliable media outlets. Prepare now by visiting https://gema.georgia.gov/plan-prepare/ready-georgia.

08/02/2024

Some areas could see up to eight inches of rain.

08/02/2024

Six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick's ex-girlfriend Linda Holliday is living in a surprising place.

08/02/2024

The girls were at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class when the teen attacked.

08/01/2024

Nine months just wasn't enough for her.

08/01/2024

Kamala Harris appears to have given a major hint at her running mate decision.

08/01/2024

: Russia and the United States have agreed to the largest multi-country prisoner swap since the Cold War.

Russia and the United States have agreed to the largest multi-country prisoner swap since the Cold War.