Weather Alert Day: Severe storms, gusty winds Thursday, tornado watches in effect for North Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. — Update #2: A tornado watch is in effect from Tallahassee west through the panhandle until 2 a.m.

Additional watches may be issued overnight, Channel 9 certified chief meteorologist Tom Terry said.

A line of severe storms with a tornado threat will bring storms to Central Florida from 9 a.m. west, and the storms may speed up a bit, hitting the northwest side of the region, and noon to 3 p.m. over Orlando, then through 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. in Brevard County.

Update: A line of heavy storms will be tracking through Central Florida from late Thursday morning through the afternoon ahead of a strong cold front, Channel 9 Certified Chief Meteorologist Tom Terry said.

Storms will be ongoing early Thursday to the west and roll through metro Orlando around or after the lunch hour and through the early evening commute along our east coast, Terry said.

Before the lunch hour, Terry said some possibly severe storms will be moving into our western zones, with an isolated tornado possible.

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The highest threat for severe weather will be roughly I-4 and west, but Terry said he’ll be monitoring all the area for Thursday storms from late morning to the early evening commute.

After the severe weather moves out, expect wintry weather to move in over Central Florida, Terry said.

READ: US storm brings tornadoes, blizzard-like conditions; 2 dead

The storm system is ripping across the U.S. and spawned tornadoes in Louisiana, killing a boy and his mother, smashed through mobile homes in Mississippi and threatened neighboring states throughout the South.

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Central Florida is bracing for the threat of severe storms on Thursday.

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A big cold front to the west of Florida will move through our area Thursday afternoon.

The storm system is impacting tens of millions of Americans in the northern Gulf states and has turned deadly in Louisiana.

Read: Winter US storm brings warnings of more tornadoes, blizzards

Authorities said a child near Shreveport, Louisiana died after a home was reportedly blown apart by a tornado.

Due to the threat of severe storms, Channel 9 has issued a “Weather Alert Day” advisory for Thursday.

The line of rain and storms will move in late Thursday morning in our western zones, then across Interstate 4 by early to the middle of the afternoon.

The storms will be in our southern areas and exit around the evening.

Some damaging winds are possible, and there will be an isolated tornado risk.

The forecast for Wednesday will be partly cloudy and warm in the afternoon.

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The high temperature in Orlando should peak around 80 degrees this afternoon.

The cold front will drop our temperatures once it moves through.

We will have high temperatures in the 60s and lows in the 40s from Friday through Sunday.

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Follow our Severe Weather team on Twitter for live updates:

• Chief meteorologist Tom Terry
• Kassandra Crimi
• George Waldenberger
• Rusty McCranie
• Brian Shields

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