Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has declared a state of emergency for all 67 counties on Friday afternoon in advance of severe weather expected to arrive this weekend.

It took effect at 2 p.m. Central time on Friday, Mar. 14, shortly after the National Weather Service office in Birmingham issued new guidance at 1 p.m.

Birmingham and Jefferson County both sit in an area of high risk (level 5 out of 5). According to the 1 p.m. statement, “Strong, long-tracked tornadoes, damaging winds up to 70 mph, and hail up to 2 inches are possible.” A wind advisory was issued for all of Central Alabama beginning 7 a.m. Saturday morning and lasting until 1 a.m. Sunday morning.

The Jefferson County Emergency Management has provided a list of active community storm shelters and safe room locations. However, they are not responsible for opening these facilities.

Residents can sign up to receive updates through JeffCoAlert, the alert system available from the county since 2015.

Forecast Leads to Cancellations and Postponements

Several events scheduled for tomorrow have either been canceled or rescheduled with Bham Now maintaining a partial list for the metropolitan area.

Here’s a partial list of impacted events in Birmingham:

• All Birmingham Public Libraries are closed tomorrow. This also means the reception honoring the artists of the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project and sculptress Corinne Cox, originally scheduled for Saturday, Mar. 15, has been postponed until Mar. 22.
• The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been cancelled, though there are still plans to celebrate next week, Sunday and Monday. (A new date for the Alchemy Run Crew 5k will be announced soon.)
• The Birmingham Museum of Art will be closed. This results in the cancellation of the 14th Annual Holi Festival. They hope to announce a new date for the festival soon.
• The Farmers Market at Pepper Place has been cancelled for Mar. 15, but will resume on Mar. 22.
• Birmingham Legion FC vs. Louisville City FC match has been rescheduled from Mar. 15 to Mar. 16, kick-off at 3:30 p.m.
• East Village Arts Guitar Festival has been postponed to April 4 and 5.
• The Alabama Art Casting Metal Exhibit in East Lake has been moved to April 1.
• Jon Foreman’s Mar. 15 performance at WORKPLAY has been cancelled.
• Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s community cleanup at West End Gardens on Saturday morning has been canceled. Their District 1 cleanup event has been postponed, with new dates to be announced soon.