A good Christmas Eve to one and all, and we hope this holiday season finds you well. The office of The North Jefferson News is closed today, and barring any breaking news, we will have no updates on our website today aside from this morning update. However, that may change because of this…

Weather: This doesn’t look good. They are words we have all come to dread in Central Alabama: A major severe weather outbreak is expected, and at the worst possible time — Christmas afternoon. The National Weather Service says that central and southern Alabama could see widespread severe weather starting at about 2 p.m. Tuesday. This outbreak is expected to include tornadoes, and some may be strong. In addition, there’s the danger of strong straight-line winds and intense lightning.

Current indications are that this event is not shaping up to be the massive outbreak that devastated out state in April 2011, but there could be quite a few tornadoes of EF-3 or higher strength. As many of you know, November and December is our area’s secondary severe weather season, and we have had a number of deadly tornadoes during that time frame. This situation could change significantly over the next 24 hours, probably for the worse, so please stay weather aware — and we can’t emphasize that enough — and make sure your severe weather safety plans are in place.

We’ll update the weather situation later today and Christmas Day.

Sports: Blue Devils edge Hornets for Corner title. Point guard Mark Louis sank two free throws in the final 30 seconds to life Mortimer Jordan past Class 4A No. 10 Locust Fork by a 44-42 score in the finals of Corner’s Christmas boys’ basketball tournament Saturday. The host Yellow Jackets defeated Hanceville for third place… NFL: It was a good day for fans in Cincinnati, Seattle and Indianapolis, as their teams notched big wins to assure themselves of playoff berths. The once-woeful Bengals have now made the playoffs for two straight years, thanks to a 13-10 win at Pittsburgh that eliminated the Steelers. Josh Brown hit the game-winning field goal from 43 yards with four seconds left. Andrew Luck found Reggie Wayne for the winning touchdown pass to give the Colts a 20-13 victory over the Chiefs, and the Seahawks blew away the 49ers 42-13 to get into the post-season.