Traffic moves along US 31 in Cullman on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020 as a steady rain falls.

Atypically warm temperatures won’t do much to hamper a line of rain and potentially heavy thunderstorms set to move through the Cullman area Thursday, with forecasters calling for windy, turbulent weather as a strong cold front makes its way through north Alabama.

Cullman and neighboring northern counties are currently sandwiched between a pair of advisories for points north of the Tennessee River, as well as just south of Cullman County in the form of a wind advisory for Blount and Jefferson counties.

The Huntsville office of the National Weather Service cautions that Thursday’s weather system could bring “strong to severe storms” from the mid-morning hours into this afternoon, with strong and potentially damaging winds representing the primary hazard — though the NWS also advises that “a tornado or two as well as small hail cannot be ruled out.”

The current time window for the worst of Thursday’s weather spans from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., with most rainfall expected to occur before 2 p.m. NWS forecasts that wind gusts of 35 mph, with the potential for even stronger gusts in isolated instances, may exist throughout the day, with possible rainfall totals expected to range between one-half and three-quarters of an inch.

The thermometer will hover around 65 degrees as the strong cold front moves through the area, sweeping much colder air in by nightfall as temperatures in the mid 30s, by Friday morning, set in.

Track changes in the forecast and remain on top of new weather advisories and warnings by following the weather service online at https://www.weather.gov/hun/, and keep abreast of local conditions via the Cullman Emergency Management Agency app, available for both Android and Apple smart devices.