With storms expected for Easter Sunday, local storm shelters will be open if the National Weather Service sounds the alarm for any severe weather watches or warnings. But amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, emergency officials are encouraging anyone who shows up to a shelter to be mindful of social distancing.

“The thing that everybody in emergency offices across the state agrees on is that the impact of a dangerous storm is a more urgent threat than the potential of communicating a disease, if anyone’s life is in immediate danger from severe weather,” explained Cullman Emergency Management Agency director Phyllis Little.

“That’s why we’re encouraging people to bring, for their personal use, any personal protective items they may already be using, whether that’s a homemade face mask or hand sanitizer. The storm shelters will continue to be open for tornado watches and warnings, but masks and sanitizer are not available on site at the shelters. We’re encouraging people to also remain as distant as they can from one another while at the shelters, but in a confined area like that, there is only so much space.”

April through June is peak tornado season in the United States, which averaged about 1,250 tornadoes annually in the decade ending in 2010, according to statistics from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.

Forecasters are expecting storms to roll into Alabama on Sunday afternoon, bringing the potential for heavy winds and lightning, as well as the possibility of tornadoes — especially in central Alabama.

“The weather service is telling us that it could be a very active day. We’re asking people to be watchful and to be sure they have more than one way of receiving weather alerts,” said Little. “The potential for tornadoes, so far, looks like it’s more to the south of the Birmingham area, but as always, we can’t rule them out here as well. It is springtime, and this is the South.”

The brief but intense storm system that moved through Cullman County in the overnight hours Thursday morning left no significant damage, according to Little, dropping rain and hail in some areas without affecting life or property. “We had one report of dime-sized hail, but no reports of downed trees or damage,” she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.