Meteorologists are predicting Southwest Mississippi will be theprime target of severe weather arriving over the region Fridayafternoon.

Jared Allen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Servicein Jackson, said Southwest Mississippi and parts of northeastLouisiana will be “under the gun” from around 2 p.m. Friday untillate into the night as a cold front pushing severe thunderstormsand heavy rain moves through the South.

“There are several indications that Southwest Mississippi is ina much more favorable environment for tornadoes, strongstraight-line winds and hail,” Allen said. “Initialization couldstart around 2 p.m. and extend anywhere from 2 to 8 p.m. It’s goingto be a rather large window.”

The approaching front brings the threat of severe thunderstorms,tornadoes, winds approaching 60-80 mph, hail and 2 to 4 inches ofrain. Allen said tornadoes that form out of the system could bestrong, rating EF1 or EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, whichclassifies twisters by wind speed.

“Right now it looks like a pretty good opportunity for discreetsuper cells out ahead of the main squall line,” Allen said. “Inaddition, those look like they’ll merge into a long, severe squallline late tonight. There still could be some small, weak tornadoeson the end of that line.”

The region is already under a flash flood watch as the stormapproaches. Allen said the front’s forward speed may slow as itmoves across Mississippi, dumping heavy rain for a longer amount oftime. Rainfall totals in localized areas could exceed 5 inches, hesaid.

“There’s going to be a rich moisture feed coming in from theGulf of Mexico,” he said. “There’s the possibility for heavyrainfall.”