Wind advisory in effect for central Alabama Thursday and Friday

The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning at 3:49 p.m. Wednesday, good from 7 p.m. Thursday until 1 p.m. Friday, for Blount, Etowah, Calhoun, Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Talladega, Clay, Chilton, Coosa, Tallapoosa, Autauga, Lowndes, Elmore and Montgomery counties.

The weather service adds: “Northwest winds at 15 to 20 mph with gusts of 30 to 40 mph are predicted.”

“Gusting winds will blow around unsecured structures. Trees may be blown down and some power outages may occur,” the weather service added. “These strong winds can make driving difficult, especially for high-value vehicles. Use extreme caution. Secure outdoor structures.”

Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots that uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.