NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Amid severe weather expected Wednesday evening into Thursday morning, the Storm Prediction Center issued a level 5 alert for west of Middle Tennessee.

Some Middle Tennessee counties, including Trigg and Henry Counties, are part of the area that could experience the level 5 threat. A level 5 threat means widespread severe storms are expected and they could be widespread, long lived and particularly intense.

Level 5 Storm Threat(maxuser | WSMV)

Severe weather outbreak possible tonight(maxuser | wsmv)

The Storm Prediction Center uses a five-level system to forecast severe weather across the country, with five being the highest and one being the lowest.

A level five out of five severe weather threat is only issued when the Storm Prediction Center has high confidence in the threat of severe weather.

According to the Storm Prediction Center, a level 5 means high confidence that an outbreak of storms will contain tornadoes, damaging winds and or severe hail.

Since 2020, the Storm Prediction Center has only issued five potential level 5 threats before Wednesday.

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