At 3:49 a.m. on Saturday, the National Weather Service released a severe thunderstorm warning in effect until 4:45 a.m. for Colbert, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and Morgan counties.

Damaging straight line winds, large hail and a few tornadoes will all be threats," the National Weather Service said.

"We’re absolutely going to see some kind of impactful weather, it’s just a matter of how widespread," NWS warns.

We all hear the terms when there's a threat of severe weather. But what does each alert mean, and how does it affect you?

WVTM 13 LIVE DOPPLER RADAR | UPLOAD YOUR WEATHER PHOTOS | WAYS TO STAY SAFE | GET WEATHER NOTIFICATIONSGov. Kay Ivey issued a state of emergency Friday for all 67 Alabama counties due to the threat of severe weather.

The National Weather Service issued multiple tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings early Saturday for areas in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana and Texas.

At least five people have been killed in a monster storm sweeping across much of the U.S. At least two people were killed in Missouri after a tornado struck the Bakersfield area

At least 26 tornadoes were reported but not confirmed to have touched down late on Friday night and early on Saturday as a low pressure system drove powerful thunderstorms across parts of Arkansas, Illinois,