Forecast: Alabama at high risk for Christmas twisters

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -  The National Weather Service says Alabama is at high risk for tornadoes and damaging winds this Christmas Day.
    
Forecasters say a powerful weather system will move across the region Tuesday, bringing with it the strong possibility of severe storms.
    
Mobile-based National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Daly says forecasters are anticipating EF-2 and EF-3 tornados - stronger than the EF-1 tornado that hit Alabama Dec. 20 and left 54,700 people without power.
    
The weather service says storms will begin in southwest Alabama and move northward through the day. Daly says the system is expected to move out of the area by midnight.
    
Forecasters say the weather system may also produce straight-line winds and large hail.