On Saturday at 7:47 p.m. a tornado watch was released by the National Weather Service in effect until Sunday at 3 a.m. for Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Lee, Macon, Pike, Randolph,

The watch, which had been anticipated, is in effect until 3 a.m. on Sunday and its issuance comes as a large area of deadly and dangerous weather moves across Alabama.

Jeff Smitherman, the director of an Alabama emergency management agency, joins ABC News live to discuss the high-risk alert for potential tornado outbreaks in Alabama and Mississippi.

An "outbreak" of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms is expected through Saturday night in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and other southern states.

The National Weather Service issued tornado watches for more than 2 million people on Saturday. An "outbreak" of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms is expected through Saturday night in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, western Georgia, southern Tennessee, the Florida Panhandle and southern Arkansas.

Alabama was bracing for Round 2 of severe weather on Saturday. Round 1 started early this morning and prompted two tornado warnings and multiple severe thunderstorm warnings but no damage has been reported so far.

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?