Gusty Showers & Storms Overnight into Early Wednesday Morning
WBBJ 7 Forecast Update
WBBJ 7 Forecast Update:
It has been another warm, humid and windy day across West Tennessee. A cold front is coming tonight and it will usher in some gusty rain showers and some potential storms between 2-8AM. The strongest storms will be in locations northwest of Madison county. Overall the severe weather threat is low for most of us. The line will look to come through Jackson around 5am. Catch the latest forecast details and find out how cold we are going to get behind the front coming up here.
It has been another warm, humid and windy day across West Tennessee. A cold front is coming tonight and it will usher in some gusty rain showers and some potential storms. The strongest storms will be in locations northwest of Madison county. Overall the severe weather threat is low for most of us.
SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK:
TUESDAY IS LIGHTNING SAFETY:
With storms returning tonight, and as we get closer to the heart of severe weather season in West Tennessee, here are some interesting facts about lightning that you might not have known in the graphic below. Also, did you know that there are multiple types of lightning? For example, there’s “intra-cloud” and “cloud-to-ground” flashes. Cloud-to-ground lightning can either have a positive or negative charge depending on what part of the cloud it comes from! Visit weather.gov/safety/lightning-science-types-flashes for more info on lightning science.
Make sure you know when and where to take shelter from lightning strikes. It is important to remain vigilant whilst doing outdoor activities. Outdoor activities greatly increase your chances of being struck by lightning during inclement weather. If you see a lightning strike, immediately go indoors and wait until 30 minutes after the storm has passed to resume activities. If you count the number of seconds between the flash of lightning and the sound of thunder, and then divide by 5, you’ll get the distance in miles to the lightning: 5 seconds = 1 mile, 15 seconds = 3 miles, 0 seconds = very close.
TONIGHT:
The winds have been pesky all day and will remain gusty through Wednesday morning until the cold front passes. A wind advisory has been issued for all of West Tennessee until 6AM Wednesday. Winds will be sustained out of the southwest between 15-20 MPH tonight with gusts up to 30 MPH.
Tuesday was a windy day and the winds will stick around all night long. Winds are out of the southwest between 20-25 MPH and gusts as high as 40-45 MPH will continue. It was also very warm on Tuesday with highs again reaching the upper 70s. The record on Tuesday is 80° set back in the 1980s and we were to tying it falling short by 3°. Skies were mostly cloudy and cloudy skies will continue tonight. Tuesday night lows will be warm but drop quickly into the day on Wednesday as the front passes. A line of showers and storms will move through between 2-8AM overnight.
WEDNESDAY:
A line of gusty showers and non severe storms will move through in the early morning hours. The rain should clear out around the time the sun comes up across the Mid South. Expect between 0.10-0.25″ of rain at the most. High temperatures on Wednesday will occur around midnight and drop quickly into the afternoon as the cold front pushes in. Temperatures will be in the mid 40s by the afternoon but drop all the way down to around 30° for Wednesday night. Skies will start out cloudy but some sunshine could try to show up in the evening hours depending on how fast the cold front moves out into the afternoon. The winds will change direction early in the day and be a bit breezy out of the northwest between 10-15 MPH.
THURSDAY:
Thursday is going to start out chilly, likely a few degrees below freezing before warming up to the low 50s into the afternoon. Expect a mix of sun and clouds on Thursday and a light breeze out of the east. There will be some cold rain showers trying to move back in late Thursday night, but we are not expecting storms this time. We are also going to be just a few degrees too warm for any sort of wintry mix as overnight lows are forecast to fall down to the upper 30s Thursday night when the rain is coming down, but it will be close again and something worth watching later this week.
FRIDAY:
We will see a round of cold rain showers Friday morning but they should taper off into the afternoon and we will be dry Friday evening across West Tennessee. Highs on Friday will be a little warmer than on Thursday and make it up to the mid to upper 50s. The reason for the warm up will be the winds changing back to the southeast into the afternoon. Expect mostly cloudy skies on Friday and Friday night lows will dip down to the mid to upper 40s as some warmer and more humid will move back in just in time for the upcoming weekend.
THE WEEKEND:
The warm up will continue this weekend due to the southerly winds returning across West Tennessee. Highs will make it up to around 70° on Saturday and some mid 70s will return on Sunday. We are expecting a mix of sun and clouds this weekend, but in general I expect more clouds than sun. The winds will be a bit breezy at times and keep a southerly component to them all weekend long. There could be a couple of spotty showers on Sunday but we are not expecting much and definitely no threat for severe storms. Saturday night will be warm in the mid 50s and Sunday night will be even warmer with temperatures only falling down to around 60° to start next week. The next front will pass early next week and could bring some storms with it. We will keep an eye on it as the weekend gets closer.
FINAL THOUGHT:
Long term forecast models are suggesting a warm finish to the month of February and a warm start to March. Spring is about 3 weeks away and starts on March 19th this year. As the warmer weather moves in, we might be transitioning to more of a severe weather threat than a cold and snowy one for the last few weeks of Winter. The next chance for storms is coming in on Tuesday night this week, but the following weekend is looking pretty nice though.
For tips on preparing for the storms, click here. To download the WBBJ 7 Weather app, click here.
Storm Team Chief Meteorologist
Joel Barnes
Facebook: @JoelBarnesWeather
Twitter: @JoelBarnes13
Instagram: @joelbarnes13
