Potential for Severe Thunderstorms on Saturday

February 22, 2019

Weather Update – 10:00 a.m. – Friday, February 23nd

Showers continue to fall across West Tennessee this evening, and the rain has gradually become heavier. A Flash Flood Watch is in effect for all of West Tennessee until midnight Saturday night. Flooding remains one of the more immediate concerns overnight with another round of heavy rain through early Saturday morning.

TONIGHT
The Flash Flood Watch remains in effect for all of West Tennessee, with a potential for heavy rain this evening and Saturday morning that could bring water to cover roads overnight. Never drive through a flooded roadway – we had some roads end up getting completely washed out from rainfall just a couple of weeks ago! Isolated strong thunderstorms are possible as well in southwest Tennessee overnight with a potential for one or two thunderstorms to produce large hail and isolated incidents of damaging winds. Temperatures will end up warming up overnight from the lower 50s this evening to the lower 60s by sunrise. There is a high risk for excessive rainfall that could lead to flash flooding in West Tennessee south of I-40. Again, flash flooding is a serious concern for the area overnight.

The greatest threat for severe weather appears to be focused on the afternoon and early evening hours in West Tennessee tomorrow. Thunderstorms may begin developing in West Tennessee as early as between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and may not leave West Tennessee entirely until a cold front comes through West Tennessee and crosses the Tennessee River between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday night.

Depending on whether enough energy is available to get severe thunderstorms going or not will determine how strong our storms end up becoming on Saturday, but after the 10 o’clock news, the Storm Prediction Center with the National Weather Service upgraded Saturday’s threat for severe weather to a level 4 out of 5 – a moderate risk.