Tracking Delta, Potential Impacts to West Tennessee Late in the Week
Weather Update – 11:00 p.m. – Monday, October 5th
West Tennessee faced the coldest temperatures of Fall so far this morning with lows in the middle to upper 30s! We’re facing another cold night ahead with temperatures back in the 30s in some spots but a warming trend is expected through the rest of the week. We’ll end the week with potential impacts from Tropical Storm Delta which could become a hurricane tomorrow.
TONIGHT
Expect another cold night across West Tennessee! Temperatures will drop back down into the upper 30s and lower 40s by sunrise on Tuesday. Patchy fog is possible, but otherwise, skies should be mostly clear. Don’t forget to download the new WBBJ Weather app on your Android device or iPhone to stay ahead of the weather where you are!
Picture-perfect weather tomorrow in West Tennessee – sunny skies and highs in the middle 70s. Rain doesn’t return until the end of the week when Tropical Storm Delta could impact the region, so stay tuned to WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News for the latest forecast including how much rain we could end up dealing with from Delta, and for more updates keep up with Storm Team Weather online too.
Tom Meiners
Storm Team 7 Chief Meteorologist, CBM
Twitter – @WBBJ7TomMeiners
Facebook – http://facebook.com/WBBJ.tom.meiners
Email – tmeiners@wbbjtv.com
TROPICAL WEATHER UPDATE –
From the National Hurricane Center…
At 4:00 PM CT, the center of Tropical Storm Delta was located near latitude 16.2 North, longitude 79.4 West. Delta is moving toward the west near 8 mph, and a turn toward the west-northwest should occur this evening. A faster northwestward motion is expected Tuesday through Wednesday night. On the forecast track, the center of Delta is expected to pass southwest of the Cayman Islands early Tuesday, and approach the northeastern portion of the Yucatan peninsula and the Yucatan Channel Tuesday afternoon or evening. Delta is forecast to move into the southern Gulf of Mexico Tuesday night or early Wednesday, and be over the south-central Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday and Wednesday night.
Data from a NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that the maximum sustained winds have rapidly increased to near 70 mph with higher gusts. Additional rapid strengthening is expected during the next day or so, and Delta is expected to be a major hurricane when it nears the Yucatan Peninsula. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from the center. The minimum central pressure estimated from NOAA reconnaissance aircraft data is 983 mb.
HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND
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STORM SURGE: A dangerous storm surge will raise water levels by as much as 4 to 7 feet above normal tide levels along coast of the Yucatan peninsula within the hurricane warning area, near and to right of where the center makes landfall. Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large and dangerous waves.
WIND: Tropical storm conditions are expected in the Cayman Islands beginning tonight. Hurricane conditions are expected within the hurricane warning area in the Yucatan Peninsula Tuesday night, with tropical storm conditions beginning late Tuesday. Hurricane conditions are expected within a portion of the the Hurricane Warning area in western Cuba by late Tuesday night, with tropical storm conditions expected beginning late Tuesday. Hurricane conditions are possible on the Isle of Youth beginning Tuesday afternoon with tropical storm conditions expected by early Tuesday. Tropical storm conditions are possible in the Tropical Storm Watch area in Cuba on Tuesday.
RAINFALL: Through midweek, Delta is expected to produce 3 to 6 inches of rain with isolated maximum totals of 8 inches across Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, western Cuba and the northern Yucatan Peninsula. This rainfall could lead to significant flash floods and mudslides.
Later this week into the weekend, Delta is expected to bring heavy rainfall across portions of the central Gulf Coast into the southeastern United States.
