Chilly Through Thursday Morning, Near Records Highs for the Holiday
Tuesday Night Forecast Update
Tuesday Night Forecast Update for December 21st:
A cold front will bring some brief cloud cover overnight and a slight drop in temperatures to West Tennessee. Highs will be below normal Wednesday, but above normal temperatures will move in Thursday and stick around for the foreseeable future. We could set an all time record high on Christmas. We will have more details and let you know if the well above seasonable temperatures is going to lead to a possible severe weather outbreak coming up right here.
The North American winter solstice occurs when the north pole reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. The winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year, when the sun is at its lowest daily maximum elevation in the sky. The earth’s wobble started it’s tilt back at 9:59 AM CST on Tuesday morning and winter has officially begun in North America.
Chances for a White Christmas in West Tennessee is about 10% on average and we have not had one since 2004 in Jackson. In 2004, Jackson received 3″ of snow on December 23rd and there was still 2″ on the ground on Christmas that year. We have a better chance of seeing a top 10 warmest Christmas this year for 2021.
TONIGHT:
Clear skies are expected tonight and the winds will be light and come out of the northwest. Overnight lows are forecast to drop down around 30° by Wednesday morning. Parthy fog is not expected and some light frost could be possible.
WEDNESDAY:
Wednesday will be a sunny but brisk for our first full day on Winter. Highs will reach the upper 40s and the winds will be light out of the north. It will still be cold overnight with the mostly clear skies and lows will again fall down near freezing.
THURSDAY:
Thursday will be a bit warmer as the winds will begin to shift from the north to the south as the day goes on. It will be a bit breezy at times and highs will reach the mid to upper 50s. Mostly sunny skies are expected during the day. It will be warmer at night due to the breezy winds and increase in humidity. Lows will fall down into the mid to upper 40s by Friday morning.
CHRISTMAS EVE:
Breezy southerly winds will warm West Tennessee back into the upper 60s and possibly low 70s on Friday. Winds could gust over 30 MPH at times so Santa might have a challenging night trying to land on chimneys across the region, but he should be ok. There is also a slight chance Santa is dodging some showers and weak storms Friday evening but we are not expecting severe weather at this time, but we will be keeping a close eye on the forecast as the week progresses. Friday night lows will only dip into the low to mid 50s.
CHRISTMAS:
The front coming by on Christmas will drop temperatures some across West Tennessee for Christmas night and the front is not expected to have a big impact on our temperatures as it moves through. We should stay dry by sunrise on Christmas and highs will still reach the low 70s. We could see one of the top 10 warmest Christmas on record in Jackson depending on the strength and timing of the late week cold front. Partly cloudy skies and breezy winds are expected on Saturday. Warmer and above normal weather is expected for the following couple of days after the holiday. Some showers could return next Monday and Tuesday, but the overall confidence in next week’s forecast is currently low.
FINAL THOUGHT:
Not only are we beginning to crawl deeper into the fall season and just 2 weeks away from winter, we are also in our second severe weather season. So you need to stay weather aware to changing weather patterns and monitor the forecasts closely. We got you covered in the WBBJ 7 Storm Team Weather Center as always.
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
