Cold Front Coming Tonight, Spotty Showers Next Few Days
Thursday Night Forecast Update
Thursday Night Forecast Update for February 23rd:
After hitting 78° back to back days here in Jackson, cooler weather will be returning tonight. Most of us will drop down to around 40° by Friday morning. Cooler weather and chances for rain will stick around for Friday and Saturday but a warm up is expected to start Sunday into Monday. Our next chance for thunderstorms looks to be on the way for Monday morning. Catch the full forecast coming up here.
SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK:
This week is severe weather awareness week in Tennessee, Monday was FLOOD safety! Tuesday was Lightning Safety and Wednesday was Tornado Safety and Thursday is general thunderstorm safety. Do you know how the NWS classifies a severe thunderstorm? Know when to take action if severe storms occur. The Storm Prediction Center issues Severe Weather Outlooks. We use these outlooks to describe the overall threat of severe weather for the local area. Do you know what the differences are between the categories? Know the difference between a watch and a warning. Know when to take action. Be prepared not scared. Check out the video below for more information.
TONIGHT:
Thursday started out warm but the cold front is expected to pass by sometime late into the evening hours dropping the temperatures. We reached the mid to upper 70s though before the front passed.
We didn’t set the high temperature record on Thursday as it was 81°. We were dry most of the day on Thursday but as the front passes, we cannot rule out a brief shower but I wouldn’t count on seeing much. Thursday night lows will fall to the upper 30s behind the front. The winds will change from the west to the northeast during the evening and will be quite breezy most of the day.
FRIDAY:
Friday highs will reach up around 50° and Friday night lows will fall to the mid 40s. We are expecting another disturbance to show up on Friday but depending on what side of the frontal boundary we are on will determine how warm temperatures are going to be. There is a chance we could be warmer or cooler than 50° depending on where the late system shows up. Rain showers are expected to return regardless of where the system sets up as both case scenarios will bring rain to West Tennessee. The winds as of now are forecast to be out of the northeast and be light most of the day.
THE WEEKEND:
The weekend as of now looks like it is going to start out quite rainy. Rain showers are likely on Saturday but should clear out sometime during the morning on Sunday. Highs on Saturday will reach the mid 50s and like the previous few weekends, Sunday will be warmer than Saturday with highs reaching the mid 60s. The winds will come out of the northwest on Saturday and shift to the west or southwest by Sunday afternoon. Lows this weekend are forecast to fall down near the mid 50s both nights.
NEXT WEEK:
Our next shot for thunderstorms and potential severe weather will be here in Monday. The timing of the storms will play a big factor or whether we will see any severe weather or not. Right now, it looks the bulk of the storm activity will come in the morning keeping our severe weather threat down some. Highs on Monday will reach up to around 70° before the storms and showers move in. The rain should clear out on Tuesday but is expected to make a return in the middle of the week for most of West Tennessee. Highs will stick around in the mid to upper 60s most of the week with lows in the mid 40s Tuesday morning but mid 50s for the middle of the week mornings. The winds will start out of the west on Monday but turn back to the north on Tuesday. Southerly winds will come back in the middle of the which will help up warm back up a bit.
FINAL THOUGHT:
After the coldest Christmas in decades here in West Tennessee, warmer weather returned for the start of the new year, and has stayed above normal most of the month of February. The next chance for rain and storms is coming in the middle of next week, no winter storms are currently in the forecast but in will be a little cooler on Friday and again to start this weekend. 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
