Rain & A Few Storms Tonight, Followed By Freezing Temperatures

Saturday Morning Forecast Update for March 11th:

*Don’t Forget To Spring Forward Tonight As We’ll Set The Clocks Forward One Hour*

Increasing cloudiness today with showers entering the picture in the mid afternoon. A few weak storms in the picture by the evening. A cold front will move through overnight and storms will sweep through the area from about 9 pm to midnight before moving out. We’ll start off cloudy and damp Sunday morning but gradual clearing will take place in the afternoon.

Rain showers will return Saturday afternoon and a few storms will be possible Saturday night. Overall, our severe weather threat looks low but some gusty winds and lightning will be possible late tonight. A freeze follow as temperatures drop to 33 by Monday morning and 28 by Tuesday morning.

2023 CLIMATE UPDATE:

It has been a warm start to 2023 with February seeing 3 times as many days above normal than we saw below normal. From February 5th to the end of the month we only had 3 days below normal. The hottest we got was 78° and the coolest we got was 19°. We didn’t record any snow. We did see rain every Wednesday and all but one Thursday during the month though.

We did only pick up 2.86″ of rain at the airport in Jackson but many locations in West Tennessee did register higher rain totals for the month. In Jackson we have seen 11.11″ of rain so far and that is 1.33″ above for the year so far.  The warmest day of the year so far was Monday March 6th when we hit 79°. We have not hit an 80° yet in 2023 at the airport in Jackson.

WEEKEND:

Saturday looks dry in the morning with increasing clouds and light northeast breezes. Temperatures in the mid to upper 30’s with some patchy frost possible. Clouds will increase and a few scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 50’s and winds becoming east around 10 mph. Chance of rain by afternoon around 30%. Saturday night, a cold front moves through with a 100% chance of rain and some storms in the mix with gusty winds and heavy rain. Storms move out by around 1 am.

SUNDAY:

Starting off damp and cloudy in the morning with the upper 40s. Gradual clearing to partly cloudy skies in the afternoon with highs in the lower 50’s and breezy northwest winds around 10 to 15 mph.

Some gusty winds, thunder and lightning could show up with some of the early morning hours on Sunday. Rain showers also look possible Sunday early afternoon but as of now any storm should clear out before the sun rises. We will be watching the weekend system closely as the week progresses and hopefully have the forecast pin pointed by the end of the work week.

As the system moves through this weekend we could see several round of showers and again a few storms could mix on in. Most of West Tennessee will pick up a minimum of 1/2″ of rain with some locations see over an inch.

NEXT WEEK:

Monday and Tuesday will both be packed with sunshine but temperatures will be below normal. Highs on Monday will make it up to around 50° and Tuesday might even be a couple degrees cooler. It looks like we could be dropping below freezing both Monday and Tuesday nights as well so be prepared for some cooler weather. Rain will stay away for the first half of the week and temperatures will begin to warm up some Wednesday when the winds start to come back out of the south. The winds early in the week will come out of the north. The next chance for rain looks to be the following Thursday night into Friday across the Mid South.

FINAL THOUGHT:

After the coldest Christmas in decades here in West Tennessee, warmer weather returned for the start of the new year, and stayed above normal most of the month of February. The next chance for rain and storms is coming this weekend, no winter storms are currently in the forecast but in will be a little cooler this weekend and snow could come close to West Tennessee. 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.

Brian Davis
Storm Team 7 Meteorologist
Twitter – @Brian7wbbj
Facebook – Briandaviswbbj
Email – Badavis@wbbjtv.com