Warmer Weather Weather Coming Back, Drought Situation Concerning

WBBJ 7 Forecast Update:

November 2, 2023

Joel Barnes,

WBBJ 7 Forecast Update:

The rain deficit continues to get worse across the Mid South and West Tennessee as most of our viewing area is under an extreme or severe drought. There is some rain in the forecast, it just won’t be here tomorrow.

For the 3rd morning in a row we just missed the low temperature record in Jackson as we fell down to 24° out of the airport around 7am. Warmer weather will be moving back in due to the return of southerly winds. We will let you know if the warmer weather will be bringing any rain showers back to West Tennessee coming up tonight at 5 and we will have the latest on an increasingly concerning drought monitor coming up here.

FIRST FREEZE OF 2023:

Our first freeze in Jackson usually occurs towards the end of October or the beginning over November. Last year our first freeze was early on October 18th but the previous year we didn’t see our first freeze until November 4th. Over the last 10 years, our first freeze has ranged from Mid October to early November. This year, our first freeze was on October 30th. Usually we see our first frost a couple weeks before we see our first freeze, but this year, they both came in on the same night.

TONIGHT:

Warmer weather slowly moved back in towards the back half of the work week on Thursday and will continue to warm up into the weekend. We saw plenty of sunshine again Thursday and that will continue as well. Expect clear skies again tonight. The winds came out of the south and were light but will again go calm overnight making for another cool night. Overnight lows should stay out of the 20s but most of us will start out our Friday morning around freezing in the low to mid 30s.

FRIDAY:

Friday morning will start out in the low to mid 30s but high temperatures in the afternoon will make it back up into the mid 60s. The winds will be light most of the day and will come out of the south and that will help warm us up a bit more than we were earlier in the week. The weather looks a bit cool, but not too bad for Friday night football games again. You will need a jacket/coat for sure though during the 2nd half of the games. We are not expecting any rain to fall so you can leave the umbrellas at home. Friday night lows will dip down to the low 40s to kick off your weekend.

THE WEEKEND:

We should warm back up nicely for the upcoming weekend with highs reaching up to around 70s. We should see clouds increasing as the weekend progresses and there could be a shot for some showers trying to return on Sunday but overall confidence in the late weekend rain chance is pretty low as of now. The winds this weekend will start out of the south and transition to the west. There could be a late weekend front approaching as well but we are not sure if it will push through the Mid South or not. Morning lows this weekend will be around 40° on Saturday and in the mid to upper 40s for Sunday morning. Rain chances look to increase and likely return early or in the middle of next week as the next cold front will get closer and eventually move through.

NEXT WEEK:

Highs next week are expected to be well above normal into the mid to upper 70s for most of the week. Eventually a cold front is going to move through but the current timing of the front looks to be late in the work week. The front may get close enough though during the middle of the week to bring some isolated light shower chances. The best chance for rain next week will be when the front moves through and current thoughts are that it will happen on Thursday. Morning lows next week will hand around into the 50s. We could see plenty of sunshine to kick off the week but clouds will be increasing as the week goes on as well. Winds will stay out of the southwest for the first half of the weekend before changing back to the north behind the front on Thursday.

FINAL THOUGHT:

The first frost and freeze came early this week and it was a very cold day for Halloween festivities. Some warmer weather is on the way as we head towards the back half of the work week. Rain looks to be staying away for the rest of the week as well. We really need the rain badly as drought conditions are becoming extreme across most of West Tennessee. The tropics look to be relatively quiet but we are not quite done yet with hurricane season as we are watching a potential storm in the southern Caribbean. We got you covered in the WBBJ 7 Storm Team Weather Center as always.