Below ZERO Wind Chill Tonight, Ice & Wintry Mix Coming Thursday
WBBJ 7 Forecast Update
WBBJ 7 Forecast Update:
Temperatures have dipped down to around 0° in many areas in West Tennessee during the 9pm hour already tonight. Some places will drop a few degrees below zero and the wind chill will dip as low as -15° at times!
With the clear skies, temperatures tonight will fall down to around 0°. Last time we fell below 0° was Dec. 23, 2022. The wind chill will drop down to -5 to -15° tonight. We will be dry Wednesday but another round of light snow and up to 0.10″ of ice is coming on Thursday. We will have the latest on Thursday’s ice threat, and more on the cold, which will be sticking around through the weekend. Catch the full forecast details here.
SNOW TOTALS:
We saw between 2-8″ of snow in West Tennessee. The highest amounts were just south of I-40 in southern Madison, Hardeman, Chester and northern McNairy counties. Some of the smallest amounts were areas north of I-40 in Dyer, Obion and Weakely counties. The average amounts along I-40 were in the 3-6″ range although some places like Beech Bluff, Henderson and Middleton picked up around 7″. The snow totals were higher in southern Madison county compared to northern Madison county. We saw a widespread 5-8″ of snow in areas near our southern border with Mississippi. Places in McNairy, Hardin and Hardeman counties all saw over 5″ of snow.
WIND CHILL ADVISORY:
The snow moved out late Monday but the cold will stick around for most of the forecast. Please plan accordingly and be prepared to stay inside for a few days early next week. Please remember the 4 ps (people, pipes, pets and plants) as the system moves in late over the weekend and the frigid air hangs around most of the week. Single digit temperatures and below zero wind chill temperatures are likely again tonight into Wednesday morning. Highs on Tuesday only reached the teens. Monday high only reached 12° in Jackson smashing a low max temperature record for the day. The previous low max was 19° set back in 1972. Due to the clear skies and near calm winds tonight, overnight lows will fall down to the low single digits for all of West Tennessee.
WEDNESDAY:
Wednesday will start out extremely cold in the morning but will warm up into the afternoon. Highs on Wednesday will reach the low 30s and Wednesday night lows will fall down to the upper teens. The brief warm up will be from the winds turning back to the south in the middle of the week and the sun. We should see plenty of sunshine on Wednesday but another system looks to be on the way for Thursday. We will stay dry on Wednesday across the Mid South.
THURSDAY:
The next storm system is coming on Thursday and the forecast will be very challenging for this system. We are expecting highs on Thursday to reach the mid 30s. The showers will move in during the late morning and early afternoon. The precipitation will look to start as freezing rain and depending on how warm we get in the afternoon, we could see the wintry mix transition to a cold rain. The rain will quickly transition to a wintry mix and then to snow showers late if the showers stick around after the sun goes down. We could see a decent icing from the system up to 0.10″ and may end up with another dusting or 1/2″ of snow depending on when the rain turns over to snow. The forecast being off by 1-2° could make a big difference on what kind or precipitation we see during the day.
We will be watching it very closely this week. Thursday night lows will back down to the middle teens. The showers will move out by Friday morning but both Friday and the upcoming weekend will likely be quite cold again. Some single digit mornings will likely return for both weekend mornings. Do not let your winter guard down yet. There is a chance for some folks to see over 0.10″ of ice but as of now, that seems unlikely as the forecast below seems to be on the extreme end for total ice accumulations.
FRIDAY INTO THE WEEKEND:
Friday will be a dry but cold day with highs only reaching the mid 20s. We should see clouds sticking around for the first half of the day and they will move out Friday night making for another very cold morning on Saturday. Saturday morning lows are forecast again to fall down to the low single digits and another wind chill advisory will likely be issued.
Highs on Saturday will struggle to get above 20° but we should see mostly sunny skies. The winds on Saturday will come out of the north before transitioning back to the southeast on Sunday. Saturday night will again be cold with lows falling down to the mid single digits. Sunday we will warm up a bit to the mid 30s and again we should see plenty of sunshine. Sunday night into next Monday will bring a start to some warmer weather back to the Mid South.
FINAL THOUGHT:
Some areas saw over 4″ of rain this week between the first two systems and snow on top of it. Water levels are going to be running high for the next week or so. EXTREME bitter life threatening cold will linger through the weekend so please be prepared as we are also under a wind chill advisory. Another system is coming Thursday and that may bring a wintry mix and some small ice and snow accumulations with it as well, so do not let you guard down West Tennessee.
Here are some winter safety tips and reminders for dealing with the slick road and extreme cold that will be lingering all week long for us.
Please remember the 4ps, especially you, your pets and your property as the cold moves in this weekend.
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
