Chilly Night Ahead, More Showers Thursday Night into Early Friday
WBBJ 7 Forecast Update
WBBJ 7 Forecast Update:
All of West Tennessee has dropped into the 30s tonight and most of us were in the mid 70s just 24 hours ago. The brisk northerly winds will weaken tonight and that will allow overnight lows to drop to around 30°. The cooler weather will be sticking around for a couple days before a warm up shows up just in time for the weekend. More rain is also possible Thursday night into Friday before a dry and warm weekend moves in. There will also be a chance for some more storms early next week too. Catch the full forecast details coming up here.
SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK:
WEDNESDAY IS TORNADO SAFETY:
This week is severe weather awareness week in Tennessee, Wednesday is Tornado Safety. Are you familiar with tornado terminology? During severe weather, we will issue tornado watches, warnings, and occasionally a tornado emergency. Now is the time to read and understand the difference between these so you and your family stay safe.
Do you know where your safe place from tornadoes is? Ideal shelter is located underground, but a safe alternative is an interior room with no windows. Locate your safe space now before tornadoes strike. Do you know what to do if you are caught on the road during a tornado warning? If possible, move into a secure building and NEVER take shelter under an overpass. Be ready
BEFORE a 
threatens 
Develop & communicate a safety plan for wherever you are (e.g. home, work, school)
Identify a safe place! 
Practice your safety plan & going to your safe place 
Have way(s) to receive watches/warnings 
Be familiar with weather terminology! Do you know the difference between a Watch & a Warning? How about an Emergency? 
Watch- Be Prepared. Be ready to put your plan in place & go to your safe place. 
Warning- Take Action! GO to your safe place!
TONIGHT:
A line of gusty showers and non severe storms moved through in the early morning hours on Wednesday. The rain cleared out in the early morning hours across West Tennessee. Most of us saw 0.10-0.25″ of rain at the rain was heavy but didn’t last long. High temperatures on Wednesday occurred around midnight and dropped quickly into the afternoon as the cold front pushed in. Temperatures were in the mid 40s by the afternoon, but will drop all the way down to around 30° for Wednesday night. Skies started out cloudy but some sunshine tried to show up in the late afternoon and evening hours as the front moved away from us. Skies will remain partly cloudy tonight. The winds changed direction early in the day and it still was a bit breezy out of the northwest into the afternoon. The winds will weaken tonight and become calm by the morning on Thursday.
THURSDAY:
Thursday is going to start out chilly, likely a few degrees below freezing before warming up to around 50° into the afternoon. Expect a mix of sun and clouds on Thursday and a light breeze out of the east. There will be some cold rain showers trying to move back in late Thursday night, but we are not expecting storms this time. We are also going to be just a few degrees too warm for any sort of wintry mix as overnight lows are forecast to fall down to the upper 30s Thursday night when the rain is coming down, but it will be close again and something worth watching later this week.
FRIDAY:
We will see a round of cold rain showers Friday morning but they should taper off into the afternoon and we will be dry Friday evening across West Tennessee. Highs on Friday will be a little warmer than on Thursday and make it up to the low to mid 50s. The reason for the warm up will be the winds changing back to the southeast late into the afternoon. Expect mostly cloudy skies on Friday and Friday night lows will dip down to the mid 40s as some warmer and more humid will move back in just in time for the upcoming weekend.
THE WEEKEND:
The warm up will continue this weekend due to the southerly winds returning across West Tennessee. Highs will make it up to around 70° on Saturday and some mid 70s will return on Sunday. We are expecting a mix of sun and clouds this weekend, but in general I expect more clouds than sun. The winds will be a bit breezy at times and keep a southerly component to them all weekend long. There could be a couple of spotty showers on Sunday but we are not expecting much and definitely no threat for severe storms. Saturday night will be warm in the low 50s and Sunday night will be even warmer with temperatures only falling down to around 60° to start next week. The next front will pass early next week and could bring some storms with it. We will keep an eye on it as the weekend gets closer.
NEXT WEEK:
We are looking at another warm start to next week across West Tennessee. Highs will start out in the mid 70s on Monday before cooling a little bit in the middle of the week. A cold front will come by late Monday night or early Tuesday bringing rain showers and potentially some storms as well. The severe weather threat at this time looks low, but that could change as the system gets closer. Expect mostly cloudy skies for at least the first half of the week. The winds will shift from the south to the northeast early on Tuesday. Tuesday and Wednesday highs will not be too bad behind the front, and should still make it up to the mid 60s. morning lows will range from the mid 40s to the mid 50s for the first few days of next week.
FINAL THOUGHT:
Long term forecast models are suggesting a warm finish to the month of February and a warm start to March. Spring is a little less than 3 weeks away and starts on March 19th this year. As the warmer weather moves in, we might be transitioning to more of a severe weather threat than a cold and snowy one for the last few weeks of Winter. The next chance for storms is coming in next Monday night next week, but the upcoming weekend is looking pretty nice though.
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
