Storm Threat Back Thursday Night Through Saturday Morning
WBBJ 7 Forecast Update
WBBJ 7 Forecast Update:
After a couple mild days to kick off the first full week or 2026, the week is going to go out with a bang. A low pressure system and cold front are on the way that will spark up a few rounds of showers and storms between Thursday night and early Saturday morning. Highs will reach up to near record levels in the low 70s for both Thursday and Friday. The humidity will be high and the winds will be quite breezy at times too over for several days. Storm chances start late Thursday night into Friday morning and we should get a break from the mid morning to early afternoon on Friday. Early in the evening and into Friday night, strong and possibly severe storms are expected to develop in our area.
Good news from the forecast data coming out Wednesday night for us here in West Tennessee. There isn’t much of a change in the gusty wind chance Thursday night after midnight, but improvements in our area on Friday, according to the latest short range storm forecast models. They have the showers & storms showing up later in the evening as well as weaker in our area. Most of the severe weather concerns look to be south of the Mississippi border. If we do have some bigger storms on Friday, they will likely be south of I-40. We still could be under a level 2 south of I-40, but any level 3 concerns, as well as any enhanced tornado threats, should stay south of us. Let’s hope for more improvements on Thursday before the system gets here.
THIS WEEK:
A weak front passed Tuesday night but it just brought some clouds and a couple hours of some breezy winds with it. Highs still reached the low 70s, near record highs on Tuesday before the front passed overnight. Tuesday night lows fell down to mid 40s. It was a little cool to start our Wednesday and there was a mix of sun and clouds during the day. The front passing Tuesday night moved out quickly as another area of high pressure moved in by the back half of the day. We were a few degrees cooler on Wednesday but highs still reached the low to mid 60s by Wednesday afternoon. The winds shifted back to the southwest late in the day and that will keep Wednesday night lows above average, dropping down to around 50°.
The first chance for showers and storms this week is coming in on Thursday. We could see a few showers or weak storms in the evening but there could be some severe weather concerns at night as the storm system approaches from the west. Thursday is also going to be a breezy to windy day with southerly wind increases as the day goes on. Those southerly winds will warm us up to around 70° near record highs helping to fuel the late evening/night storm threat. The high dew point will keep Thursday night warm with Friday morning lows starting out in the low 60s.
We have a few rounds of storms coming in from the system. The first will be Thursday night between midnight and 6am. The second will be here Friday afternoon/evening between 3-9pm and the third will move through between midnight and 6am Friday night into Saturday morning. The first one could produce a couple of gusty straight line wind storms, but should be the weakest of the 3 rounds. The second, we will be on the northern edge of some rotating storm clusters. The main concern for tornadoes at this time appears to be down in Mississippi but our counties near the border could be in area of concern as well. The late line could produce a rotating storm or two but will more likely be another straight line wind event. The forecast will change some over the next 24-36 hours so be sure to stay with WBBJ and monitor forecast information before the storms get here.
Friday is going to feel ominous with the high humidity during the day. The morning temperatures will stay in the low 60s and we will warm up near 70° before the afternoon and evening storms start to move in. Friday is also going to be a bit breezy with the winds coming in out of the southwest. Most of the ingredients to produce severe weather appear to be on the way on Friday and the Storm Prediction Center has already put out a slight risk (2/5) for the Mid South on Friday. The storms could linger into Friday night before clearing out by Saturday morning.
THE WEEKEND:
Behind the late week storm system and cold front, winter-like temperatures will be returning for the weekend. Highs on Saturday will only reach the low to mid 50s and Sunday highs will only reach the mid 40s. There will be some clouds sticking around for the first half of the day on Saturday before clearing out Saturday night allowing Sunday morning lows to fall back down to around freezing in the low 30s. any showers from Friday night should clear out by Saturday morning. Sunday night will be even colder with Monday morning lows forecast to fall down into the mid 20s. The winds will be a bit breezy on Saturday and come out of the west-northwest. The winds will have more of a northerly component to them on Sunday. Expect the clouds on Saturday to break up later in the day. We should see plenty of sunshine on Sunday but it will be brisk as well with the light northwest breeze. Monday highs will make it up to around 50° to kick off next week.
Storm Team Chief Meteorologist
Joel Barnes
Facebook: @JoelBarnesWeather
Twitter: @JoelBarnes13
Instagram: @joelbarnes13
