Record Lows Expected Tonight Across West Tennessee
Tuesday Night Forecast Update
Tuesday Night Update for October 18th:
Last night we dropped down between 28-32° in West Tennessee and tonight we are expecting to be even colder, between 24-28° overnight. Be sure to take necessary precautions to protect yourself and property from the cold. Highs will stay in the 50s on Wednesday. Temperatures are going to warm up nicely for the weekend but does that mean showers and storms are also on the way? We will let you know below.
Be sure to take necessary precautions tonight to take care of the Four P’s (People, Pets, Pipes & Plants).
People
Avoid going outside if it is not necessary. If you do, make sure you layer up from head to toe.
Make sure your heat is set to an appropriate temperature to make your entire home is comfortable. Remember, heat rises so if you sleep upstairs, your room may be warmer than rooms downstairs.
If you use a space heater, make sure to keep it away from anything that may be flammable including curtains, Christmas trees, bedding, etc. Also, do not keep it running overnight and do not keep it running in an unoccupied room.
If you use a fireplace, make sure you have a screen to catch any embers that might escape or a rolling log.
Never use your stove or oven to heat your home.
Pets
While protecting your family, it is imperative to protect your pets as well.
Pets, like humans, are vulnerable to cold temperatures. If not taken care of properly, they can succumb to frostbite and even hypothermia.
If you have a dog that typically lives outdoors, consider letting them inside when temperatures drop to freezing. While their fur does help to keep them warm, it provides little help in freezing temperatures.
Pipes
Make sure to cover all your exposed pipes with a cover. You can also cover your pipes with towels, duct tape or another adhesive strip as long as they are wrapped tightly.
Let your faucets drip throughout the night to keep them from freezing.
Plants
When cold weather hits, it’s a good idea to bring in all of your outdoor plants. If you can’t bring in the plant, cover it with a blanket to make sure they do not die.
TONIGHT:
Clear skies and calm winds will lead to our first time in the 20s since March tonight. Overnight lows are forecast to fall into the mid to upper 20s. Clear skies and calm winds will make for a brisk night. The record low in Jackson tonight is 30° set back in 1948. Tuesday night lows will be the coldest night of this cold spell.
WEDNESDAY:
After a record setting cold morning, the winds will start to come more out the west instead of the northwest by the afternoon which will warm us back up into the upper 50s. Sunny skies will continue to dominate over West Tennessee, but that means clear skies, which will make for another cold night leading into Thursday morning. Thursday morning lows will fall down to around freezing (32°) and that happens to be the record as well set back in 1999. We have the potential of setting back to back to back morning low records this week in Jackson.
THURSDAY:
After another cold morning near record low levels, a warm up will return by the afternoon. Southwest winds come back on Thursday and mostly sunny skies will hang around for the majority of the day. Highs on Thursday will make it back up into the mid 60s. The winds will be a bit breezy at times. Thursday night lows will fall down to the low 40s and stay well above freezing.
FRIDAY:
The warm up continues on Friday with highs making it back into the mid 70s. Mostly sunny skies and southwest winds will lead to the warm up. The humidity will increase some Friday night keeping overnight lows to fall down to around 50°. Friday night football looks great again with temperatures in the 60s for kick off and 50s by the end of the games. You can leave the umbrella at home again and you will not need it anytime this week and dry weather will continue into the weekend.
THE WEEKEND:
After seeing the coldest weather in 6 months to start to the week, the weekend weather looks to be terrific. Highs will reach the mid to upper 70s for both Saturday and Sunday, some of us could be close to 80°. Overnight lows this weekend will stay up and only dip down to mid and potentially upper 50s. The winds will come out of the south or southwest all weekend long. Expect mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies, but the showers will continue to stay away until early next week. There will be chances for rain maybe late Monday into next Tuesday.
ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER:
The Mississippi River in Memphis bottomed out recording its lowest point ever early this week.
The National Weather service reported the river stage hit -10.79 on Monday. The previous record was -10.70 in 1988.
FINAL THOUGHT:
Some of us saw our first frost on Sunday morning October 8th. Those of you who didn’t will see some frost early next week and likely a freeze coming Tuesday night. On top of the colder weather, we often see storms develop in October as well and we could see more storms this weekend. There will also be more chances for severe weather as October is the start of our second severe weather season. The tropics have been started out quiet besides Hurricane Ian, they look to remain quiet for the next week or two. 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.
Storm Team Chief Meteorologist
Joel Barnes
Facebook: @JoelBarnesWeather
Twitter: @JoelBarnes13
Instagram: @joelbarnes13
