Warmer & Mostly Dry Until Christmas Eve, Wet Christmas Day Coming!
WBBJ 7 Forecast Update
WBBJ 7 Forecast Update:
After one more night falling down into the 20s, some warmer weather has returned and will be sticking around through Christmas. For those of your traveling Thursday, conditions look great in the weather department. A few showers may return Friday evening or during the day on Saturday, but impacts to travel will be very minimal. Some heavier rain showers and a few storms will return Christmas Eve into Christmas morning. We are going to have your full forecast and the latest on the weekend rain chances coming up here.
We are still under a severe drought for most of West Tennessee and Jackson is remaining one of the hardest hit places. Jackson has seen below normal rainfall each month since August and is now about 8 below on the year. Jackson has seen less than 20% of its normal rainfall as well for the month of December.
Out at the airport in Jackson since September 1st, less than 5″ has fallen compared to around 15″ during a normal year. That is about 1/3 of what we normally get over those 100+ days. There does appear to be some rain on the way though this weekend.
TONIGHT:
More clouds moved in during the day on Wednesday and we can expect a mostly cloudy night too. Highs on Wednesday reached back up into the low to mid 50s due to the southerly winds returning to the Mid South. Wednesday night lows will be a bit cool dropping down near freezing into the low 30s. Rain showers will stay away again on Wednesday night and the winds will stay light out of the southeast around 5 MPH.
THURSDAY:
Thursday will be a mostly cloudy day, but we are still not expecting any rain showers to return to West Tennessee. Highs on Thursday will be a bit warmer than Wednesday and make it up into the mid 50s at least for all of us. The winds will stay light and come out of the south during the day. Thursday night lows will stay above freezing and only drop to the mid 30s as we get going into the day on Friday. By the way, Winter starts officially on Thursday December 21st. This is when the winter solstice will occur and the early will start to tilt back to the north. Thursday will be the day with the least amount of sun this year in the northern hemisphere where we all live.
FRIDAY:
The next system will get a little closer on Friday. That will allow the winds to kick up a bit but they will stay out of the south keeping temperatures above normal again. Highs will approach the 60° mark into the afternoon and overnight lows will only dip into the mid 40s. We are expecting a mostly cloudy day and although a brief shower or two cannot be ruled out late, rain showers will not impact many of us with rain chances sitting only around 10%. Most of the rain on Friday will stay just to the west of the Mississippi River.
CHRISTMAS EVE WEEKEND:
Rain showers are likely on Christmas Eve Sunday and a few showers will drift in on Saturday as well. We could see a few storms on Sunday night but as of now, we are not expecting this to become a severe weather concern but we will be keeping an eye on the situation as the week progresses. Highs this weekend are forecast to be around 60° and Saturday and mid 60s on Sunday. Overnight lows will be warm near 50° for both weekend nights. Expect a 1/2″ to 1″ of rain during Sunday and Monday for the holiday.
The reason the overnight temperatures will stay well above normal will be due to the increase in humidity and return on the gulf moisture due to a steady breeze out of the southeast. We will not see much of the sun this weekend as cloudy skies are expected for most of the Mid South. Rain chances are 30% on Saturday and 70% on Sunday. Rain also looks likely on Christmas day as well on the back side of the storm system before it moves out.
NEXT WEEK:
Rain showers will hang around most of the day on Christmas and some may linger into Tuesday morning as well. We are expecting dry weather to return for the middle of the week. Highs on Monday will reach the low 60s, but mid 50s will be back on Tuesday and low 50s on Wednesday. Overnight lows will slowly drop as the week goes on and we will fall back into the 30s by Wednesday morning. The winds will start out of the southeast on Monday before transitioning back to the west behind the front during the first half of the week. Expect a cloudy day on Monday with decreasing clouds late in the day on Tuesday. Wednesday should bring the return of the sunshine, but it will be a bit cool as well.
FINAL THOUGHT:
After a round of severe weather in the middle of December, our next chance for a few storms will return late this weekend. As of now, the setup doesn’t look overly concerning for West Tennessee but we really need the rain badly. We saw the coldest morning of the fall on Tuesday with many folks dropping into the teens for the first time this season. Although we are not expecting snow for Christmas, it seems highly likely that we are looking at a wet and soggy holiday weekend leading into Christmas.
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
