Few Showers on Saturday, Heavy Rain Late on Christmas Eve & Christmas
WBBJ 7 Forecast Update
WBBJ 7 Forecast Update:
Although we cannot rule our a few light rain showers on Saturday, the weather looks pretty nice for the first 75% of the weekend. Rain will return after sunset on Sunday and will get heavy and more widespread overnight into Christmas morning. Up to 1″ of rain looks possible for many of us. Catch the latest on storm chances were you live and find out when the rain will be moving out 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:
The next system got a little closer on Friday. That allowed the winds to kick up a bit but they will stay out of the south keeping temperatures above normal again. Highs reached the low 60s for most of us. Overnight lows will only dip into the mid to upper 40s. We saw a partly to mostly cloudy day and although a brief shower or two cannot be ruled out late tonight, rain showers will not impact many of us with rain chances sitting only around 20%. Most of the rain on Friday night 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 weekend progresses. Highs this weekend are forecast to be in the low 60s on 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 40% on Saturday and 80% 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 but should clear on by Monday night or early Tuesday morning. Chances for rain on Christmas is 90% for West Tennessee. We are expecting dry weather to return for the middle of the week. Highs on Monday will reach the low 60s, but low 50s will be back on Tuesday and highs will around 50° 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. We could see a few showers next Thursday as well but confidence in that system remains low as of now.
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
