FLOOD Threat significant Saturday, Severe Storms Also Expected!

WBBJ 7 Forecast Update

February 14, 2025

Joel Barnes,

WBBJ 7 Forecast Update:

Areas in West Tennessee have been upgraded to an enhanced (3/5) risk for severe storms and the rest of us are under a slight (2/5) risk. A couple tornadoes, large hail and strong straight line winds will all be possible Saturday afternoon and evening. As concerning as the severe threat is, it is NOT as concerning as the potential for an extreme flood event for areas across the Mid South as well. NOAA has put areas in West Tennessee under a HIGH risk (4/4), the highest risk they issue for Excessive Rainfall. NWS offices are calling this a particularly dangerous situation.

May be an image of map and text that says 'STORM TEAM WEATHER wbbjtv.com com EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OUTLOOK SATURDAY SEVERE THREAT TOO! MARGINAL SLIGHT MODERATE HIGH Martin Dyersburg Camden Covington Jackson Parsons 40 Memphis Bolivar Savannah'

Some areas may see over 6″ of rain on Saturday on top of saturated grounds and already swollen creeks and rivers. This is the most concerning flood set up since I have been here in West Tennessee (5 years). Please stay inside by Saturday afternoon and stay with WBBJ on TV and Online as the event unfolds. Catch the latest forecast information and safety tips here.

May be an image of map and text that says 'STORM TEAM WEATHER wbbjtv.com WBBJ 7 TOTAL RAINFALL FORECAST Sunday 6:00 AM 3.5" 3.5" Union City UnionCity 4.3" Tiptonville Martın 7.7" Paris 5.3" Dyersburg 8. 8.4" Ripley 8.9" Trenton 8.2" Alamo 8.5" 7.4" Huntingdon Gamden 6.9" 6.3" Covington Brownsville 4.8" Jackson 3.2" Henderson 3.7" Lexington 3.8" Parsons 2.9" Somerville 2.9" Bolivar 4.2" Memphis 1.8" Selmer 2.7" Savannah'

THIS WEEK:

After starting out with 8 days above normal to kick off the month of February, we finally had a couple days below normal for Sunday and Monday. We dropped below freezing for the first time in a while Thursday night and colder weather is coming back next week. Rain moved in Monday night and lasted into Tuesday afternoon and another round moved in during the first half of the day on Wednesday. Heavier rain and thunderstorms are expected on Saturday and that will lead to possible significant flooding concerns in West Tennessee including the Tennessee River near Savannah.

May be an image of map and text that says 'STORM TEAM WEATHER wbbjtv.com FLOOD ALERTS HIGH RISK LATE FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH LATE SATURDAY NIGHT CRITERIA FOR WEST TENNESSEE FLOOD WATCH Flooding of and and/or rivers and streams is possible over the next 48 hours 2-5" OF RAIN IS EXPECTED To COME DOWN ON SATURDAY ACROSS WEST TENNESSEE. HEAVY RAIN ON TOP OF SATURATED GROUNDS & ALREADY SWOLLEN CREEK, RIVERS & STREAMS COULD LEAD to A BIG PROBLEM!'

Thursday and Friday were dry this week but will also be quite cold. Highs on Thursday only made it up to the mid/upper 30s and overnight lows into Friday morning fell into the mid 20s for the first time in a couple weeks. There was no precipitation those days so we will not be seeing any snow or ice. A warm front will drift through on Friday and that will warm us back up into the evening with a return of the southeast winds. We should reach the low 50s on Friday evening and Friday night lows will fall to the mid 40s. There could be some rain coming back late Friday night but the heavy rain and next chances for storms will show up early Saturday and stick around all day long. Friday will start out with some sunshine but clouds will move in towards the back half of the day and stick around to kick off the weekend.

May be an image of map, lightning and text that says 'STORM TEAM WEATHER wbbjtv.com OVERALL RISK NON SEVERE SEVERE WEATHER RISK SATURDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING LOW Martin 5 MODERATE HIGH Dyersbury TORNADOES 5% CHANCE Milan Gamden LARGE HAIL QUARTER Jackson Parsons WINDS 70 MPH Memphis Bolivar Savannah FLOODING EXTREME'

THE WEEKEND:

The greatest threat for severe weather in a few weeks will be here on Saturday. As of now, the main concern looks to stay just southwest of Jackson but there is a really good chance we have some strong storm activity developing for many of us across the Mid South as well. The system will be here tomorrow and has grabbed the attention of the National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center as they have issued a enhanced risk (3/5) for some of us in West Tennessee and the rest of us under a slight (2/5) risk. Saturday will be a cloudy day and the winds will be quite gusty and come out of the southwest. The winds will shift back to the northwest on Sunday! There could be some major flooding issues on Saturday for the areas that see over 3-6″ of rain with some local amounts even higher in a few areas just north of I-40.

May be an image of map, tornado and text that says 'STORM TEAM WEATHER wbbjtv.com com wbbjt TORNADO THREAT SATURDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING 2% 5% 10% 15% Tiptonville Union City 30% Martin Paris Dyersburg Trenton Ripley Camden Huntingdon Alamo Covington Jackson Brownsville Lexington Parsons Henderson Memphis Somerville Bolivar Selmer Savannah'

Saturday highs will reach the mid 60s and the dew point will be very high into the afternoon and evening helping to fuel the potential storms. A cold front will pass Saturday night dropping temperatures all the way down near freezing again by Sunday morning. Rainfall amounts are expected to be in the 2-6″ range on Saturday alone in our viewing around. That additional rain, on top of already saturated grounds will likely lead to some flooding in low lying areas, river, creeks and streams across West Tennessee. The greatest timing for severe storms will in the late afternoon and evening hours. A tornado or two could develop in the afternoon and again along the main like that is forecast to move through between 5-10pm. Gusty winds will impact most of us and even some quarter size hail could show up too with some of afternoon storms.

May be an image of ‎tornado, map and ‎text that says '‎STORM TEAM WEATHER wbbjtv.com STORM TEAM 7 WEATHER FUTURECAST SAT 7:00 SAT7:00PM PM RAIN MIXED SNOW Tiptonville UnionCity City Union Martih Paris Dyersburg Trenton Ripley Camden Huntingdon Alamo Covington Jackson Brownsville Lexington صن Parsons Henderson Memphis Somerville Bolivar Selmer Savannah‎'‎‎

Sunday will be dry and much cooler with highs struggling to even get out of the upper 30s. The sun should come back out Sunday late in the day as well. Sunday night lows will fall down to low to mid 20s making for a cold start to next week. Next week will start out cold on Monday but we will warm back up a bit for Tuesday. The next system will move through Tuesday night next week into Wednesday morning and that system will bring a potential return of winter precipitation (including snow and ice) back to the Mid South as well! As of now, 1-3″ of snow seems likely Tuesday night into Wednesday next week!