Rain Back on Saturday, Severe Storm Threat Sunday Night!
WBBJ 7 Forecast Update
WBBJ 7 Forecast Update:
Rain showers return on Saturday and be off and on during the day. A few isolated lightning strikes and rumbles of thunder will be possible; but that will be the extent of it for Saturday. The main concern this weekend will be on Sunday after the sun sets. Strong and severe storms will be likely in the area between 8pm Sunday night and 2am Monday morning. All severe weather hazards will be in play. We have been lucky so far this Spring in West Tennessee, but eventually our luck is going to run out. Please monitor the storm situation on Sunday and stay with WBBJ over the weekend as the event unfolds. Catch the latest forecast information right here.

If you were curious if last Friday morning was our last freeze of the season, it looks possible as of now with more than a 70% confidence we have seen our last freeze. We usually see our last freeze during the first week of April and our last front during the second week of April. The earliest last freeze of record for Spring was set back in 2017 on March 16th, so it is possible that was our last freeze since there appears to not be one coming in the next 2 weeks; we just cannot give a definitive answer yet since we still have two weeks until our average last freeze. We could see a frost Tuesday morning but currently we are forecast to stay just above 40° that morning.

THIS WEEK:
The winds on Thursday returned back to the south as the stationary front lifted back to the north of us. This allowed temperatures to reach the low 80s for most of us. We saw a few clouds on Thursday but overall we had mostly sunny skies. Thursday night will be warmer due to the southerly winds and lows will drop down to the mid 50s to kick off our Friday. Clouds increased on Friday as the humidity was increasing into the day on Friday as the low pressure system from the south gets closer.

Friday was a warm and humid day with highs reaching into the 80s again. We also saw mostly cloudy skies and some showers will be close to the Mississippi River on Friday but should stay out of West Tennessee. The winds will were a bit breezy and come out of the south on Friday too. Friday night lows will be warm due to the high humidity and only fall into the low 60s. The winds will weaken some but remain out of the south ushering in gulf moisture keeping us warm overnight.

THE WEEKEND:
Rain chances and thunderstorms will return again for the weekend in West Tennessee. The main threat for severe storms will be on Sunday but there could be some rain showers and storm activity late in the day on Saturday as well. Highs on Saturday will reach the low 70s depending on the thickness of the clouds and the timing of the rain showers. Saturday night will be quite warm with lows falling to the mid 60s to kick off our Sunday.

It is going to be a warm and humid weekend and that will set the stage for our next chance for severe weather on Sunday. As of now, the Storm Prediction Center has put all of West Tennessee under enhanced risk (3/5) for severe weather. There is a chance some of our area gets put under a level 4 (moderate risk), but that has yet to be determined. This set-up is somewhat similar to the one that brought all the tornadoes to Missouri 2 weeks ago; so we need to monitor this situation closely as the week progresses. Highs on Sunday will make it up to around 80° and we will be cooler as we kick off the following week. Some of the rain showers will linger into the morning hours on Monday. More storms are expected in the middle of next week and some of them will likely be strong or severe as well.

NEXT WEEK:
We will be dry by the time the sun comes up on Monday and stay that way through Wednesday afternoon. Monday will be a little cooler with highs only reaching up to around 60°. Clouds will decrease throughout the day on Monday and we are expecting mostly sunny and dry conditions on Tuesday. Tuesday highs will make it up to around 70° and we will be close to 80° again on Wednesday. The next chance for rain and storms will be here on Wednesday.

Significant rainfall appears to be on the way from Wednesday evening into Saturday morning. There will be multiple rounds of heavy rain with chances for severe weather mixed in. The set up will bring a stalled front with 3 low pressures system riding it and moving through the region. Where the front stalls out, there will be a chance for over 10″ of rain with most of West Tennessee seeing at least 3″. The general forecast across our area calls for 6-10″ of rain from Wednesday through Saturday. These could lead to significant flooding across the region.

Storm Team Chief Meteorologist
Joel Barnes
Facebook: @JoelBarnesWeather
Twitter: @JoelBarnes13
Instagram: @joelbarnes13