Year in Review: West Tennessee weather of 2018

JACKSON, Tenn. — As we look back at the past year, we can’t help but reflect on all the big weather events we’ve dealt with, whether it was record-breaking rain, tornadoes and above-average temperatures.

Not long after we rang in 2018, we started off the year with snow and ice, which happens on average once every four years in West Tennessee. The event halted traffic across much of the Mid-South. Travel was difficult days afterward due to a layers of ice beneath the snow.

Our most active severe weather day was Feb. 24, when multiple tornadoes touched down across the Mid-South, including an EF-1 in Union City.

“I’m just glad nobody got hurt, you know, nobody was here,” said Obion County homeowner Bob Pellish. “You know, it didn’t touch the house, but it tore everything else up.”

The month of February also had other weather impacts aside from severe weather, with much of the month having rain. February 2018 was the third wettest month on record, where we saw 14.5 inches of rain. Many roads and rivers in Madison County became inundated with water.

After a slow transition into summer, with April being one of the coldest on record, we quickly moved into dealing with summer heat. It was an above average summer for temperatures, and staying cool was important.

It quickly went from summer into winter-like temperatures, which dropped below average for November. Plus, we end the year with more than 77 inches of rain, making 2018 the wettest year on record.