Winter Weather Expected March 4th - 5th

The fact that it's only one year (almost to the day) that separates West Tennessee between two dangerous ice storms is odd enough, but it's only 17 days until Spring arrives and before the week is over parts of West Tennessee, including Jackson, may set new record low temperatures for the month of March. Winter isn't going down without a fight!

First off, temperatures...At 12:23 a.m. when I started writing this blog, this is what it looked like across West Tennessee.

In about 24 hours, these numbers may be 30 degrees cooler in some spots, thanks to a cold front that will come along with showers and breezy winds overnight.

Rain will be off and on throughout the morning on Wednesday, but with rain showers hitting certain spots over and over again, flooding could be a problem. This will be especially true in low lying areas that may also have poor drainage. A Flash Flood Watch is in effect for northwest Tennessee until noon Wednesday.

Speaking of weather alerts, all of West Tennessee will be under a Winter Storm Warning from today until noon Thursday.

A warning, in this case, simply means that this winter weather event is imminent and very likely to occur. So you're probably wondering when it will really start going and how much snow and ice we'll get.

Rain will change over to freezing rain during the afternoon and evening hours today (Wednesday)...

This change will start early in the afternoon in northwest Tennessee and continue to take place later on at points southeast throughout the rest of the day on Wednesday. Parts of Hardin and McNairy county may not see the phase change occur until a few hours before midnight. In Jackson, this change will probably take place around 5pm give or take an hour. At that point, and at the times shown above, it's recommended that you avoid going on the roads since travel will become increasingly difficult. Eventually, that freezing rain will change to sleet and then to snow making travel dangerous with roads becoming icy. 

Here's how much sleet and snow accumulation we could get along with freezing rain...

You've probably looked at other sources and might be wondering why ours are so "low". Well, it seems to me like the warmer weather will hang around slightly longer, and so this will lead to lower amounts of snow and sleet.

BUT, the impacts are still there. In this case, it's best not to get caught up on amounts and just make sure you're prepared for these potential impacts...

With a quarter inch of ice on tree branches on power lines and winds gusting over 30mph, spotty power outages are bound to happen. With icy road conditions, accidents are bound to happen Wednesday night and Thursday morning. With dangerous conditions, school closures are bound to happen. These will be the things to watch for and prepare for.

I'll keep you posted with another update coming out later this morning.