3/26/09 Weather Outlook for Today-Saturday. More Storms!

Quiet this afternoon with a partly cloudy sky and a high in the upper 60s to around 70. There might be a passing shower early on Friday before the next system that could bring a threat of storms into the area late Friday and early Saturday. It appears that timing will be watched closely on Saturday.  The heavy rain this morning left around a half inch to well over an inch on top of yesterday’s rain. Here are a few 24hr rain totals ending this morning.  

Whitwell, TN  3.18”

Jasper, TN  2.63”

Monteagle, TN  2.49”

Scottsboro, AL  2.18”

Dunlap, TN  1.72”

Resaca, GA  1.63”

Red Bank, TN  1.59”

E. Chattanooga  1.53”

LaFayette, GA  1.50”

Dayton, TN  1.40”

Graysville, TN  1.25”

Trenton, GA  1.08” 

Now we focus on a vigorous area of low pressure that will lead to a severe weather outbreak for many in the Southeast U.S. and a blizzard in the Nation’s midsection. Ahh, spring. The Storm Prediction center has most of our viewing area in “Slight Risk” for severe weather tomorrow. This will be for later tomorrow night into the overnight hours, although I can’t rule out an isolated storm Friday afternoon.

An unstable atmosphere will develop during the day on Friday as a warm front lifts north allowing ample amounts of moisture to move in from the south. At the same time, a cold front with plenty of upper level support will lead to an outbreak of strong storms in MS and AL and western TN. Discrete storms will likely rotate and many in MS and AL could be dealing with strong tornadoes. Storms should evolve into a squall line during the overnight hours into Saturday morning. The SPC below has put entire area under a slight risk for Saturday mainly due to the line of storms and the potential for damaging winds. If the cold front doesn’t move through until the afternoon hours, as some models are suggesting, our severe weather threat will likely increase dratically.

Rain should end early Saturday evening with an additional 1-2” possible noted below in the HPC 5 day outlook:

Sunday should be partly cloudy, breezy and cool with highs only in the mid 50s to around 60.  

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See you soon,

Brian