Saturday, February 18, 2012

"I love a rainy night"

Low pressure moving along the Gulf Coast states over the next 24 hours is bringing widespread rain to the southeastern U.S. today with some possible severe thunderstorms near the Gulf Coast. Further north, in the Mid-South, rain is expected to move in by this evening, as well as very gusty north wind due to the strength of the surface low and high pressure building in behind it. The rain will continue most of the night, ending by mid-morning Sunday. The graphic below from the precipitation experts at the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC) shows copious rainfall to our south, but also a pretty healthy amount over the Mid-South, through Sunday morning. Areas of north MS could see more than an inch of rain, while 0.5"-1.0" is likely in the metro.
Forecast total precipitation through Sunday morning, from HPC
Previously, we had expected that an upper-level disturbance moving through the area early Sunday could bring enough cold air to allow the rain to change over to snow as the system departed early in the day. The consensus of the computer models is now that the air will not get cold enough for snow in the immediate metro, outside of  perhaps a few flurries mixed with the rain between about 6-9am Sunday.  The best chances for snow have shifted to the TN-KY border region, middle TN, and points east. Though the rain will end Sunday morning, it will remain cool (in the 40s) all day as clouds depart in the afternoon.  President's Day looks pleasant with partly cloudy skies and highs back into the mid to upper 50s. Click here for the complete MWN forecast.

This graphic from HPC indicates the best chances for snowfall will be Sunday in the Mid-Atlantic
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