A storm system over the Great Lakes will drag a cold front through the Valley Friday evening. Most of the energy with this system will stay to our north, but we’ll catch the trailing end of a line of showers and storms developing along the front. The Storm Prediction Center has outlined a ‘Marginal Risk’ over Northeastern Alabama Friday night through the pre-dawn hours of Saturday.
This is the lowest-end risk category, and it means you should be aware of the threat of storms; however, this is not likely to be a major disruption to your Friday evening/night. Some strong wind gusts are possible: upwards of 40-50 mph. Small hail (pea to dime-size) may accompany the stronger storms especially in Middle Tennessee. Most storms though will just move through with heavy downpours and a good amount of lightning.
It will not even rain in every single community here Friday night, particularly west of I-65, so this is more of a ‘be aware’ of some scattered storms event as opposed to the usual threat of storms rolling through in February/early March. You can keep an eye on conditions with the Live Alert 19 App and track storms with our interactive radar.
Cooling Back Down: Once the front clears us, much cooler air will settle in for our weekend. Get ready for a blustery, chilly Saturday!
Expect daytime highs in the lower and middle 50s Saturday afternoon with a fair sky; a northwest wind up to 20 mph makes it feel downright cold at times, though! Futurecast model guidance shows ‘feels like’ temperatures in the 30s before lunchtime Saturday. While this is a big cool down from the 70s we got used to this past week, the upper 50s is actually right around average for late February.
A freeze (and some frost) is likely Saturday night; the usual cold spots may be as cold as the mid-to-upper 20s by daybreak Sunday. That means any sensitive plants need to be brought back in and you’ll need to break out the winter wardrobe by Sunday morning! Sunday will be a similar day, with highs in the 50s under a fair sky.