Storms This Afternoon, Rain Lingers Through the Night

Rain and thunderstorms will return to the area later today as a cold front sweeps through. This front is currently located along the Mississippi River with a weak line of thunderstorms ahead of the front. This front exhibits an anafront appearance with the large majority of the rain behind the front. Skies will be mostly cloudy this morning, but with temperatures running in the lower 70s, it won't take much heating to get warm. I expect the line of storms in western Mississippi to slowly move eastward through the morning hours and intensify as they approach the I-55 corridor by noon. Highs will likely top out near 80 today, and this will add fuel to the line of storms this afternoon. However, CAPE values will remain weak (<500 J/kg) due to less than impressive lapse rates. Very strong wind shear will be able to compensate for the low CAPE environment, and it should support a few bowing segments within the line. Therefore, damaging winds will be the primary threat with the storms later this afternoon. I expect the storms to be knocking on our doorstep between 3 and 4 p.m. As these storms move through, winds could gust over 60 mph. Before the storms arrive, it will also be very windy with gusts up to 35 mph at times.

The front will sweep through the area after 4 p.m., and temperatures will rapidly drop into the upper 50s by 7 p.m. Given the anafrontal nature of this system, light to moderate rain will continue to linger through sunrise tomorrow morning. Winds will remain gusty behind the front with gusts exceeding 20 mph at times. Lows tomorrow morning will be near 50. When all is said and done, I expect most communities will receive between 1-1.5" of rain with this storm system. The good news is that the pattern next week looks much drier as the jet stream lifts to the north.