MEMPHIS, Tenn —
What you need to know
- Not as hot on Friday as a cold front passes through
- Cool this weekend with frost possible in West Tennessee on Sunday
- Dry and sunny for now, but rain is possible late next week
With low humidity and gusty winds continuing, there is an increased fire danger risk. Use extreme caution if you absolutely have to do any kind of outdoor burning, and avoid tossing cigarette butts. Burn bans are in place in much of the area.
We haven't seen rain in a while, but we could see some next week. Because of this, drought conditions are starting to worsen again. The driest conditions seem to be in Eastern Arkansas, but everyone is pretty dry.
The dry weather pattern is also affecting the Mississippi River in Memphis. The river is at -6.8 feet, which is the lowest the river has been in the past 10 years. River levels are expected to remain low. This means that barge traffic could struggle to get up and down the river.
A cold front will bring some cooler temperatures today with highs around 80 degrees under a mostly sunny sky. Winds will be breezy out of the north with gusts up to 20 mph. Tonight looks cooler with lows in the 40s and 50s under clear skies.
It'll be a perfect fall weekend in the Memphis area with sunny skies and highs in the low to mid 70s. Morning lows will be in the 30s and 40s and parts of West Tennessee could even see some frost by Sunday morning.
The first half of next week will remain sunny and warm with highs in the 80s. We could finally be seeing a break in our dry weather pattern with increasing rain chances by next Thursday. It's still a long way out, and things can change, but a few showers are definitely looking possible. It definitely doesn't look like it'll be enough to bust our severe drought.
