4/22 - 6:30pm - Great Start to the Week, Rain Ahead in Starkville

Today's weather has been just perfect for our Earth Day here in Mississippi but tomorrow is going to be even better! Temperatures will top out in the middle 70's with a few clouds around so be sure to make time for outdoor activities tomorrow. Rain and storms will move through as a cold front does during the morning hours of Wednesday, but luckily no severe weather is anticipated with this. We'll clear out the storms for the end of the workweek. Check out my LAST-EVER Mississippi State University CampusConnect forecast below. It's been a great four years here in Starkville and I'm going to miss all of the great folks down here. I'm looking forward to my new beginnings at WAVE 3 in Louisville!

4/17 - 6:35pm - Severe Weather Tomorrow in Mississippi

A line of severe thunderstorms will move through Mississippi tomorrow, bringing the threat of damaging winds, tornadoes, and hail. The timing on these storms in Starkville will be somewhere near 10pm. Given the uncertainties in this forecast you should be on alert for severe weather in the Golden Triangle between 8pm and midnight tomorrow night. Be sure you have a NOAA weather radio or a smartphone weather alerting app ready to go! All the details on this severe weather forecast are available in the video below.

4/11 - 7pm - Rough Day of Severe Weather, Sunshine to Come

We've had 7 reports of tornadoes so far today across the South as storms really ramped up ramped up earlier in the afternoon. One of these tornadoes caused injuries and a fatality in Kemper County, MS as it moved through there and eventually it moved through Noxubee County into the Macon area. Thankfully the severe weather has pushed off to the east and we'll begin working on clearing out the skies over the next few hours. Check out my latest CampusConnect forecast below for all the details!

4/2 - 10:45pm - After Some Rain, a Warm Weekend in Mississippi

A stationary boundary stretched across Mississippi is giving folks to the south quite a bit of warm weather this evening but we're cooling down here in Starkville as we remain on the north side of it. An associated area of low pressure currently in Texas will move through the region later this week, triggering showers on Wednesday and Thursday. While temperatures will take a small tumble on those days we'll warm up vigorously into the 70's by the weekend. Check out your CampusConnect Forecast below for all the details!

3/25 - 11:35pm - Weather Says January, Calendar Says March

A biting wind brought in much cooler air today across Mississippi and we even saw a few snow showers across northern portions of the state. As a large trough over the eastern part of the nation begins to break down we'll see temperatures in recovery mode as we head toward the weekend. If you're looking for more appropriate spring-like weather, hang on! Later this week and the weekend will certainly feature more of what you're looking for. Check out my Mississippi State University CampusConnect forecast below for your complete outlook.

3/5 - 11:55pm - Warmer Weather Ahead in East Mississippi!

This morning's cold front brought rain and wind to the Golden Triangle but we've now cleared that out of here as the front is well to our east. Temperatures for tomorrow will be cooler than they were today by about ten degrees but a warming trend will take us well into the 70's by the weekend. How about that... we've gone from snow flurries to warm temperatures in the 70's within the space of a week! Check out my latest CampusConnect Forecast video below for all the details.

2/28 - 10pm - Snow Showers Possible in MS This Weekend

As cooler air filters in overnight we'll see chilly temperatures tomorrow morning in Starkville along with cloudy skies. A disturbance rotating through the backside of a large low pressure area over the Eastern US will give us a shot at some flurries and snow showers late Friday night into the morning on Saturday. Just like a couple weekends ago, there could be some flurries flying at the MSU baseball game on Saturday afternoon. Temperatures will begin to warm a bit on Sunday and eventually we'll get all the way into the 60's for the new workweek. Your full Mississippi State CampusConnect forecast is in the video below!

2/19 - 11:30pm - Strong Storms in Mississippi Later This Week

After a nice warm day in Starkville we're gearing up for a cooler, cloudier day tomorrow before storms set in on Thursday. The Storm Prediction Center has issued a Slight Risk of severe weather on Thursday for areas southwest of Starkville. We're right on the fringe of it. Since moisture return and instability look rather limited, the potential in the Golden Triangle for severe weather will be fairly marginal and centered around gusty winds, heavy rain, and frequent lightning. It's certainly something to watch though. Rain should clear out for the weekend and leave us with a warm and partly cloudy stretch of weather. Check out the video below for all the details!

2/14 - 11:55pm - A Curveball Forecast for MSU Baseball

Ready for some baseball? Tomorrow marks the start of the collegiate baseball season here at Mississippi State and the weather will cooperate... for some of the games this weekend. Friday looks good with temperatures in the mid 50's and partly cloudy skies but unfortunately a cold snap on Saturday will bring the chill for the game on Saturday as temperatures only reach into the mid 40's. Look for a bit of recovery for Sunday's double-header games. Next week brings us more rain as we're just drying out from all the rain we had earlier this week. Yuck. The only redeeming value to this will be the warmer temperatures that will accompany the system generating the rain. Get your full Mississippi State forecast in the video below!

2/5 - 10:30pm - Dense Fog Tonight

Dense fog is already beginning to develop across North Mississippi and West Tennessee as temperatures fall for the overnight hours. A Dense Fog Advisory (see right image) has just been issued for the entire region until 9am CST since visibility could drop below a quarter mile at times. Please be careful as you're out and about in the early morning because this fog will make it difficult to see cars in front of you where it's the most dense. As we mix out the fog later on in the morning we should be left with a beautiful day and clear to partly cloudy skies. Highs tomorrow could reach into the upper 60's in a few spots! As we head into tomorrow night clouds will be on the increase but by Thursday rain moves in. The rain will stick around through some of Friday as well but at least we'll get a break by Saturday. More rain... just what we needed around here, right? Check out the video below for your complete CampusConnect forecast!

1/31 - 11:15pm - Snowy to Our North, but Clear Here!

An Alberta Clipper system moving through the Lower Ohio Valley is spreading snow all the way down to I-40 in Tennessee this evening. Those of you in Starkville hoping we might get some flakes tonight will be disappointed to know that this system is running out of steam over the Jackson, TN area and will have trouble even generating any clouds for us this evening. Behind the cold front associated with this Clipper is some cooler air that will be working in overnight. This means we'll get down into the mid 20's by morning in the Golden Triangle and only reach into the lower 40's for highs tomorrow. Ouch! Luckily we'll have full sunshine as we end the workweek but a few showers are poised to move through the area for the early half of Saturday. Check out the video below for your detailed CampusConnect forecast!

1/29 - 5:45pm - Serious Severe Weather Concerns Tonight

Latest Severe Weather Updates

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A severe weather setup that we see normally in the springtime is about to unfold on this late January night across a large expanse of the Southeast. While not "unprecedented" or "once-in-a-lifetime", this outbreak is going to impact quite a few people and it's important that everyone have what they need to be prepared and safe. This post is mainly for folks in North Mississippi and West Tennessee, but you can figure out pretty well how you'll be affected if you're not in these areas by some of the maps and information below. Everyone needs to be aware of what's going on because this will be happening at a very bad time of night when even the night owls are asleep.

Fast Facts

A MODERATE Risk of severe weather has been issued by the Storm Prediction Center for the overnight hours in West Tennessee and most of North Mississippi. Tornadoes, damaging winds, and hail are all on the table for these areas as storms move through. Even though places like the Golden Triangle in Mississippi are just outside of the Moderate Risk area I would treat this as if you were in it because these storms are going to be very, very strong still as they move through this region. Please, please, please have a weather radio or smartphone app that's armed and ready to alert you if a Tornado Warning is issued for your location tonight. This will be hitting when most people are asleep so it's a very dangerous situation.

Timing - North MS and West TN

8pm - Midnight - Small chance for some isolated storms. These would carry a tornado, wind, and hail threat.

Midnight - 2am - Slightly better chance for isolated storms, small line of storms may try to form ahead of main line.

2am - 7am - Main line of severe thunderstorms moves through. This will affect everyone. Tornadoes, severe damaging winds, and hail are a good bet during this time.

Discussion

A line of storms stretches from the Great Lakes to Texas right now and will continue to move eastward through the evening. A few reports of severe weather have come in already from this but the main show will be overnight as this line of storms encounters a more rich environment for severe weather.

The main storm mode for tonight will be a squall line of storms with embedded rotation in portions of it (AKA what's termed a QLCS). Supercell storms will be possible ahead of the main line of storms too and could easily produce tornadoes if they develop. Tornadoes in QLCS lines of storms like the one we'll have tonight are more difficult to identify on radar since they're embedded within the line. While not as strong as supercell tornadoes, QLCS tornadoes can be strong and cause massive damage in the right environment.

While directional shear, which is needed to produce tornadoes, isn't very good for this event, the speed shear or tendency for winds to increase in speed with height will be very good. But, the directional shear may just be enough to cause problems. When you combine helicity (caused by shear) with instability in a formula you get what's called the Energy Helicity Index (EHI). This, in my mind, is a good determinant of tornado ingredients in an environment. The NAM model has increased levels of the EHI throughout West Tennessee and Mississippi tonight as this squall line is moving through so these QLCS tornadoes may have some kick to them if they develop. Not good news at all.


Also, since winds at 850 mb (about 5,000 feet) will be howling it will not take much for any part of this line of storms to pull these winds down to the surface and create straight-line wind damage. I wouldn't be surprised if folks affected by the worst of these winds thought they were hit by a tornado. I'm hearing the word Derecho being thrown around a bit with regard to how this system will develop tonight. That's certainly a possibility with this system but I think it's a relatively small chance.

One more thing to mention, and this is not the least important at all, is the fact that moisture and warm air continues to stream in from the south in advance of this system. When the dry line that's triggering these storms hits this richer air tonight you'll know. The whole line of storms should really begin to light up by then. Having air this warm and moist in January is never a good thing because Mother Nature intends to correct it in a violent way.

Follow me on Twitter and my Facebook page for the latest updates tonight!

1/23 - 7:15pm - Rainy End to the Week, Nice Weekend!

Tonight's low clouds aren't showing up well
on infrared satellite imagery.

After an evening of cool temperatures and a few clouds we'll be seeing a few rain showers setting in for the morning hours across the Golden Triangle and North Mississippi. These showers will be in advance of our next system that will bring us appreciable rain on Friday. But, how about the weekend? After this system moves out we'll have slightly cooler temperatures but at least the sunshine will be out in full force on Saturday. Temperatures will warm a bit for Sunday before we see more rain just in time for the new work week. Your full forecast is available in the CampusConnect video below!

1/20 - 2:45pm - Bitter Cold Air is Arriving Soon!

Temperatures in the 30's were common last night in West Tennessee and North Mississippi but temperatures are poised to drop much further than that tonight. A dry and relatively marginal cold front is moving through West Tennessee right now and that cold front is the first of two cold shots for the region. This will put lows down into the mid 20's in West Tennessee and lower to mid 30's in North Mississippi as cold air pours in behind the front. This cold air won't allow temperatures to rise much during the day tomorrow either, with highs in the upper 30's closer to Jackson, TN and closer to 50 down toward the Golden Triangle in Mississippi.

During the day tomorrow the second of two shots of cold air will pour in as another cold front passes by. This one will bring the über cold weather that we'll see on Monday night and Tuesday morning. The winds behind this front will be out of the north, meaning the source region (AKA where the air is coming from) for the cold air we'll see during this time will be in the Upper Midwest where they'll be below zero. While that kind of cold isn't expected, mid to upper teens will be common in West Tennessee with readings closer to 20 or 25 degrees down toward North Mississippi. A low of 16 or 17 degrees in Jackson, TN on Tuesday morning looks pretty reasonable given the intensity of the cold air spilling down. While our neighbors to the north may scoff at this being branded as "bitterly cold" in the South, this is still some incredibly cold air. Pets will certainly need to be inside during this time and people need to be bundled up as much as possible. Limit your time outside on Tuesday morning, if possible, and be sure to cover any exposed skin if you do have to be out. Temperatures during the day on Tuesday will warm to a more reasonable lower 30's in West Tennessee and lower 40's in North Mississippi.

Temperatures will moderate during the week thanks to the return of wind flow from the south. This return flow means more moisture in the air across the region. You might guess that this warmer air and more moisture will eventually lead to rain chances... and you'd be right! A low pressure system and associated upper-level shortwave disturbance will track through near the end of the week, bringing rain chances. There's some disagreement between various models over whether this will start on Thursday or Friday. The GFS model's timeline on this is posted below. My guess at this point is that the timeline you see below will be delayed by about 12 hours, so expect rain chances to creep into the region ahead of this low on Thursday afternoon and continue through the night into Friday.

It's not out of the realm of possibility that a little bit of wintry precipitation may fall on the backside of this system on Friday. If cold air flows in behind a cold front associated with this system fast enough then some of the last few rain showers could mix with or change over to a brief period of snow. The GFS identifies Kentuckiana as being the prime target for this but we all know that model has been trending too warm lately in all the winter weather events we've dealt with. So in my mind, West Tennessee is in a potential area for this mix or snow switchover to occur. We're too early for specifics on this so the forecast will have to be fine-tuned during the week. Stay warm!

1/15 - 8pm - Just Plain Rain for Starkville, but Snow Later?

While the Delta region has been plagued by an ice storm yesterday and today we've been lucky enough here in Starkville to just be experiencing plain rain and temperatures above freezing. It's 35 degrees in Starkville right now and it still looks like we'll keep above freezing for the remainder of the overnight hours. A Flash Flood Watch is still in effect through late tonight for the area due to all the heavy rain we've had. As this rain begins to move out tomorrow evening there's a chance that some of this could as snow. It's not real clear who will get the most snow and how much, but there's at least some potential for light snow as we go through Wednesday night into Thursday morning. That forecast will continue to be fine-tuned throughout the day tomorrow. Check out my video below for all you need to plan your week!

11/26 - 2:15pm - Rainy Start to the Week, Severe to the Southwest

Had enough of the rain in Starkville this morning and afternoon? Just wait, there's more! An area of moist air ahead of a cold front that will move through tonight is inspiring the development of numerous showers and those will eventually lead to some thunderstorms late tonight. Some of the storms to our southwest could be severe but it's looking more and more like we won't have quite enough moisture and instability to get that kind of storm activity closer to the Golden Triangle. A Slight Risk of severe weather has been issued for areas west of I-55 due to the possibility for severe storms toward Jackson and Vicksburg. Once the cold front sweeps through tonight it'll leave us with cloudy skies for a good chunk of the day tomorrow before things clear out for Wednesday and Thursday.

The weekend will feature some clouds and possibly a shower here and there but overall we'll be seeing one warm end to the month of November as temperatures get close to and surge past 70 degrees! Check out the video below for your detailed CampusConnect forecast.

11/12 - 2pm - A Frigid Fall Return in Progress!

The clouds are clearing earlier than expected across Mississippi, which is good news for those looking for a more picturesque day outside. Unfortunately this will not save us from an incredible drop in temperature this evening across the Golden Triangle. The cold front that came through earlier this morning is allowing northwesterly winds to bring in an arctic air mass that will help plunge us to around the freezing mark by early tomorrow morning. If you're looking for something a little warmer than that, just wait. Temperatures will break into the 60's again by Wednesday as sunny skies continue to stick around through most of the week. Your full forecast with all the details is available in the video below!

11/5 - 2:15pm - Quick Shot of Rain on the Way in Mississippi

Showers and a few storms are moving eastward through the I-55 corridor of Central Mississippi right now. The eastern extent of these showers and storms are just about to enter Oktibbeha County and we'll keep them around until we get to midnight or so this evening. Temperatures overnight will get only into the mid 40's thanks to the rain and cloud cover, but get ready for cooler temperatures for election day tomorrow with highs near 60.

An interesting aspect of tonight's rain is that the area of low pressure associated with it will be the same one that will exit off the east coast of Florida and blow up to be a significant Nor'easter by Wednesday. This comes on the heels of Hurricane Sandy causing devastation in the Northeast so folks up there are not looking forward to the one-two punch. This Nor'easter will certainly hamper clean-up efforts but the good news is that it will not be as strong or as long-lived as Sandy.

Full sunshine will return to Mississippi by Wednesday and temperatures will recover well into the 60's to 70 or better by the weekend. We'll be watching a storm system make its way through the middle of the country next weekend that has the potential to impact us on Monday of next week. It's not entirely clear how severe the storms we'll have will be but just keep in the back of your mind that we could be off to a stormy start next week. Check out the video below for your complete forecast for the Golden Triangle area.

10/29 - 3:30pm - Superstorm Sandy Coming in, Cool Week in Mississippi

Hurricane Sandy is a monster storm. That goes without saying. It's about two hours from landfall as of this writing but that won't matter much due to just how incredibly large the wind field is. Tropical storm winds extend for hundreds of miles from the center of the storm making this the largest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean at over 1,000 miles wide. This is big by area, not by wind speed. While the winds extend for an incredible area the winds in general are at Category 1 speeds near 90 mph. For areas in the tropics this may not sound so bad but for the Northeast this is a disaster since winds rarely get up to that strength with storms up there.

Something that also may be unprecedented here is the extreme snow threat from Sandy for the mountainous regions of West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Snow totals could be 1 to 2 feet in places when this storm is said and done. The other thing to consider with the size and scope of this storm is the storm surge that continues to roll in. Places like New York City and along the Jersey shore could be dealing with storm surge totals in excess of 11 feet thanks to the pure mass of water that will be coming in with the storm. This will create coastal flooding whereas the high rain totals will contribute to inland flooding. You'll hear about this storm for years to come... 765,000 customers are without power across the Northeast already and this storm is just cranking up.

How is this storm affecting us here in North Mississippi? We're just seeing cooler weather thanks to the large trough of cold air that's in place. This trough is the same one that's ingesting Sandy making it a very unique storm and pulling it into the Northeast. This cooler air is going to be sticking around for the foreseeable future but with some moderation. Highs won't get out of the lower 60's tomorrow and we'll finally break into the upper 60's on Wednesday for Halloween. Overnight lows tonight will be of concern since they'll be getting close to freezing, which will create a chance for some frost. Your complete Starkville forecast with these details and more are available in the video below!

10/1 - 2pm - Gloomy and Rainy for Now, but Sunny Days are Ahead!

Finally, a break from the relentless rain this weekend. We're still holding on to a few showers across the northern half of Mississippi and chances for those will stick around until tomorrow morning. After the low that brought us all the rain moves northward during the day tomorrow get ready for the sun to return and for temperatures to go up! A few more clouds will move in toward the weekend as another cold front moves in, but it appears at this time that the front will pass through with out giving us rain. Behind it will be some cooler temperatures so more fall weather will return after all the sunshine and 80's this week. Check out the video below for your complete CampusConnect forecast.