Hot and dry Tuesday, Francine impacts begin late Wednesday
COLUMBUS, Mississippi (WCBI) – Another dry, warm day Tuesday gives way to tropical impacts Wednesday into Thursday.
TUESDAY: Expect another dry and mostly sunny day with temperatures reaching the lower 90s for most. Clouds may increase at times, but no rain is expected.
TUESDAY NIGHT: The weather stays dry and relatively pleasant with lows dropping into the middle 60s area-wide.
WEDNESDAY: The day begins dry, but clouds will continue overspreading the region as Francine inches closer to the Louisiana coast. Showers will steadily increase from south to north Wednesday afternoon.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT/THURSDAY: After making landfall Wednesday afternoon, it is expected to quickly move northeast into Mississippi Wednesday night. This will spread heavy rain and gusty winds northward across the state Wednesday evening into the overnight. Heavy rain and gusty winds will continue into Thursday morning across our coverage area as well. The weather should significantly improve Thursday afternoon as drier air wraps in from the southwest. In total, 2-4″ of rain should fall along with potential of wind gusts of 30-50 mph. Since we’ll remain on the northeast/east side of the center, some tornado potential will exist as well during this timeframe.
FRIDAY/WEEKEND: The remnant low of Francine will weaken but be absorbed/remain an upper-low spinning across parts of the Mid-South. This will keep scattered showers in the forecast Friday into Sunday, and we’ll need to watch for any stationary rain band developing in this pattern. While not likely, a localized stripe of heavy rain could set up across the Mid-South. Temperatures will stay in the low 80s.
