Arctic cold blast ready to pounce on Mid-South

Like the Memphis Tiger basketball team's nationally-ranked defense, Arctic cold is poised to pounce on the Mid-South later this week. We all know it's coming, but how fierce will it be? This could be the coldest air of the season, and will rank right up (or down) there with Dec. 22 when the high was just 30 and the low was 14. When will it be here? Well, a preview will arrive on Monday night as a strong front moves through with only a slight chance of rain (or snow) overnight Monday into early Tuesday, but with temps that stay in the 30s Tuesday.

A brief warm-up will greet us Wednesday before the flood gates (of cold air not rain) open up Thursday. Many locations could stay below freezing all day Thursday with lows Friday morning dropping into the teens area-wide. The warm-up will be a little slower than after the early week cold front, with highs only in the lower to mid 40s through next weekend. A few flurries are possible during this time frame, but any impulses that would produce precipitation are hard to pinpoint right now. Depending on how long the cold air stays around, a storm system next weekend could produce some wintry precipitation. Stay tuned to the MemphisWeather.net forecast!