Rain and wind on the way for Memphis thanks to Hurricane Delta

The latest of Hurricane Delta

As of mid afternoon, Hurricane Delta is closing in on the Louisiana coastline and is expected to make landfall near Cameron, Louisiana early this evening.  Hurricane-force winds, life-threatening storm surge and flash flooding is expected along southern Louisiana this afternoon and evening.  Delta will move northeast into northeastern Louisiana overnight into Saturday morning, weakening to a tropical storm tonight after landfall.  By Saturday morning, Delta will be moving into southeast Arkansas as it continues to weaken to a tropical depression, then continues northeast into northwestern Mississippi Saturday evening.  By Sunday morning, what's left of the storm will be located over the Tennessee Valley and will cease to be a tropical system by Sunday evening.

National Hurricane Center forecast for Hurricane Delta as of 1pm Friday

Impacts on Memphis this weekend

For Memphis, expect light rain showers this evening, with heavier showers moving in early Saturday morning.  Winds should be from the east at 12mph tonight, increasing to 20mph with gusts to 30mph on Saturday. Combined with the rain, it will make for a pretty ugly day for anything outdoors! Temperatures will remain in the 70-75° range from early morning through the day. Saturday night, winds should begin to shift out of the north and diminish, with showers also decreasing.  Scattered showers will be possible on Sunday though much less coverage than Saturday with only a 30% chance of rain. Temperatures rebound to the upper 70s but tropical humidity sticks around! Total rainfall amounts from this storm through Sunday look to be right at 2 inches for Memphis, with anywhere from 1 to 3 inches across the Mid-South, and up to 3 to 5 inches to our southwest across the (Mississippi/Arkansas) Delta. At least it isn't the 6 to 8 inches of rain that is likely for parts of Louisiana! 

Minor flooding is possible on Saturday in low-lying areas and urban ponding is also possible in heavier rounds of rainfall. Thunder is expected to be minimal in the metro, though a few tropical thunderstorms are possible not too far to our south and east. A few of these in eastern MS and AL may even produce isolated tornadoes. Wind gusts in the Memphis area will likely not be strong enough to do any widespread damage, though some tree debris is possible as the day goes on.

Forecast rainfall amounts from Delta (NOAA/WPC)

The latest Memphis forecast can be found on our website or on the MWN app using the links below.

Richard Hoseney

MWN Meteorologist

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