MEMPHIS, TN--Scattered showers will continue through the evening and overnight for areas east of the Mississippi River. Christmas Eve will be a mainly cloudy day, but rain-free for evening services and celebrations. All eyes are on our next big weather-maker to impact the Mid-South on Christmas Day.
Weather models indicate rain will spread into the Mid-South late morning on Christmas. It will be a chilly rain as highs on Tuesday will only top out in the mid 40's. By Christmas night, an area of low pressure will spin overhead and gradually drag in below freezing temperatures to areas north and west of I-40. As this happens, rain will change to a wintry mix before changing completely over to snow. A Winter Storm Watch has been issued for the extreme northwestern counties in the Mid-South for this time frame with accumulating snow possible. Snow accumulations are still uncertain more than 48 hours away from this even taking place, but highest amounts will exist across extreme northeastern Arkansas and extreme northwestern TN. There will be a sharp decline in snow totals south of I-40. A few flurries will linger into Wednesday as the last of the moisture from this system falls. It will be blustery and extremely cold on Wednesday. Any snow cover on the ground will cause colder high temperatures, but at this time, highs will be in the upper 30's on Wednesday.
We will keep a close eye on this developing system and deliver any new information on this Winter Storm Watch during all ABC24 newscasts.
