Category: drought

December 2025 Climate Report for Memphis, TN

January 6, 2026

–

Richard

–

accuracy, climate data, drought

December was a tale of 2 seasons as cold weather started the month, but warm weather lead to record temps at Christmastime. Precipitation was scarce.
Read more
Drought worsens, but a much-needed pattern change is ahead

September 19, 2025

–

Erik Proseus

–

autumn, drought, forecast discussion, heat

Drought is here, and fall is coming! A pattern shift will usher in rain chances and somewhat cooler temps.
Read more
We got rain! And false fall returns (briefly)!

September 6, 2025

–

Erik Proseus

–

drought, forecast discussion

The rain was great, but a beautiful fall weekend may be just as welcome. Enjoy it before temps warm back up this week!
Read more
Summer heat recedes as “false fall” arrives

August 23, 2025

–

Erik Proseus

–

drought, forecast discussion

Two months of fairly unrelenting heat are finally yielding to below average temps as we head into False Fall!
Read more
August drought hits quickly; signs of fall approaching!

September 2, 2024

–

Erik Proseus

–

drought

While temperatures were only slightly above normal in August, rapid drought development was the main weather story. So can fall weather be just around the corner?
Read more
The good and bad of prolonged dryness, and when rain will fall again

October 8, 2022

–

Erik Proseus

–

drought, forecast discussion, mississippi river

The big weather story for the Mid-South is the arrival of beautiful fall weather that has stuck around for a few weeks now. While fortunate in that we can enjoy some terrific weather and not worry about rain-out’s, the flip side is that drought is once again taking hold on the region, affecting everything from…
Read more
Fall is here! Details on the forecast, drought, and frost/freeze dates

November 10, 2016

–

Erik Proseus

–

drought, forecast discussion, frost

Fall is definitely here! Lows in the urban core this morning were just above 40°, but most areas outside the city were in the upper 30s while the coolest areas dropped into the mid 30s. On the northern outskirts of Bartlett, MWN recorded a low of 35° and we saw our first frost of the…
Read more
Cold front tonight! Cooler temps but not much rain

November 3, 2016

–

Erik Proseus

–

drought, forecast discussion

A brief post as we await tonight’s cold front… As temperatures reach record territory for the third day in the past six (85° at 2:38pm breaks the previous record of 83° set in 2012), we are eagerly aniticipating the arrival of a cold front this evening. The front will drop temperatures 10° or so on…
Read more
Gorgeous fall weather, drought status, and winter outlooks

October 21, 2016

–

Erik Proseus

–

drought, forecast discussion, winter outlook

See?? I wasn’t lying! Cool fall weather really did make it into the Mid-South! Most of us woke up to temperatures that started with a “4” this morning for the first time in over five months and, despite full sunshine, we’re only going to get to the mid 60s for highs today. After a long,…
Read more
Heat & drought, storms, then more heat

July 8, 2016

–

Erik Proseus

–

drought, forecast discussion, thunderstorms

June was hot – the seventh hottest on record in Memphis. July is continuing that trend. In fact, as of 8am this morning, the official reporting station at Memphis International Airport had not dropped below 80° in 72 hours and that streak will continue today and likely until early Saturday morning when the forecast low…
Read more
Relief from drought as a wetter pattern returns to the Mid-South

October 22, 2015

–

Erik Proseus

–

drought, forecast discussion

The last couple of months in the Mid-South have seen very little rainfall and what rain has fallen has not been well-distributed, leading to lengthy dry periods and the development of “abnormally dry” conditions. “Severe drought” conditions lurk just to our southwest in the Mississippi Delta. Total rainfall for the past 60 days across the…
Read more
Trouble on the Mighty Mississippi continues

August 20, 2012

–

Erik Proseus

–

drought, mississippi river

The Dredge Hurley, owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Photo courtesy USACE/Memphis District. Low water continues to cause trouble on the Mississippi River at Memphis. This morning’s stage of -8.5 feet is a slight drop from yesterday. The forecast is for a continued slow drop to -9 feet by this weekend. River forecasts…
Read more
Drought improves in some areas, not in the Mid-South

August 11, 2012

–

Erik Proseus

–

drought

The metropolitan area remains entrenched in a severe to extreme drought this week. Below are comparison maps for the south-central U.S., as well as Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas, for this week versus 4 weeks ago. While areas that were not under severe conditions showed some improvement over the past month, areas like the metro that…
Read more
Mid-South drought conditions and the impacts of a lack of rainfall

July 19, 2012

–

Erik Proseus

–

agriculture, drought, heat, mississippi river

A few weeks ago, we posted about the worsening drought conditions as we headed into a pattern in which temperatures topped 100 degrees on a daily basis. After last week’s wetter pattern, how much did that rain impact the drought? Actually, very little. While it may have put a pause to the downhill trend, scattered…
Read more
Major pattern shift will provide drought & heat relief this week

July 8, 2012

–

Erik Proseus

–

drought, forecast discussion, heat

It’s the week we’ve all been waiting for… No, not the series finale of American Idol or Super Bowl week. It’s “Heat Relief Week”! For 2 weeks, massive hot high pressure has squashed rain chances and brought eight 100-degree days to the Memphis metro. Drought conditions have become “severe” (by definition) or worse as the last…
Read more
Prolonged and dangerous heat wave beginning over the Mid-South

June 27, 2012

–

Erik Proseus

–

code orange, drought, excessive heat, heat

A prolonged heat wave began today with a high of 98 degrees and will continue for the majority of the next week, if not longer, including the July 4th holiday. This heat wave will include daily high temperatures in the triple digits. There is no rain in the forecast for the next week, which will…
Read more
Mid-South drought continues to worsen, little relief in sight

June 24, 2012

–

Erik Proseus

–

drought

As the typically hot summer season gets underway, the Mid-South continues to deal with a growing drought problem that unfortunately shows no sign of letting up anytime soon. Though parts of the area have received some helpful and significant rain in the last few weeks from passing storm events, rainfall deficits continue to generally increase,…
Read more
Drought worsens in the Mid-South

May 24, 2012

–

Erik Proseus

–

drought

In addition to early season heat and air quality issues, the Mid-South is also now beginning to see the effects of a lack of rainfall so far in 2012. For instance, the annual rainfall at Memphis International Airport so far for 2012 is 11.53″, which is 11.51″ (50%) below normal. Below is the NWS-Memphis drought…
Read more
Potential tropical system takes aim on parched Texas

July 27, 2011

–

Erik Proseus

–

atlantic, drought, tropical

A strong tropical wave, which later this afternoon could become Tropical Depression 4 or Tropical Storm Don, is beginning to swirl just off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, near Cancun. The graphic below shows the computer model forecasts for potential tracks of the storm. As you can see, it appears that Texas could…
Read more
Mid-South drought status as November draws to a close

November 27, 2010

–

Erik Proseus

–

drought

Little has been said in the past month about the drought conditions that impacted the Mid-South (and much of the south-central and southeast U.S. in fact) late this summer and into the fall months. Perhaps because the growing season has ended and we’ve seen more rain in the past 4 weeks or so, it’s no…
Read more