
02/28/2025
Posted Late Friday Afternoon 2/28/2025: *** SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER IS A STRONG POSSIBILITY ALONG THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY FROM SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI TO NORTHERN LOUISIANA & WESTERN MISSISSIPPI TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO TUESDAY NIGHT ***
I am watching the severe weather potential for Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday night very closely and with quite a bit of concern.
A strong upper level trough of low pressure is expected to eject eastward into the southern United States from the Rocky Mountains by Tuesday. Out ahead of this upper level trough, there is expected to be the presence of a strong low-level jet stream along with very strong amounts of wind shear across the lower Mississippi Valley during the day on Tuesday. This looks to be a pretty classic early Spring severe weather setup that needs to be monitored extremely closely.
A squall line of strong to severe thunderstorms looks to develop by midday Tuesday across areas of the far eastern parts of the Southern Plains states. This squall line will push eastward reaching the Mississippi River from southern Missouri to eastern Louisiana and western Mississippi by late Tuesday afternoon where they will interact with a strong low-level wind shear environment. This means that tornadoes, some strong, will be a definite threat with this squall line. Supercells forming out ahead of the main squall line is a possibility and if this does occur, it would lead to a more significant tornado situation and is something that needs to be watched very closely.
I urge all interests across southeastern Missouri, central and eastern Arkansas, western Tennessee, northern and eastern Louisiana and northern and western Mississippi, especially where Tuesday is Mardi Gras with plenty of celebrations occurring.