Will thunderstorms spoil Memorial Day plans? Here’s the Knoxville holiday weekend forecast
Cookouts and barbecues have been planned for the long Memorial Day weekend. But could the traditional unofficial start of summer events be rained out by storms?
The bad news is you might have to celebrate parts of the holiday indoors this year in East Tennessee. But the slight good news is that there will be periods of sunny skies, too. As usual, predicting exactly when the sun will shine is the challenge.
The chances for thunderstorms, some severe, in the Knoxville area are pretty high today through May 27, the National Weather Service forecasts.
“It's really hard to know the time when exactly the worst storms are gonna be, but it’s basically gonna be the whole weekend,” meteorologist Tim Doyle told Knox News. “There's gonna be a marginal risk for severe storms Friday and Saturday and a more significant risk Sunday and probably into Monday.”
Multiple rounds of storms will roll through East Tennessee over the holiday weekend, bringing 2-3 inches of rain, gusty winds, and possibly small-sized hail.
There could be breaks between May 25 and 26, but most of the rainfall and the elevated severe risk will be later in the weekend, Doyle noted. There’s a risk of flooding, too.
What’s the Memorial Day weekend forecast for Knoxville?
There is a undefined chance of rain each day, according to NWS Morristown forecast. The storms are expected to dissipate and redevelop as they move through, Doyle said, and timing depends on cloud cover. A sunny morning could mean the storms develop and move out by early evening, but if there’s cloud cover in the morning, storms are likely to develop in the late afternoon and evening.
Here’s the holiday weekend forecast as of May 24:
May 24: Partly sunny with showers and thunderstorms after 5 p.m. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
May 24 night: Showers and thunderstorms possible 1-5 a.m. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
May 25: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm during the early morning, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 8 a.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 86. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
May 25 night: Chance of showers and thunderstorms is 30%.
May 26: There's a chance of showers throughout the day and thunderstorms possible after 11 a.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 87. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
May 26 night: There's a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Memorial Day, May 27: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 2 p.m., then a chance of rain later in the afternoon, with a high near 82. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
May 27 night: A 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms.
Things could change as Memorial Day approaches. Stay up-to-date with forecasts at weather.gov/mrx and x.com/NWSMorristown.
Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter @dturner1208.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville weather for Memorial Day: Rain, thunderstorms possible
