First Alert today for high fire risk then messy Tuesday morning commute
Meteorologist Ben Cathey tracks winds to much-needed rain, with cooler days ahead.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Wind gusts are increasing ahead of some much-needed rain arriving by Tuesday morning. With the ongoing drought and low humidity, gusty winds could easily spread a fire, which is why we have a WVLT First Alert Weather Day for the high fire risk. The second First Alert Weather Day for Tuesday is for a potential for a messy morning commute.
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WHAT TO EXPECT
The Smoky Mountains are in a High Wind Warning and a Red Flag Warning through Tuesday morning, where gusts can increase to 40 to 70 mph at times. If fires form up in the Smokies, the fires would/could spread very fast. The other concern is that a tree could fall on a power line, creating a totally new fire. The overall chance is thankfully small, but the impacts would be quite high.
The rain moves in by the morning, with gusty rain spreading out to 100% coverage around sunrise through midday Tuesday. We’ll drop to around 54 degrees.
LOOKING AHEAD
The peak coverage of our area in rain is now shortly before sunrise through midday, giving us some good bands of moderate to heavy rainfall. While we need it, just use caution for some messy roads potential in that WVLT First Alert Weather Day.
Gusts are still around 20 to 30 mph at times Tuesday, with that rainy start and then scattered showers tapering off to spotty by the late afternoon to evening. Temperatures barely budge in this rain, around 62 degrees Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday is mostly cloudy with spotty rain showers and stray mountaintop snowfall, as the cooler air settles in and leaves us at only 51 degrees for the high.
For Thanksgiving, temperatures start out cold in the mid-30s and warm to the mid-50s with a mostly sunny day.
In your First Alert 8-Day Planner, clouds are in and out at times for several days. We’ll have highs in the upper 50s this weekend, then a little cooler next week back in the low 50s.
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