textproduct: Jackson

KEY MESSAGES

- Limited fire danger will continue today.

- Drought conditions continue to increase across the region due to prolonged dry weather.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 125 AM CDT Mon Apr 13 2026

Near term: We remain in a warm and mainly dry pattern, primarily under the influence of ridging centered off the Southeast coast. Continued southerly flow will provide another chance for low clouds through this morning, with advection fog not out of the question mainly in southeast MS. A similar regime is expected tonight into Tuesday morning. But first, for a change this morning, there is something to watch on the regional radar view. A shortwave trough brushing to our northwest around the periphery of the ridge incited convection west of our area yesterday, and some of the remnant weakening showers having been moving across north LA and AR and approaching northwest MS. Though they will be fighting a relatively dry low level airmass, isolated to scattered showers will remain possible in the same areas into today, and we can't entirely rule out a thunderstorm. But rain amounts will be quite light, and rain chances will subside by late afternoon as the upper disturbance pulls away.

Ironically, with this talk of clouds, fog, and possible showers, we also have to consider fire concerns given the dry fuels from the ongoing drought and gusty southerly wind today. And as low clouds mix out through the day, RHs will fall into the 35 to 50 percent especially for locations farther east in the area. While this is marginal for fire concerns, and spring greenup will also help mitigate the threat, there were several satellite fire detections yesterday in similar conditions, driven mostly by the wind gusts. Thus, we will maintain the limited fire danger outlook for today.

Through the rest of this week: We'll remain within the realm of influence of the Southeast ridge, with continued warm southerly flow on its western periphery. This will maintain dewpoints more commonly getting into the 60s each day and temps continuing to trend upward with highs in the lower 90s possible by Thursday and Friday. The ridge will continue to push most of the active weather around us through the work week. One exception may come Thursday, with another chance for scattered convection to sneak into our southeast AR, north MS, and north LA areas. It's also possible a few diurnally driven showers could occur on any given day in the increasingly moist airmass. Overall though, most areas will remain dry through Friday, and limited fire danger could persist through much of the week given the persistence of similar conditions.

Guidance continues to indicate a stronger upper wave shifting across the eastern CONUS this weekend, forcing a cold front through our area late Saturday into early Sunday. This will bring chances for showers and thunderstorms during this time frame. At this time, it appears the front will be losing steam as it moves across our region as upper level forcing pulls away, so confidence is higher for rain the farther north and west you are in the forecast area, while it is less certain toward the I-59 corridor. While any rain would be beneficial, this system is not shaping up to be a drought buster. It should, however, provide a brief break in the unseasonable warmth. /DL/

AVIATION

(12Z TAFS) Issued at 623 AM CDT Mon Apr 13 2026

A broken deck of stratus is resulting in MVFR ceilings across part of the area, and a few sites in south MS have had brief visby reductions in fog. Visibility issues should clear up shortly after sunrise, and VFR ceilings are expected to return by mid-morning. Scattered light SHRA are possible around GLH today, but these are unlikely to be impactful. Southerly winds will be gusty at times through the day, but gusts will mostly subside before sunset this evening. Another round of low stratus ceilings and patchy fog is possible early Tuesday morning, especially across South MS. /DL/

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Jackson 85 62 86 61 / 10 0 0 0 Meridian 85 58 85 57 / 0 0 0 0 Vicksburg 86 63 87 62 / 10 0 0 0 Hattiesburg 85 60 86 59 / 0 0 0 0 Natchez 85 62 86 62 / 10 0 0 0 Greenville 85 66 87 65 / 30 10 0 0 Greenwood 85 65 87 63 / 20 10 0 0

JAN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

MS...None. LA...None. AR...None.