textproduct: Jackson

KEY MESSAGES

- Gusty winds will gradually diminish into this evening.

- Much colder air arrives during the second half of the weekend and lingers into early next week.

- Light snow may occur in some locations by Sunday and possibly into Monday, but any accumulations look to be minor.

UPDATE

Issued at 1141 PM EST FRI FEB 20 2026

Late evening obs were blended into the forecast, again without any substantive changes.

UPDATE Issued at 741 PM EST FRI FEB 20 2026

Early evening obs have been blended into the forecast without any substantive changes.

LONG TERM

(Sunday through Friday) Issued at 239 PM EST FRI FEB 20 2026

The long-term period begins Sunday morning with a strongly digging upper trough moving across eastern Kentucky as a surface low near or just off the Carolina coastline begins to develop and strengthen. Models all suggest rapid deepening of this cyclone off the Mid- Atlantic coastline during the Sunday - Sunday night periods, with models in good agreement on at least a couple of well-defined shortwaves moving southeast across our area on the backside of what will be a deeply stacked low by Monday morning.

The combination of persistent low-level cold advection and the passage of distinct upper PV anomalies will mean the potential for accumulating snow, especially along and east of the US Highway 23 corridor across eastern Kentucky, but to a lesser degree also including much of eastern Kentucky east of Interstate 75. Current LREF probabilities suggest much of Pike County and parts of adjacent counties have a 40 percent or greater chance of at least 1 inch snow accumulation, with much of eastern Pike County (especially higher elevations) having a ~10 percent chance of 4 or more inches of snow, so the opportunity for at least minor impacts exists from Sunday night through Monday, and possibly extending through Monday night into early Tuesday morning, before ending.

Temperatures will return to winter-like levels, with highs Sunday and Monday only in the 30s, and lows in the 20s, before a warming trend quickly develops Tuesday ahead of the next system which crosses the area beginning the second half of Wednesday lasting into Thursday. Cooler air will move into eastern Kentucky behind the cold front passage with this system Thursday, but at this time it appears that temperatures will remain just warm enough for all rain before precipitation ends.

AVIATION

(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Saturday night) ISSUED AT 1212 AM EST SAT FEB 21 2026

VFR conditions are forecast until early Saturday evening. IFR or low end MVFR conditions are then expected to develop by the end of the period, along with some light rain and/or snow.

JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.