textproduct: Jackson

KEY MESSAGES

- Fast-moving clipper systems will move through late Tuesday and late Wednesday, with flurries and patches of light snow possible. Some localized minor accumulations could occur. - Bitter cold weather lasts through the upcoming weekend, with at least a brief warming trend then possible early next week.

- There is a low potential for a more widespread light snow event this weekend for parts of eastern Kentucky depending on the evolution of a possible large system moving up the Eastern Seaboard.

UPDATE

Issued at 1035 AM EST TUE JAN 27 2026

The Extreme Cold Warning and Cold Advisory that had been due to expire at noon, have been cancelled early.

UPDATE Issued at 1002 AM EST TUE JAN 27 2026

Main change was to delay arrival of clouds into the northwest by 1 to 2 hours for later this morning into the early afternoon. Also increased PoPs slightly given models showing good saturation of the dendritic growth zone. Best chance for accumulating snow through tonight will be in the Big Sandy Basin and US Highway 23 corridor. Also freshened the hourly grids using the latest observations as the starting point for the forecast.

UPDATE Issued at 645 AM EST TUE JAN 27 2026

Hourly grids were freshened up based on recent observations and trends. This led to no substantial changes at this time. Temperatures have begun to inch up under return flow over the last couple of hours, especially in the west. Temperatures will trend warmer today ahead of the next clipper system.

LONG TERM

(Wednesday night through Monday) Issued at 322 AM EST TUE JAN 27 2026

The forecast period begins with another clipper system tracking through the Great Lakes. The start of the period coincides with the arrival of a cold front. Snow showers are possible Wednesday afternoon, continuing through the frontal passage Wednesday night before tapering off early Thursday morning. Although the initial vertical profile is relatively dry, wet-bulbing is expected to saturate the column, resulting in flurries and isolated snow showers (0-20%). Little to no accumulation is expected with this moisture-starved system. In the wake of the departing clipper, surface high pressure will build into the region; however, northwesterly flow aloft will maintain persistent cold air advection.

While clipper activity remains confined to the northern CONUS, a surface wave is forecast to develop over western Texas as a shortwave perturbation traverses the mean flow. This feature mirrors the synoptic setup of the previous weekend, with the primary moisture source originating from the Gulf Coast. Through Thursday, this low will track across Texas, reaching the Atlantic coast by Saturday morning. Strong surface high pressure over the northern CONUS will keep the system suppressed to the south. However, as the low pivots northeast along the Atlantic Seaboard as a Noreaster, the western edge of the precipitation shield is forecast to graze the eastern half of the CWA. This will introduce another round of isolated (10-30%) snow showers from Friday night into Saturday. Subsidence and downsloping on the lee side of the higher terrain are expected to limit QPF. Nonetheless, light snow showers associated with the Noreaster remain possible through the weekend.

Behind the exiting coastal system, arctic high pressure will settle over the region, while northwesterly flow aloft sustains CAA and well below-average temperatures through the remainder of the period. The timeframe will be characterized by the passage of two distinct surface waves bringing isolated snow chances and minimal accumulations, bookended by a persistent cold pattern.

AVIATION

(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Wednesday afternoon) ISSUED AT 1224 PM EST TUE JAN 27 2026

VFR conditions at 17z will deteriorate to widespread MVFR cigs from northwest to southwest over the next few hours as a system approaches from the northwest. These conditions will then persist through much of the evening and overnight before beginning to improve from northwest to southeast after 06z tonight, where cigs should gradually improve back to VFR conditions. Occasional flurries or snow showers will also be possible and could cause brief visibility reductions during this time, but confidence was too low to include in any TAFs except for PROB30 groups at KSJS.

Southwest winds ahead of the front are proving to be quite gusty, with current winds of 10 to 15 kts with gusts of 20 to 30 kts at most locations. These winds will slowly diminish between 21z and 03z tonight while becoming more westerly and then west- northwesterly with the frontal passage, with light winds thereafter for most locations before increasing again out of the west to 5 to 10 kts towards midday Wednesday.

JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Cold Weather Advisory from 10 PM this evening to 11 AM EST Wednesday for KYZ044-050>052.