David Glenn

Pack your umbrella today. Heck, pack your galoshes, raincoat and any other water-repellent gear.

It’s going to be wet, forecasters say.

Eastern Tennessee and North Georgia probably are in for at least 3 inches of rain and maybe as much as 4 inches today as a western front moves in and stalls, said Shawn O’Neill, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Morristown, Tenn.

The storm was expected to roll in overnight Monday, and there won’t be much of a break from rain until Wednesday morning, said David Glenn, chief meteorologist for WTVC-TV NewsChannel 9.

“That front is going to act like a highway, and wave after wave of storm is going to come through,” Mr. Glenn said.

Mr. O’Neill said Tennessee Valley residents should hunker down for a very wet Tuesday. Even if the rain breaks just briefly, there’s no chance the clouds will part.

“East Tennessee and North Georgia are really in a position where, when the rain starts, the system is not going move,” Mr. O’Neill said. “It looks steady, even moderate and heavy, all day Tuesday.”

The forecast prompted the weather service to issue a flood watch for the area. Low-lying areas could experience street flooding as well as basement and yard flooding, Mr. O’Neill said. Some roads may be impassable.

“Since we’ve been in a drought for so long, people aren’t used to dealing with this, but there is a chance for some localized flooding,” Mr. Glenn said. “We’re dealing with ground that is pretty well saturated from all the rain we got in December.”

The temperature will remain steady today, hovering in the low 50s, but Wednesday will usher in cooler temperatures. There may be a chance for light snow flurries Wednesday evening, but Mr. Glenn said temperatures during the day will be normal 40-degree weather for this time of year.

Mr. O’Neill said the next chance for rain appears to be on Saturday.

Rainfall deficit

Despite big rains, the Chattanooga area is still in a drought. Here are the numbers, which are for the period starting Jan. 1, 2007, through Dec. 18, 2008:

RAIN NORM DEFICIT % NORM

Chattanooga 82.44 107.02 -24.58 77

SOURCE: National Weather Service