Forecasts call for warm and sunny days in the Chattanooga area after remnants of Tropical Storm Harvey blow through this evening.
"Sunday and Monday look spectacular," Eric Holweg, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Morristown, Tenn., said. "It should be beautiful."
Today's forecast, however, is a little wet and windy.
On Thursday, WRCB Chief Meteorologist Paul Barys predicted between one-half and three-quarters of an inch of rain for Chattanooga.
"Highs [today] will be in the low to mid-70s with gusty south winds," Barys said. "Saturday will see a mix of sun and clouds with just a few light showers, especially north of the city."
Labor Day weekend forecast
FRIDAYMostly cloudyRain: 60 percent chance, dropping to 40 percent at night; showers likely and thunderstorms possibleHighs: mid- to upper 70s.Lows: lower 60s.SATURDAYPartly sunnyRain: 30 percent chance of showers during the day.Highs: mid- to upper 70s.Lows: upper 50s.SUNDAYSunnyHighs: low- 80sLows: upper 50s.MONDAYSunnyHighs: lower to mid-80sLows: lower 60s.Source: National Weather Service
Tuesday and Wednesday will see chances for showers returning, but they will have nothing to do with Harvey, Barys added.
While Southeast Tennessee was expected to see just over an inch of rain between Thursday and today, things look rougher the farther west you go, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. The weather system could dump between four and eight inches of rain on West Tennessee and soak Middle Tennessee with 4 1/2 inches of precipitation, prompting flash flood watches and the activation of the Tennessee Emergency Operations Center in Nashville.
The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said emergency operations staff remained "in elevated and ready mode" to help local governments with "any life-saving measures" and other needs requests.
The state's swift-water search and rescue teams, deployed Wednesday, have reached College Station, Texas, to assist with emergency operations underway in the wake of Hurricane Harvey's devastating floodwater, the agency said.
Tropical storms that hit the Texas coastline don't always make their way to the Tennessee Valley, Holweg said.
This tropical depression - a side effect of the brutal hurricane that inundated Houston with more than 48 inches of rain - is taking a little different path than Texas coastal storms normally take, he said. Tropical storms usually pull northward after making landfall on the Texas coast before sliding northeast.
Forecasters attribute Harvey's northeasterly push to "ambient" weather conditions surrounding the diminishing storm, not the severity of its long-lasting fury, Holweg said.
"Harvey was unusual because it stalled over the Gulf Coast, allowing it to gather more moisture and create huge rainfalls on land," he said.
Hurricane season runs from June through November, with the peak hitting in early September, Holweg said.
Looking ahead, there's a chance the Tennessee Valley could see some fallout from Hurricane Irma, which now churns away in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Barys said. At this time, there are too many variables to determine how it will play out.
"It looks like it's going to be one humdinger of a storm," Barys said.
Contact staff writer Paul Leach at 423-757-6481 or pleach@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @pleach_tfp.
Donations
Tennesseans who want to assist with disaster relief efforts may visit the Harvey Disaster Relief page at www.tn.gov/governor/article/harvey-disaster-relief.Texas charitable organizationsHouston Food Bank: www.houstonfoodbank.orgFood Bank of Corpus Christi: www.foodbankcc.comHouston Humane Society: www.houstonhumane.orgSan Antonio Humane Society: https://sahumane.org/Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org) lists other nonprofits on its Hurricane Harvey resource page.Source: Tennessee Emergency Management Agency
