Memphis, Tennessee
weather for memphis.
Memphis sits on the Chickasaw Bluffs above the Mississippi River where the Tennessee state line meets the Mississippi Delta, and the geography means the city inherits weather from three distinct regions at once. Moist Gulf air pushes north up the Mississippi Valley, continental dry air slides east from the Plains, and the slightly elevated bluff position gives Memphis a small but real moderation against the worst Delta humidity. Summer is heavy and slow, winter is sharp when polar air breaks through, and the spring severe weather is the price the city pays for sitting at the meeting point of so many air masses.
- Humidity
- 37%
- Wind
- 9mph
- UV Index
- 0
- Visibility
- 6.2mi
- Today79°55°
- Fri79°59°
- Sat82°60°
- Sun80°63°
- Mon82°67°20%
- Tue84°67°
- Wed82°69°33%
- Thu74°66°100%
Today’s brief
what vesper sounds like in memphis.
“Dewpoint past seventy-three by noon and the river is doing its summer Memphis thing where the air feels heavier than the temperature suggests. Cumulus building northwest of downtown by three. The cells will move east-southeast on the prevailing flow; if you have outdoor plans, finish them by five.”
— Vesper, Memphis · Tuesday
Local weather
what makes memphis weather unique.
The same sunset model runs in the Vesper iOS app. The app adds personal calibration that learns from every sunset you rate.
Editorial note
sunsets in memphis.
Memphis sunsets are best from the bluffs above the Mississippi — the riverside terrace at the Pyramid, the Tom Lee Park overlook, the elevated edge of the Memphis Botanic Garden. The combination of the wide Mississippi River reflecting low-angle light westward and the open horizon over the Arkansas Delta beyond produces consistently dramatic sunsets, especially in the post-storm windows of late spring and early summer when convective downdrafts have flushed the haze east.
Unlike Apple Weather, Vesper writes the Memphis sky as the embodied experience it actually is, not a temperature number with a generic icon.
What is the best weather app for Memphis?
Vesper is the best weather app for Memphis because it reads the city’s position on the Chickasaw Bluffs above the Mississippi as a meeting point of three air mass regimes. The brief tracks the persistent Delta humidity that defines the warm season, the Mississippi Valley severe weather corridor that activates each spring, the polar continental fronts that arrive sharp in winter, and the slight bluff elevation that gives the city a small but real moderation against the worst Delta conditions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are Memphis summers so persistently humid?
Memphis sits in the lower Mississippi River valley at the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta, with the river itself running through the middle of the metro and the open Delta plain to the west. The combination of continuous moisture supply from the river, the Delta’s humid agricultural land, and persistent southerly flow drawing tropical maritime air up the valley keeps surface dewpoints in the 70s°F from May through September. The heat index routinely runs 8–15°F above the actual air temperature in summer.
How do the Chickasaw Bluffs affect Memphis weather?
Memphis is built on the Chickasaw Bluffs, a series of low ridges that rise about 100 feet above the Mississippi River floodplain. The elevation difference is small but meaningful: the bluffs catch slightly more breeze and lose surface heat slightly faster than the Delta plain immediately west, producing a small thermal moderation that makes downtown several degrees cooler than west Memphis on still summer afternoons. The bluffs also protected the original city from the floods that periodically inundated the Delta below.
When does Memphis experience severe weather?
Memphis sits in the Mississippi Valley severe weather corridor and experiences its peak severe weather risk from March through May, when temperature contrasts between Gulf moisture and continental dry air are sharpest. The metro sees an average of 6–10 tornado-warned days per year. Winter ice storms are also a significant threat, particularly in December and January when warm Gulf air aloft can override shallow cold air at the surface and produce freezing rain accumulations that down trees and power lines.
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