SUMMARY
While rain is on the way for the weekend, we have a nice couple of days to enjoy in the meantime! On Friday, winds will begin to increase as we go through the day, becoming a bit gusty overnight. Clouds will be gradually increasing, as well. This is ahead of our next rain maker that will arrive on Saturday. Most of the rain will hold off until later in the day on Saturday and into the overnight hours. The rain tapers off on Sunday and should be out of here by noon. We may even see some sun peak out by the afternoon, but temps will be much cooler. Cooler air sticks around for next week, with highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s.
DISCUSSION
Looking at the latest data, I think this rain system coming in for the weekend will produce rainfall amounts in the half inch to maybe one inch category. Yesterday it looked like more of a rain maker, but it’s looking a bit weaker today. This is a very similar trend to what we saw with our last system and we ended up with half an inch of rain. Never the less, we’ll take what we can get! It’s looking like January will end well below normal on precipitation. We sure don’t want to go into spring being dry, just when vegetation needs the moisture.
I’m still not expecting any storms with Saturday night’s rain, so that will be good news for many of you. I still don’t foresee any big severe wx chances or snow chances, but I will let you know as soon as I do. Yesterday one of the models showed snow on us for Feb. 2 (9 days out!) and some social media “weather” groups went wild with it (as usual). Today, that models just shows us cloudy. When will they learn? And when will people learn to not listen to these yahoos? (ha)
Speaking of a big weather event, today is the anniversary of the 2002 three-day flooding event that devastated parts of Middle TN. I told you yesterday that anything can happen around here in January. Today, we’re talking about flooding. I remember this event because I was living in Cookeville at the time as a student at Tech. The flooding was awful and two construction workers were sucked into a culvert and drowned near Tech’s campus. Flooding was reported in 39 of the 42 counties that make up Middle TN. A total of six people lost their lives in this flooding event. Rainfall totals ranged from 6-10 inches across Middle TN.
I also see where the Cumberland River froze over on this date in 1940. That must have been a sight to see! That’s the river that runs right beside downtown Nashville. There would be no General Jackson cruises on the river that day! Speaking of freezing rivers, today is also the anniversary of the Hudson River freezing over. On this day in 1821 the river froze solid during the coldest winter in 41 years there. Folks walked across the 1.5 mile wide river from New Jersey to New York City. Refreshment taverns were set up in the middle of the frozen river to warm pedestrians. I have a feeling there was more in that coffee than just a little creamer (ha).
Thankfully, we’re not setting any cold records today! Our overnight low was a very chilly 21 degrees and that occurred at 6:05 this morning. We’ve already warmed to 33 degrees at 8:30.
You all have a great day and enjoy this beautiful sunshine!
And one last thing! I’d like to wish my parents a very happy 44th anniversary! If they had never met there wouldn’t have been a Meteorologist Mark! I can’t even imagine such a world, can you? 🙂