Main Threats
Today: This morning’s dense fog. Please be careful out driving. I snapped this pic from WeatherTAP in downtown Crossville just a few minute ago. It’s kinda creepy!
Summary
The cold front has just passed over the plateau and you can tell it if you look outside! The fog behind this front is very dense. Temps are falling. We were 68 at midnight and now we’re 62. Expect temps to hang out in the low to mid 60s the rest of the day. The rain/mist/fog should move out of here by this afternoon and we may even see a peak of the sun.
Friday looks really good and fall-like. We may get a shower Friday night, with those rain chances being greatest (20%) north of I-40. We’ll return to partly cloud skies Saturday and very pleasant conditions.
Another storm system moves in for Sunday and Monday, bringing widespread showers and cool temps.
Tropics
Michael roared ashore the Florida Panhandle yesterday as the strongest hurricane to ever strike the Florida Panhandle and one of the strongest to ever strike the U.S. One chaser describes Panama City as looking like a nuke was dropped on it. Search and rescue teams are headed out this morning. Let’s hope they only find survivors.
As for the rest of the Atlantic and Gulf basin, we have a couple of other storms. One is good ole Leslie. That storm has been piddling around the Atlantic for forever. In fact, it is on track to go in the record books as the longest living tropical system in the Atlantic basin since records have been kept. She remains no threat to land and is expected to cycle back around again next week! Again, she appears to have no interest in land, so that’s good!
Below is a map showing Leslie.
We also have Nadine but she is of no threat at all at this time. We’ll have to monitor her, though, as she makes her way across the Atlantic. Indications are that she will struggle to survive the journey.
We also have another area to watch in the Caribbean. If that should develop into Oscar, it is expected to go into Central America and be their problem. I think we need a break in the U.S., don’t you?
Notice on the map below that Michael is still a tropical storm! He’s still packing winds of 50 mph as he moves into Charlotte. The storm is expected to spawn tornadoes today across North Carolina and Virginia. Michael is the first storm since 1898 to move into Georgia as a major hurricane. The stats on this storm just keep dropping our jaws.
A hurricane chaser (Colt Forney) snapped this photo of Michael’s eyewall. This was looking east of Panama City, shortly after landfall. Imagine winds of over 150 mph going around that eyewall.
Records
Records for the city of Nashville show that on this date in 1906 the city recorded a morning low temperature of 26 degrees. That is a cold morning low for October 11th! I imagine the rest of Middle TN and the plateau had readings even colder than that.
News
The scenes of devastation will likely be mind-boggling today, as the light of day shows what Michael has done. Our hearts are with all those impacted by this storm. I can’t imagine what some of those folks are about to face.
Meanwhile, you can certainly tell it’s the change of seasons in our country! We had heavy snow showing up on radar all day across the Dakotas, a cold front stretched across the middle of the country, and a catastrophic hurricane making landfall in Florida. I found this pic of some of the snow in North Dakota. What about that!? I’m hearing that the heavy, wet snow did a lot of damage to trees.
You all have a great day.
I just notice our crazy fog has now moved out. What a weird morning….