Month: January 2019

The clouds are moving in fast this evening, evidence of warm air that is already trying to move in aloft. It’s easier for warm air to ride up and over cold, arctic air at the surface. Arctic air is shallow and heavy and that makes it easy for gravity to hold it down to the surface. That also makes it hard for warm air to move out of the way.

As warm air continues to move in aloft, precip will also start trying to fall. If some of this can make it to the ground in the morning, while temps are still below freezing, we could see some slick spots on area roads. That chance is slim, but one I want you to be aware of.

If you look west, toward southeast Missouri, you can already see some echoes on the radar. They are light, for sure, but that’s the kind of stuff I always worry about sneaking in here on us before temps get above freezing. Notice that precip is a mix of greens (rain) and blues (snow), meaning it’s a very light wintry mix.

The closest winter weather advisories are in southern Kentucky. That’s close, especially to those of you in Fentress County. You all be especially careful if you head out in the morning and any precip is falling. Again, the chance of a wintry mix is only about 10-20% but that’s enough for me to feel like I should let you know.

As I said at the start of this blog, the clouds were moving in fast this evening, which made for a beautiful sunset. In case you missed it I snapped some pics! You all have a great evening!

I’ve mentioned this all week, and I will continue to mention, that Friday morning is still something to pay attention to. The latest short-term models show some light precip trying to move onto the plateau as early as 5:00 a.m. If that were to be the case, we could be looking at a very light wintry mix that could make for some travel woes in the morning. I’ll update this again later this evening with newer data that will come in a bit later. Just be aware of this.

Weather service offices just to our north are issuing winter weather advisories for Friday morning across Kentucky for up to one inch of snow and a glaze of ice. I’ll keep you posted!

Main threats

Friday morning: wintry mix that could impact morning travel

Summary

Big changes are coming, and this time that change is geared toward warmer weather!

You may have noticed the clouds this morning. We are very fortunate that these clouds moved in and stayed together. They kept our temps about 10 degrees warmer than they would have been under clearer skies this morning. These clouds should eventually break up, leading to partly to mostly sunny skies this afternoon.

For Friday, we’ll watch as warmer air begins to quickly work its way back into our region, bringing a chance of rain. If that rain arrives before temperatures get above freezing Friday morning, we could be dealing with a light wintry mix that could give you headaches if you’re out and about in the morning. Stay tuned and I’ll keep you posted. The chance of this is very low but one worth mentioning.

Then, the weather looks nice for Saturday. Highs will rebound nicely into the mid 50s. That mild weather sticks with us through the beginning of next week. Of course, if it gets warmer you know that means rain chances go back up. Indeed, we’ll be looking for things to turn wetter as we get into Sunday night and Monday.

The mild weather looks to continue into the work week.

Looking ahead…I can see no strong indications of any significant wintry precip through the middle of February.

Discussion

A big warm-up is on the way and you will notice quite the change in temperatures over the next five days. The big trough that has brought so much arctic air to the east will slide eastward and will be replaced by a big ridge that will bring an impressive temperature chance across the country. The city of Chicago could see an 80-degree warm-up over the next five days, going from -20s to nearly 60 degrees.

Such temperature swings can bring big thunderstorms in the spring, and we are quickly approaching that stormy season. Let’s hope that jetstream calms down before we get warm enough for it to cause t-storm havoc in our neck of the woods this spring.

Records

As I mentioned a few days ago, the winter of 1951 was not a kind one to Middle Tennessee. If you will recall, back on Tuesday the most crippling ice storm in Nashville’s history struck. Forty-eight hours later, snow began to fall on the city.

What is unique is that this wasn’t just any typical snowfall event. Normally, one inch of rain equals about 10 inches of snow. This snow was so wet and heavy that, even though 3.83″ of equivalent liquid precipitation fell, only a remarkably low snowfall total of 5.2″ was recorded. Keep in mind, though, that the snow was mixed with some freezing rain, so that kept snow totals down too. Still, this was as wet of a snow as you can get.

Now the city that was recovering from the worst ice storm in city history is recovering from the wettest, heaviest snow in city history. To say Nashville was kicked while they were down would be a severe understatement. This event is also the greatest one-day winter precipitation event in the city’s history.

Conditions will actually worsen in the coming days, if you can believe that. Stay tuned!

Almanac

Record high: 72 (2002)

Record low: -15 (1966)

Today’s sunset: 5:06

Tomorrow’s sunrise: 6:39

Today’s day length: 10 hrs 25 mins 04 secs

Tomorrow’s day length: 10 hrs 27 mins 44 secs

One year ago today

The day started out cold, with a morning low of 21 degrees, but the afternoon high warmed up to 51 degrees. Not too bad for the last day of January! No precipitation fell,skies were fair, and winds were light from the south. Sounds like we had a taste of spring on this final day of January!

Astronomy

Sky viewing conditions tonight: EXCELLENT

Moon phase: waning crescent, 17% illumination

I sent you all the night sky map link last night, so you have that now. Keep that link handy! It’s always cool to show someone else what you know of the night sky. It’s easy to impress folks by knowing a few constellations and maybe even some history behind them.

As for our night sky, the best show seems to come for those who are up early. The pre-dawn sky has quite the treat for those of you who rise and shine then. Look for the waning crescent moon and it will guide your eyes to where they need to be. Just before sunup, you can spot Jupiter, Venus, and possibly even Saturn. Planets, the moon, and the sun follow a line across the sky. You will never see any of them wonder more than a few degrees beyond that line.

News

Some of you have probably seen the image below that I shared on weatherTAP’s Facebook page last night. By the way, follow our weatherTAP social media if you want to see even more cool weather stuff! (https://www.facebook.com/weathertap/). The rails have to be heated in order for the trains to be able to run when temps get bitter cold. The heat keeps the rails from contracting and separating at the joints. The full story can be found here (https://bit.ly/2SgdPNT).

You all have a great day! The warm-up begins today!

 

Ok, I know it’s cold. Ok, it’s really, really cold. But, for those of you who love stargazing you know what I’m about to say….Bundle up, go out, and look up. These nights when arctic high pressure is in control are the perfect nights to go out and see every single star. Plus, I found this really cool night sky map! Check it out! It’s a nice, simple guide to the current night sky. It’s actually a live map. I just went out and easily spotted the big and little dippers, Cassiopeia, and Triangulum. Since there’s no wind, it’s actually not all that bad outside. Just make sure you bundle up good!

Here’s the link to that night sky map. Save it for future reference!

https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/@7169825