Main threats
No major threats in sight.
Summary
It will be a cool and breezy day across the plateau, with lots of sunshine. At least it’s not raining, right?
The weather should stay dry for Thursday, but clouds will be on the increase, ahead of our next system. Temperatures will warm about 10 degrees more, so that will feel nice. Rain moves in late and that rain sticks with us for several days, off and on. We have a series of disturbances that will begin parading through, bringing chances of rain.
That first disturbance comes in late Thursday night and it should bring us some showers. The second one comes in Friday night and brings us some decent rainfall of about half an inch or so. The third disturbance swings in Saturday night and Sunday morning, bringing another round of 0.25-0.5 inches of rain. So, nothing too heavy but enough to keep us quite damp and unsettled.
After today, sunshine gets more limited each day, so enjoy it while we have it!
Discussion
Looking at the longer range, which is always a big gamble, it looks like most of Monday will be dry. Models have had a lot of fun with the next weather maker, which arrives Monday night. That should be a rather potent system and it’s track will need to be watched closely for both heavy rainfall and heavy snowfall…..for someone.
On Monday, the models showed this storm dumping several inches of snow on us. Yesterday, they changed it to heavy rain. Today, they’re split and show snow for the northern half of middle TN and rain for the southern half. Showing us on the line between rain and snow is so illogical, right? (sigh…).
So, I’ll keep watching it and we’ll see what happens. Fingers crossed, Snowbirds!
Records
Terrible tornadoes hit Middle Tennessee on this day in 1952. A violent, F-4 tornado tore through Franklin and Moore counties in southern Middle Tennessee, damaging or destroying 109 farms! Two people were killed. At Beech Hill, their church, school and only store were completely obliterated by the twister. Other tornadoes did damage in several other towns and cities across the Midstate, leaving behind millions of dollars in damages.
Yesterday, I wrote about the arctic blast of 1899. Another blast comparable to that one occurred on this date in 1784. Notice that the two worst arctic outbreaks to hit our nation occurred during this week of February. Interesting, huh? On this day in 1784 ice jams were reported at the port of New Orleans, blocking sea traffic. The only other time this has happened was during this week in 1899.
Also interesting is that on this day in 1889, just ten years before the big arctic blast of 1899, the Gulf Coast had the coldest temps ever recorded. New Orleans was 7 degrees, as well as Pensacola, FL. Mobile, Alabama dipped to one below zero and Tallahassee, FL dipped to two below zero. All of these records would be broken 10 years later in the arctic blast of 1899.
Almanac
Record high: 79 (1962)
Record low: -4 (1955)
Today’s sunset: 5:19
Tomorrow’s sunrise: 6:28
Today’s day length: 10 hrs 51 mins 31 secs
Tomorrow’s day length: 10 hrs 53 mins 31 secs
Both the average high and low for this date ticked up by one more degree today. Spring is getting closer!
One year ago today
The day started with a morning low that hovered just above the freezing mark. After that 33-degree start, the high that afternoon climbed to an even 50 degrees. No precip fell, though skies were cloudy all day, with intermittent ground fog. Winds were nearly calm all day.
Astronomy
Sky viewing conditions tonight: GOOD
Moon phase: waxing gibbous, 56% illumination
Skies should cooperate for some star viewing tonight. Go out and look up and find the moon about an hour after darkness has fallen. Use the moon to find Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus the Bull. That star marks the tip of a v-shaped pattern of stars representing the bull’s face. You can also use the moon to spot the Pleiades star cluster, also knows as Seven Sisters.
Here’s an image I found to help you see both the bull and Orion. Notice the placement of Aldebaran and Pleiades. It’s always fun to see what you can find in the night sky!
News
In order for a new national or international record to be confirmed, it must go through a rather lengthy process. There is a lot of data verification, investigation, etc. We take this stuff very seriously! (ha)
Last year, Waipa Garden, Hawaii claimed that they collected 46.69 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. This would mean that they set a new 24-hour record rainfall for the U.S. Well, at long last, that has been officially confirmed and they are now the new record holders for the most rain in a day in the whole United States!
Can you imagine nearly 50″ of rain in a day?! That’s about what we get in a year here!
You all have a great day!