Month: March 2019

I hope you enjoy this last Sunday in March! I also hope you like that I’ve now started adding the forecast for the week ahead to the Sunday Story blog.

And now for your Sunday story!

Abbreviated Weather

You may have seen the word weather abbreviated “wx” and wondered how that came about. I did some research and I have an answer for you!

Long before the days of cell phones or email there was the telegraph. In 1836, Samuel Morse showed that the telegraph could transmit information over wires. Using a series of electrical signals, in the form of dots and dashes, one could transmit a message over great distances in a short period of time.

One of the greater challenges with Morse code was that it wasn’t easy having to spell out whole words or sentences using dots and dashes. To make it easier to communicate, using shorthand versions of some words became necessary.

One such word that became abbreviated was the word weather. It was easier to use only two letters, “w” and “x”. Thus, the shorthand version of weather was born.

It’s not really clear as to why the “x” was chosen, since the word weather doesn’t have an “x” in it. Nevertheless, the abbreviation stuck and is still being used today.

Even after the days of the telegraph, the need to abbreviate was felt by the Ham radio community. Then, NOAA came out with weather radios and the need for the abbreviation struck again. This time it was used to describe the weather channel buttons: wx1, wx2, and so on. Weather radios that had FM and AM radio station capability could now say AM/FM/WX, to show weather radio capability.

Folks today sometimes criticize those of us who use abbreviations to send a text message. Some abbreviations have become so commonplace they’ve practically been adopted into our language. Just remember that we’ve been shortening words since the days of Morse code.

I’ll cya next week with another wx article!

As expected, the line of storms has weakened considerably upon encountering the plateau. The mountain saves us again! (ha)

Expect some heavy downpours, some lightning flashes, and perhaps a gust of wind. Other than that, enjoy the rainy evening.

Sunday will be noticeably cooler, so be ready to bundle up. The latest data suggests we may only get to highs in the upper 40s. That’s a big change from today’s highs around 70! Also, don’t forget we will have freezing temps for Sunday night. Temps should dip to the mid to upper 20s.

You all have a good night!

The Storm Prediction Center just issued a statement for our area saying that a watch will NOT be issued, as there is no need. There are currently no warnings in effect. We could still see a strong storm or two on the plateau, but widespread severe weather is not going to happen with this event.

Storms are now approaching the Cookeville and Livingston areas with heavy rain, small hail, and lightning. Some gusty winds can also be expected.  Storms are moving east at 55 mph.

The line of storms has now moved through the Nashville area. There have been a few severe t-storm warnings issued and even a couple of tornado warnings. However, damage reports are few and far between. The atmosphere that these storms just moved through is much more unstable than ours.

Storms are already showing signs of weakening as they move into the Lebanon area. That gradual weakening trend is expected to continue as this line moves toward the plateau.

Never the less, just be aware that we will have some storms cross the plateau around 9:00 and some of them could be on the strong side. There are no watches in effect and none are anticipated.