Main threats:
THURSDAY: Strong to severe storms are possible, especially the first half of the day.
Summary
We’ll see more scattered showers and storms today, but coverage should be less than that of yesterday. I’ve barely had a tenth or two of an inch of rain in the past 24 hours at home, while here at work in downtown Crossville we’ve had over an inch. It’s hit or miss with these showers but the ones who get hit can really pick up some heavy rainfall in a short period of time.
By tonight, we’ll be watching as strong to severe t-storms make their way into Tennessee from the west. Those will march east and really affect us in the morning, as it looks right now. We may get a break in the afternoon, but another system will be just to our west and will likely spark off more showers and storms, some of which could be strong.
Below is the newly updated (8:00 a.m.) convective outlook put out by the Storm Prediction Center. This is for late tonight and into Thursday morning. Notice the greater threat is just off to our west, but we certainly need to stay abreast of this. The tornado threat is low, but it’s not zero.
We get a nice break Friday (as it looks right now) before more showers and storms move in for Friday night and Saturday morning. Some of these storms could be on the strong side but right now the Storm Prediction Center isn’t highlighting our area in a threat. The early-morning nature of the storms may spare us any significant activity.
By Sunday, it looks like we’ll be back to more isolated activity, before rain chances pick back up for Monday.
WeatherTAP WeatherFACT
It can get too hot to fly. It’s true! Phoenix has had to close airports due to heat during especially hot summers. When temps get to around 120 degrees, the air loses so much density that planes can’t generate enough lift to get off the ground, forcing them to run off the runway. Conversely, the colder the air is on the ground the more easily a plane can generate lift to take off.
Records
Hurricane Agnes moved onshore near Cape San Blas, Florida on this date in 1972. Agnes proved that you don’t have to be a powerful storm to generate a lot of damage. As she moved up the coast, from Florida to Maine, she became the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Agnes was never more than a category 1 hurricane, the lowest on the scale. Damages from Agnes exceeded all the damage from all tropical systems in the six years prior. Astonishingly, this included category 5 Camille that struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 1969.
In other words, we’ve needed a new system to rate hurricanes since 1972 and we still don’t have one. We still rate a storm based on wind, even though the water kills more people and does more damage. Wouldn’t it be nice if we rated these storms on flood potential?
Almanac
Yesterday’s record high: 91 (1962)
Yesterday’s record low: 46 (1974)
Today’s record high: 89 (1994)
Today’s record low: 45 (1965)
Today’s sunset: 7:59
Tomorrow sunrise: 5:23
Today’s day length: 14 hrs 36 mins 10 secs
Tomorrow’s day length: 14 hrs 36 mins 12 secs
One year ago today
A trace of precip fell, but that didn’t keep our high temperature from climbing to 87 degrees. The morning low was 66.
News
Check out this incredible photo captured yesterday over the NWS Nashville office. What a visual representation of isolated showers. They had this to say, “Although a lot of the showers and storms across Middle Tennessee have died off this Tuesday evening, one little isolated shower popped up right over our office around 6:40 pm and dumped a quick 0.85″ of rain! How much rain have you gotten at your house?
Thanks to Wilson County Emergency Management Agency for the tower cam photo!”
Also, don’t forget to tell any space nerd family and friends that you have to be sure and follow this blog for the next couple of weeks. The Falcon Heavy launch is still scheduled for Monday night at 10:30, and the Orion abort rocket launch is scheduled for July 2nd at 6:00 a.m. I’ll have a TON of info on here and on my personal Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/thunderchaser). I can’t wait to share all of this with you all!
You all have a great day!