Weather Headlines
–Drought update shows severe drought over much of the plateau
–One last beautiful day before the pattern changes
–Much-needed rainfall develops Friday
–Widespread rainfall for Saturday (possibly heavy at times)
–Clearing skies expected for Sunday, along with mild temps
Main threats
No widespread hazardous weather expected. Just be mindful of water on the roadways on Friday night and Saturday.
Summary
We have an absolutely beautiful day in store for us! Fall weather just doesn’t get much better than this!
Tomorrow, the pattern begins a dramatic change. It looks like we’ll see some very beneficial rainfall to help with our drought situation. The heaviest rain may stay to our west, around West TN and the Nashville area, but I think we will get a nice soaker here on the plateau.
We really need some rain, though I know it will hinder lots of Halloween plans for this weekend. The drought monitor updated this morning and it shows that severe drought persists across much of the plateau, especially along and south of I-40. Notice parts of the Chattanooga area are in extreme drought.
Once the rain pushes out of here Saturday night, we should be in good shape for Sunday. Hopefully the system progresses right along and gives us some sunshine to end out our weekend.
Guidance is unclear for the start of next week. For now, I’ll say partly cloudy and mild. It does appear a cold front will move in around midweek, ushering in some chilly weather for Halloween.
Almanac
Baldwin’s 7-Day forecast
Records
Crossville ties a record low on this date in 1981. The official low dropped to 25 degrees. Clarksville dropped to 20 degrees and Nashville was 28.
A snow squall moved in on Buffalo, New York on this day in 1937. The squall dropped a quick six inches of slush, making travel nearly impossible.
Tropics
We still have the system in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico to watch. It continues to look like it will get absorbed by a front before it has a chance to develop into anything too serious.
Today’s WeatherTAP WeatherWORD
Aphelion
The point in a planet’s orbit that is farthest from the sun.
WeatherTAP WeatherFACT
Earth’s aphelion occurs on July 4 each year. That is when Earth is the maximum distance from the sun (94,511,180 miles away). That is 1.67% farther from the sun than the average earth-sun separation.
While this happens during some of the hottest weather of the year for the northern hemisphere, it’s not enough of a distance change to affect our temperature. Earth’s temperature is much more influenced by earth’s tilt and our atmosphere.
NASA Knowledge
NASA has revealed an incredible photo of our Milky Way over the world’s largest mirror. That mirror is created by rain falling on the salt flats of the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia (South America). After a rain, the 4,000 square mile salt flat becomes highly reflective. The photo, captured by Jheison Huerta, is composed of 15 vertical frames taken consecutively over 10 minutes.
The Uyuni Salt Flats attract hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, many of which who take advantage of this mirror to take unique pictures. I have never heard of this place but I want to go so bad! ha
“Many of these stars are confined to the grand arch that runs across the image, an arch that is the central plane of our home Milky Way Galaxy. Inside the arch is another galaxy – the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Stars that are individually visible include Antares on the far left and Sirius on the far right,” NASA.
I found this cool pic taken in the daytime in the same area.
News
There’s a marginal risk for severe weather across much of central Texas today. That threat is rather low but not zero.
The fire weather risk remains very high today across northern California. That risk should lower by tomorrow.
A winter storm is producing several inches of snowfall in the mountains west of Denver. Even folks in Denver woke up to a couple inches of snow this morning.
High wind warnings are in effect for western Montana, where winds could gust to 85 mph in the higher elevations. Even lower elevations could see winds to 65 mph. Those winds die down tomorrow but the snowflakes will start falling. Some areas could see close to a foot of snow.
You all have a great day!
I snapped this pic this morning. Our recent frosts are really helping the colors along!
Very good news to start getting some rain…thankful farm family here!
WOW!! Jheison Huerta really took an awesome pic/so cool/I want to go, too
Fall Creek Falls was gorgeous yesterday for our Gentle Yoga!!
When is your next science class…need to put it on our calendar
Keep up the good work, Mark! So excited you get to go to another NASA event!
Thank you, Kimberly! The next science class will be Nov 14th at Roane State (Crossville) at 4:30. The topic will be tornadoes. Registration begins Monday (Oct. 28) at 6:00 a.m. I’ll send out a special blog update that morning to remind folks of registration. Thanks for following along and I am so excited to share this next NASA adventure with you all!