Year: 2019

Main Threats

No major threats in sight.

Summary

Look for an absolutely beautiful weekend. Spring-like temperatures and NO RAIN! You just can’t beat that around here these days! I expect these morning breezes to relax as we go through the day.

Our next system will move in on Monday with a chance of light rain. That system will begin a gradual series of changes that should snap us back into winter by the end of next week.

But, for now, enjoy the nice weather of this weekend!

Records

It was on this day in 1924 that Nashville recorded their highest barometric pressure on record. That pressure topped out at 30.97 inches of mercury.

On this day in 1960 we were all shoveling snow on the plateau! Crossville officially recorded eight inches of snow, while Nashville recorded 7.3 inches.

On this day in 1988 the Lower Great Lakes Region was pummeled with extremely heavy snowfall. The snow was so intense that there were numerous reports of thundersnow. At the peak of the storm, snow was falling at a rate of five inches an hour, along with thunder and lightning. Some locations ended up with over 60 inches of snow! That’s five feet!

Almanac

Record high: 65 (1997)

Record low: -6 (1959)

Sunrise: 6:50

Sunset: 4:40

Day Length: 9 hrs 49 mins 45 secs

Tomorrow’s Day Length: 9 hrs 50 mins 37 secs

One year Ago Today

The cold continued one year ago today. The high temperature only reached 20 degrees, after a morning low of six! No precipitation fell, though skies were cloudy all day. Winds were calm, with only a 14 mph gust recorded around noon.

News

One thing is for sure….we had a LOT of rain last year. As I’ve reported, it was the wettest year on record. Perhaps it was all those cloudy rain days that kept us a bit too stable for severe weather? Whatever the reason, 2018 will go down as one of the most tornadically inactive years of all time. Nationwide, we had the lowest tornado fatality county EVER. We also had absolutely no EF-4s or EF-5s, which goes a long way in explaining that low nationwide fatality count.

Here in Middle Tn we had an average year for tornadoes, with 17 tornado touchdowns across our area. Most of those touchdowns occurred with two events–one on February 24th and the other November 5-6. Oddly, we had no tornadoes in Middle TN in April or May, traditionally our most active months for severe weather.

Tennessee experienced one death from tornadoes in 2018. That was a gentleman in Rutherford County (Murfreesboro) on November 6th.

The intensity of the tornadoes were as follows:

EF0= 6

EF1= 8

EF2= 3

There were no EF4s or 5s.

Middle TN had four tornadoes on February 24. We had only one tornado on March 19, June 28, Sept. 24, and Sept. 25. A total of nine tornadoes hit on Nov. 5-6.

Let’s hope 2019 is just as quiet as 2018 (or even quieter) when it comes to tornadoes!

Speaking of tornadoes…

The first tornado of the new year touched down in Alabama yesterday. It was only on the ground for 0.15 miles and was just a few yards wide. The winds were estimated at 85 mph. Some damage to trees was all that was noted. Let’s hope all the tornadoes of 2019 are so benign!

You all have a great Saturday!

I’ve noticed RadarLab is beginning to indicate some lightning strikes around Cookeville, as well down in Van Buren (Fall Creek Falls) and Bledsoe Counties. We could see more of these storms pop up on the plateau as we go through the rest of the day. Just keep this in mind if your outside.

We are currently a very warm 56 degrees here in Crossville.

Below is our lightning detection map at 2:25 pm., showing some lightning strikes in eastern Middle TN.

Main Threats

No major threats in sight.

Summary

Look for scattered, light rain showers to continue for most of our Friday, tapering off toward evening. We shouldn’t see anything heavy today but it sure will be a cloudy day. The clouds will break just in time for us to have a really nice weekend. Get out and enjoy it!

Another system will begin threatening by Monday, but it doesn’t look all that impressive. Some cooler weather will come in behind that system but it still won’t be unseasonably cold around here next week.

The pattern doesn’t look to significantly change until next weekend. More details on that as we get closer to that time. For now, make plans to get out and enjoy this beautiful, spring-like weekend!

Records

This was a stormy day on this day in 1997. In Houston County, just west of Nashville, a man was killed instantly when winds estimated to be 110 mph picked up his mobile home and wrapped it around a tree. The mobile home traveled 100 feet before making contact with the tree. Storms produced numerous reports of wind damage around the Nashville metro area.

Now, for more wintry records….

Sacramento, California recorded 3.5 inches of snow on this day in 1888. This is the all-time record snowfall for this area. They came close to that record 88 years later, when they measured two inches of snow on February 4, 1976.

In 1989 fierce and frigid winds struck New England. Wind chill readings were as cold as 60 below zero across parts of Maine. Mount Washington, New Hampshire had wind gusts to 136 mph, with air temperatures hovering around 30 below zero. Those conditions created wind chills of around 100 degrees below zero!

Remember the record I shared yesterday about the nation facing two winter storms and frigid arctic air in 1988. This came just after our country recorded a weird absence of snow cover on the first of January of that year. Well, on this day, that frigid arctic air had invaded a vast majority of the country with record cold temps. The only place spared up to this day was Florida.

Finally, in 1994 we had a big snow across the plateau! We were digging out from about half a foot of snow. Snow even fell in Knoxville, with several inches of snow being reported all across East TN.

Almanac

Record high: 66 (2004)

Record low: 0 (1969)

Sunrise: 6:50

Sunset: 4:39

Day Length: 9 hrs 48 mins 56 secs

Tomorrow’s Day Length: 9 hrs 49 mins 45 secs

One Year Ago Today

A year ago today we only reached a high temperature of 21 degrees. This was after a very bitter cold start of only 8 degrees. I think I just felt a chill just typing those numbers. Incidentally, last January was one of the coldest and driest on record for Tennessee.

There was a trace of precip recorded, in the form of light snow. That snow was only reported for about an hour, from about 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. The rest of the day was just cloudy and cold. Winds gusted to 20 mph in the afternoon, making it feel much colder.

News

Below is a map issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) yesterday. It shows the number of winter storm warnings that have been issued by each NWS forecast office since September 1st. There are 122 NWS offices across the country. Notice that both the Memphis office and the Morristown (East TN) offices have issued at least one winter storm warning within their coverage area this winter, with Nashville not having to issue any. In fact, notice that interesting path from Michigan, down through Middle TN, with no winter storm warnings. Unless I’m overlooking someone, it looks to me like Maine and eastern Wyoming are the big winners so far. They’ve already had seven winter storm warnings issued in that area this fall/winter (and it’s only the fourth day of January!).

This is another map releases showing the rainfall from 2018. It’s a different perspective. It highlights cities and towns that had their wettest year on record. The darker the red color, the more they blew that record by. Notice how the plateau really sticks out in TN. The big water winners of the year were folks along the southeast coast of North Carolina. Maps like these a meteorology graduate students dream come true (ha). There’s so much to study and figure out with patterns like these.

FYI, for those of you interested in tornado climatology for our area for 2018 be sure and check back here tomorrow. I have all those stats to share in your Saturday blog!

You all have a great day and make sure to make plans to get outside tomorrow and Sunday!

Main Threats

No major threats in sight. Just be careful around flooded streams and any water that may be across the road.

Summary

We’ll see some sprinkles and a passing shower this morning, but the bulk of the day should be cloudy and rain-free. This break from the rain won’t last long, as our next system is already poised to move in tonight. Expect another 0.5-1″ of rain. That rain will be with us through most of our Friday.

Then….. the rain clears out of here and we will be all set to have a beautiful weekend! Be sure and get out and enjoy it!

As you might expect, our next system will be ready to move in soon afterwards. That shouldn’t happen until later Monday, though, and it doesn’t look all that potent at this point.

Records

We may have been nervous about starting a new year in 2000, but we certainly had nothing to worry about in the weather department. By the third of January, Crossville was in the mid 60s, while the rest of Middle TN was in the upper 60s and lower 70s. The new millennium began with a very spring-like start!

Yesterday, I told you about a rare occurrence that happened on January 2nd, 1988. That was when there was an eerie lack of snow cover across the country. Well, on the third of January of 1988 all heck broke loose!

Ma Nature hit the U.S. with a triple threat of winter storms and arctic air. both coasts were experiencing winter storms by the end of this day, just as the central U.S. was being invaded by a dangerously cold arctic blast. Snow and ice in the eastern U.S. would cause $4.5 million in damages to homes and vehicles in North Carolina. In the west, places like Lake Tahoe received two feet of snow. Across North Dakota, the temperature plunged to 30 degrees below zero. The stiff north winds sent wind chill factors plummeting to nearly 100 degrees below zero.

Ma Nature is like a toddler, when she gets quiet you better watch out! ha

Almanac

Ma Nature wasted no time in getting us our first raindrops of the new year!

Record High: 66 (2004, 2000)

Record Low: 3 (1979)

Sunrise: 6:50

Sunset: 4:39

Day Length: 9 hrs 48 mins 10 secs

Day Length tomorrow: 9 hrs 48 mins 56 secs

One Year Ago Today

On this day last year our high temperature finally reached the freezing mark of 32 degrees. The morning low was a bitter cold 12 degrees. No precipitation fell and the maximum wind speed was 16 mph, which probably felt very chilly!

Skies were mostly cloudy all day.

News

A big winter storm is striking the southern plains this morning. The system will not bring us any wintry weather, but it has been an interesting storm to watch. This is the storm that looked like would bring us some wintry weather in last week’s model data.

The storm has been a headache for forecasters in Oklahoma. The level of uncertainty was very high but the storm has over performed on wintry weather and they continue to expand the winter storm warnings this morning. They had a scare earlier this winter with a system that they issued winter storm warnings for and nothing happened. It was easy to see their reservations in forecasting this storm, esp after all the bad press from missing the last storm.

The extended outlooks continue to point to a  more wintry pattern for us the second half of this month. Until then, we should expect mild and wet conditions to continue.

You all have a great day!