Weather Headlines
–The next rain-maker arrives Thursday
–Friday looking very wet (maybe even some thunder)
–Precipitation ends as some snow flurries on Saturday
Main threats
As colder air moves in late Friday night and Saturday morning, any leftover precipitation will fall as snow flurries or snow showers. At this time, significant impacts are not expected.
Summary
We’ll see some clouds today but we should also see some sun. Those clouds will be on the increase later tonight and tomorrow.
That will set the stage for our next rain-maker. Showers may develop as early as Thursday afternoon. With our air being so dry, evaporative cooling may cause those showers to be mixed with sleet pellets. Since surface temperatures will be above freezing, there would be no impacts from this.
Rain increases through the night Thursday and Friday. Some rumbles of thunder are even possible. One to two inches of rain is expected across the plateau.
Precipitation may end as some snow flurries or snow showers on Saturday, mainly in the morning. Little to no accumulation is expected at this time.
We remain partly to mostly cloudy on Sunday, with more in the way of partly cloudy skies expected for the start of our work week.
Almanac
Baldwin’s 7-Day forecast
Records
As I’ve said before, January of 1999 was a quite the month for severe weather across much of the southern US. On this day of that year, a violent F-3 tornado struck Clarksville, TN, located about 50 miles northwest of Nashville.
The tornado struck just before dawn, which is normally the coolest and most stable time of day, especially in January. Five people were injured.
Also on this day, Chinook winds during the early morning hours of January 22, 1943 caused temperatures to rise from -4 to 45 degrees in only two minutes at Spearfish, South Dakota! This is the most dramatic temperature change in world weather records. An hour and a half later the temperature plunged from 54 degrees to -4 in only 27 minutes.
Wednesday Word of the Day
Chinook Winds
Winds that develop when warm, moist air blows from the Pacific Ocean toward the Rocky Mountain range. The air climbs the western slopes and drops precip in the form of rain and/or snow. After releasing all of the moisture, the winds then descend down the eastern slope of the mountains and dry out further. Meanwhile, since descending air heats up as it descends, the wind becomes very warm and dry. The descending air may also be accompanied by wind gusts to 80 mph.
NASA Knowledge
NASA launched an opportunity for the next Mars rover to be named last year. Students in Kindergarten through 12th grade were given an opportunity to write an essay and tell what they thought the rover should be called and why. More than 28,000 essays were submitted!
A panel of 4,700 judge volunteers, composed of educators, professionals, and space enthusiasts from around the country narrowed that huge pool down to 155 semifinalists from every state and territory of the US. Of those, nine have been selected for the public to vote on. They are listed here:
- Endurance, K-4, Oliver Jacobs of Virginia
- Tenacity, K-4, Eamon Reilly of Pennsylvania
- Promise, K-4, Amira Shanshiry of Massachusetts
- Perseverance, 5-8, Alexander Mather of Virginia
- Vision, 5-8, Hadley Green of Mississippi
- Clarity, 5-8, Nora Benitez of California
- Ingenuity, 9-12, Vaneeza Rupani of Alabama
- Fortitude, 9-12, Anthony Yoon of Oklahoma
- Courage, 9-12, Tori Gray of Louisiana
Online voting began yesterday and will remain open until 11:00 pm CST January 27. Please go to https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/participate/name-the-rover/ and cast your vote! You can even read the nine essays.
Wx Hazards Across the Nation
News
I shared this on social media yesterday and caused quite the buzz! (ha) The NWS in Miami had to post a statement advising folks to be careful for the Iguanas that may get too cold to be able to stay in the trees last night. How would you like to have to worry about an Iguana falling on ya? (ha)
You all have a great day!