Weather Headlines
Unsettled weather continues
Main threats
Today: Some of the storms this afternoon could contain gusty winds and small hail. Widespread severe weather is not expected.
Thursday Night: Areas of scattered frost possible.
Severe Wx Summary
Last evening, it looked like the better chance for strong storms would be mid-morning to noon today. Now, it looks like the better threat would be from around noon to 3:00 pm. This is not a widespread severe weather event at all, but we could certainly see a strong storm or two across the plateau, especially south of I-40. The Storm Prediction Center continues to highlight much of the plateau in the MARGINAL RISK for severe storms. This is the lowest of the severe weather risk categories.
My level of concern for the Cumberland Plateau remains on the lower end of the concern scale, though I did raise it a bit from last night, owing to the storms coming in the afternoon now, when the atmosphere is a bit more unstable.
Baldwin’s 7-Day forecast
Daily Forecast
Today: Rain and storms, especially after noon. Some of the storms could be strong, with gusty winds and hail. Otherwise, winds will be quite breezy today.
Thursday: Cooler, with scattered rain showers.
Friday – Saturday: Beautiful! We should see lots of sunshine and warming temperatures.
Sunday – Tuesday: Partly to mostly cloudy skies, with chances for showers and storms.
Almanac
Yesterday’s National High and Low Temperature
High: 110 degrees at Death Valley, California
Low: 14 degrees at Mount Washington, New Hampshire
Difference of: 96 degrees
Wx Hazards Across the Nation
Strong to severe thunderstorms are expected across the Southeast and parts of the Mid-Atlantic today. Otherwise, only light precip is expected across other areas of the country.
Records
Today is the anniversary of the deadliest tornado outbreak in Middle Tennessee history. The outbreak occurred during the late evening of April 29, 1909. By the time the outbreak of at least 12 tornadoes was over, 62 people had lost their lives across the Midstate. The second deadliest tornado in Middle Tennessee history occurred that night when an F-4 struck southern Middle TN. Thirty-one people lost their lives in that single twister.
Other twisters hit into the night and the very early morning hours of April 30. I’ll have more on that in tomorrow’s “Records” section.
Weather Trivia
Q: How many tornadoes must occur for the situation to be considered a “tornado outbreak”?
a. six b. eight c. ten d. fifteen e. twenty
(answer at the bottom of the blog!)
NASA Knowledge
I recently told you all about Comet Atlas that we thought we would be able to see in our night skies this month. However, the comet busted up and is disintegrating. The Hubble telescope actually captured some images of the comet as it’s now breaking up. Check out these cool pictures of that! The image on the left is from April 20 and the image on the right is from April 23.
Long Range Outlook
Guidance continues to lean more and more toward a colder and wetter period for the first week of May. This will likely come with more frost opportunities.
Temperature
Precipitation
Baldwin’s View-of-the-Day
This was a storm that moved into Tulsa, Oklahoma yesterday evening. The storm had a tornado warning on it.
Weather News
Some of you probably saw me post this story on my Facebook page yesterday but it’s worth re-telling! After the tornado hit Putnam County last month, a family realized their beloved family pet had disappeared. Obviously, they feared the worst. However, after 54 days their Australian Shepard, Bella, was found four miles from their home.
Well, where their home used to be.
The home they lived in was completely destroyed. In fact, the family who lived there was about the only thing that was salvageable from the home. The family knew to take cover when Bella alerted them to the bad weather. They had only moments to dive into the bathtub.
Now, Bella is reunited with her family. We wish them all the very best as they rebuild and move on with their lives.
Answer to Trivia Question
A: (c) Since 1977, the official definition of a tornado outbreak states that at least ten tornadoes must occur with the same storm system to be considered a tornado outbreak.
You all have a great day!