Weekend Edition
Weather Headlines
A very warm and dry weekend
Watching the tropics get off to an early start
Next chance of rain the mid to end of next week
Meteorologist Mark’s Wx Vlog
Seven-Day Forecast
Daily Forecast
This Weekend: Warm, sunny, and dry.
Monday & Tuesday: Warmer and continued dry. Tuesday will likely be the hottest day so far this year.
Wednesday: A few more clouds and a slight chance for a shower or storm.
Thursday & Friday: Partly cloudy, with a chance for a shower or storm. Many of us will likely stay dry.
Forecast Summary/Discussion
We will cross into the “4 inches below normal” on rainfall mark today. That deficit will continue to grow. For many of us, that deficit will grow through next week, unless the end of next week starts trending wetter. I’m concerned that the latest rounds of data have trended drier.
Meteorologist Mark’s Wx Concerns
Almanac for Yesterday
Tropics
We have our first named storm of the 2021 season! Tropical Storm Ana will stay out to sea and only be a harm to the fishes. Another system has moved onshore the Texas coastline, before developing into a storm. That system will, however, drop torrential rainfall on parts of eastern Texas.
This is now the 7th straight year in which we’ve seen a tropical storm develop before the official start of hurricane season on June 1st. This is why many of us think the season should begin on May 15th. As oceans continue to warm, we’ll likely see even more activity in May in the future.
Sun & The Moon
On This Day in Wx History
1876 – Denver, Colorado was drenched with 6.53 inches of rain in 24 hours, an all-time record for that location.
Yesterday’s National Temperature Extremes
High: 109° at Rio Grande Village, Texas
Low: 15° at Neihart, Montana
Today’s Tennessee Weather
It’s a hot and dry, summer-like, day across the Volunteer State! Look for sunny skies and highs in the mid to upper 80s statewide.
Drought Monitor
The drought monitor is updated each Thursday.
Weather SnapShots
Our country usually goes years between EF-5 tornadoes. In fact, we haven’t seen one in the U.S. since 2013. However, on this day in 2011 the fifth EF-5 OF THAT YEAR struck Joplin, Missouri. The twister left a scar, as you can see in the “before and after” imagery below, that would last for years and years to come. The tornado killed 158 people in Joplin, making it one of the deadliest tornadoes to ever strike our country.
NASA Nerdology
In 2018, the largest known Martian dust storm engulfed the entire planet and even killed one of NASA’s rovers. The dust was no match for the Opportunity Rover. The “before and after” images are seen below. Notice how dust engulfs Mars in the image on the right.
