Weather Headlines
The sun will return today!
Warmer temps by Memorial Day
Next good rain chance comes toward the end of the week
Meteorologist Mark’s Wx Vlog
Seven-Day Forecast
Daily Forecast
Today: Decreasing clouds. We should see sunshine by the afternoon. Continued cool.
Memorial Day: Mostly sunny and warmer.
Tuesday: Partly cloudy and more humid.
Wednesday: Partly cloudy, with a chance for showers and storms.
Thursday: Showers and thunderstorms likely.
Friday: Scattered showers and storms, mainly in the afternoon/evening.
Saturday: Partly cloudy and summer-like, with a chance for a mainly afternoon/evening shower or storm.
Meteorologist Mark’s Wx Concerns
Almanac for Yesterday
Sun & The Moon
On This Day in Wx History
1830- A devastating tornado strikes Charlotte (just west of Nashville) and surrounding areas. The tornado levels all but two buildings, including the first courthouse — a two-story brick structure. The Voorhies-James house and one other building are the only ones left. Most public records from the courthouse, as well as those housed in law offices, are blown into the countryside. Some are recovered, but many are never found. Some books are found several miles away. The roof of the jail is found 13 miles away!
Yesterday’s National Temperature Extremes
High: 107° at Death Valley, California
Low: 16° at Peter Sinks, Utah & Copper Basin, Idaho
Today’s Tennessee Weather
Temps are still a bit below normal today across the state, but at least we’ll see a return of the sun!
Sunday Story
The spring tornado season is over for Tennessee.This year’s season was cut a bit short, due to summer-like conditions settling in a bit early.
Overall, it was a rather quiet spring for our state. There were certainly some bad storms from time to time, but we had no loss of life and that’s always a good way to end the spring tornado season!
The strength of a tornado is determined by the damage it leaves behind. That may sound simple, but it’s actually quite complex. National Weather Service damage survey teams have to try to figure out how sound structures in the path of the tornadoes were.
Back in 2006, a tornado tore through the Gallatin community just northeast of Nashville. At first, it appeared that well-constructed brick homes had been destroyed. That would give the storm a high EF-scale rating. However, it was later determined that the brick hadn’t been attached to the homes correctly and easily fell. The EF-scale rating was lowered.
The construction company that built the homes was sued by homeowners. The suit was won and the construction company was put out of business permanently.
Other tornadoes that occur in open farmland are given lower EF-scale ratings, though it’s always unclear as to just how powerful the twister was. Many of us suspect that a great many tornadoes are under-estimated for this very reason.
The most violent of tornadoes is the unforgiving EF-5. The last time our country experienced one of those was May 20, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma. I was storm chasing out there that day, but my group was a bit too far south and we missed that tornado. The damage left behind by that storm was jaw-dropping.
For many meteorologists, attention now turns to hurricane season. Let’s hope and pray for a quiet season in the tropics!