Weather Headlines 

Increasing rain chances

Highest rain chances come Thursday & Friday

Watching the tropics

Meteorologist Mark’s Wx Vlog 

Seven-Day Forecast

Daily Forecast 

Today: Partly to mostly sunny, with a chance for a mainly afternoon/evening shower or storm.

Tuesday -Wednesday: Partly to mostly cloudy, with scattered showers and thunderstorms.

Thursday – Friday: Mostly cloudy, with showers and thunderstorms likely.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a chance for scattered showers and storms.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a chance for a shower or storm.

Hay Weather Forecast

Keep in mind that the greatest rain chances come in the afternoons and evenings through Wednesday. After that, rain chances look like an all-day chance Thursday through Saturday. Hopefully, rain chances go down for Sunday. If some models verify, rain chances will drop on Saturday. Stay tuned.

Remember, if you’re out on a tractor in the hay field you are the tallest object in that field. Keep an eye on that sky and make sure there aren’t any thunderstorms around.

Meteorologist Mark’s Wx Concerns

Almanac for Yesterday

Tropics 

The tropics are active! We have one system off the South Carolina coastline that will likely become a tropical storm today, before making landfall this evening in South Carolina.

Another area of low pressure is becoming more concerning out in the Atlantic. I’ll keep you posted, as I track it over the course of the week.

Sun & The Moon

Planting by the Moon in June (Farmer’s Almanac)

• 28th – 29th Set strawberry plants. Excellent for any vine crops such as beans, peas, and cucumbers. Good days for transplanting. Favorable time for planting late root crops.
• 30th – Cut hay or do plowing on this barren day.

On This Day in Wx Histor

1928- A severe weather outbreak produces five tornadoes across Middle Tennessee, beginning on the afternoon of the 28th, and continuing into the next morning. All tornadoes are classified as F-2s. One person is killed in Davidson County. Another 38 injuries are reported overall.

Yesterday’s National Temperature Extremes

High:  122° at Death Valley, California

Low:   29° at Peter Sinks, Utah 

Monday Sun Day

Sunspots appear and disappear on the surface of the sun. Many of those spots are the size of Earth! Occasionally, some develop that are hundreds of thousands of miles across. On the image below, Earth is in the lower right corner to show you how the size compares with the sunspots you see.

Today’s Tennessee Weather 

A hot and humid day is in store for the state, with a few mainly afternoon and evening showers and storms around. Remember that if you’re close enough to hear thunder, you’re close enough to the storm to be struck by lightning. Afternoon high temperatures will be around 90 degrees for most everyone.

Tonight’s Tennessee Weather 

Many of us will see some passing clouds overnight, with perhaps an evening storm on the Cumberland Plateau. Otherwise, it will be a mild and muggy night, with low temperatures around 70 degrees.

Tomorrow’s Tennessee Weather 

The atmosphere becomes a bit more favorable for afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms on Tuesday. Otherwise, look for partly cloudy skies, along with heat and humidity. Afternoon high temperatures will once climb to around 90 degrees.

Drought Monitor

The drought monitor is updated each Thursday.

Weather SnapShots

The satellite image below shows an area of low pressure swirling off the coast of South Carolina. That swirl is expected to become a tropical storm, before making landfall later this evening. Thankfully, it will not find the conditions for becoming a hurricane. Notice that much of the rain and storms are southwest of the center of the swirl. If that activity were right on top of the storm, strengthening would be more concerning.

NASA Nerdology 

What would it take for technology to operate at temperatures below –238 degrees Fahrenheit without a source of heating and lubrication? Scientists at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center are working hard to find out! We’ll need this technology for when we venture even farther into space. The really cool part (no pun intended! ha), is that we will ALL benefit from this technology in some way in our very own lives! That’s how NASA works and we sure are glad for that!

You all have a great day and keep lookin’ up!

Note: To offer support to Meteorologist Mark and his educational outreach programs, please consider giving via  https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meteorologistmark. If you can’t give, no worries! Just keep following and tell your friends! 

Please feel free to “Follow” me on Social Media!

Facebook @meteorologistmark

Twitter @meteo_mark

Instagram @MeteorologistMark

In just the past half hour, several showers and thundershowers have developed across eastern Middle TN. Keep this in mind if you have outdoor plans. Remember, if you’re close enough to hear thunder you are close enough to be struck by lightning.

These showers and thundershowers are small and are moving northeast.

Below is a current look at the radar at 10:45 a.m. I highlighted Cumberland County.

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy,” Exodus 20:8-11.

Weather Headlines 

Rain chances slowly increasing

Best rain chances come at the end of the week

Watching the holiday weekend forecast

Meteorologist Mark’s Wx Vlog 

Seven-Day Forecast

Daily Forecast 

Today & Tomorrow: Partly to mostly sunny, with just a chance for an afternoon/evening shower or storm.

Tuesday & Wednesday: Partly cloudy, with a 50% chance for a mainly afternoon/evening shower or storm.

Thursday & Friday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms likely.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with scattered showers.

Hay Weather Forecast

Forecast Discussion

The first half of the weekend is looking more unsettled. An area of cool low pressure may sit over Kentucky and spin clouds and cool rain showers our way from the north and northwest. Sunday and Monday are looking better, but that’s too far out to say for certain. It continues to look like a cool holiday weekend. Stay tuned.

Meteorologist Mark’s Wx Concerns

Almanac for Yesterday

Tropics 

The area of low pressure closest to the Southeast is not expected to develop into anything too strong. Atmospheric and surface conditions are simply not favorable. However, some development is possible before it reaches the coast Monday evening and there is a chance, albeit slim, that it could even become a tropical storm.

Another area of interest is much, much farther away. Conditions are not favorable for development at this time, but they could become favorable over the next week or so, as the system moves toward the Caribbean. It is, in my opinion, certainly worth watching.

Sun & The Moon

Planting by the Moon in June

On This Day in Wx History

1901 – There was a rain of fish from the sky at Tiller’s Ferry in South Carolina. Hundreds of fish were swimming between cotton rows after a heavy shower!

It is believed that the storm spawned a weak tornado that ingested the fish. As the tornado dissipated before reaching Tiller’s Ferry, the fish would have been dropped from the sky. Bizarre, to say the least! Instances of fish falling from the sky have occurred in other places, too.

Yesterday’s National Temperature Extremes

High:  122° at Death Valley, California

Low:   32° at Berthoud Pass, Colorado, Big Piney, Wyoming, and at Peter Sinks, Utah 

Today’s Tennessee Weather 

It’s a hot day across our beautiful state, with just a chance for an afternoon shower or storm for those of us across Middle and East Tennessee. That rain chance is at about 30%.

Drought Monitor

The drought monitor is updated each Thursday.

Before the Sunday Story….

I’d just like to share something with you blog readers that I shared on Facebook about my new job. I shared this on Facebook Thursday evening.

I was hired by Adult Education on June 1. Since then, I’ve been teaching solo at the Crossville campus. It’s located at the Career Center and is a unique blend of students. Classes are going very well there.

Then, there’s my inmates at the Fentress County jail. I will teach them solo for the first time next week. I’m ready, but I’m a little nervous, to be honest. They are complicated people, I’ve decided. The men inmates are taught separate from the ladies. The men seem to have kinda buddied up to me (for the most part). The women are more reserved. I get that.

The room I teach in is concrete and white walls. The high ceiling makes it feel more open, but it’s not that much of an improvement. If anything, the high ceiling just makes for more white block wall. It’s a far cry from any classroom I’ve ever taught in. A far, far cry. It’s surely a far cry from any university classrooms I’ve taught in. This is different. I’ve never been in a classroom that had a “help” button that would send guards my way, if needed. Yeah, this is different.

I’m never to wear orange. That’s fine, though. There’s enough of that in the room. Don’t turn your back to them. No pens. No pencils with metal. No staples. No this, no that…Don’t do this…don’t do that… I’ve learned a LOT this month.

I saw a female inmate cry this week in class and that was hard to see. I won’t go into what she was crying about. We talked to her and the tears stopped. I then said something clever and she smiled. We moved on with the lesson.

One thing is for certain, these folks sure have shown me how much I take for granted. I look at their files and there’s so much I don’t understand. I just keep hearing this voice in my head and heart saying, “There but for the grace of God go I.”

I had them write down their goals and I was impressed. I was actually surprised. One gentleman looked at me after he saw me read his goals and said, “I know, I know. Aint gonna happen when I’m dumber than a sack of hammers.” I’ve got my work cut out for me.

I wondered what it would feel like the first time I walked in the jail this month. I wondered what it would feel like to see my “classroom” for the first time. I wondered a lot of things. I wondered what my students would look like, what they would say, what they would be like. It’s all OK and I know, beyond the shadow of any single doubt, that I’m right where I’m supposed to be in this season of my life.

It’s almost funny, actually. One minute you think you’re going to be a college professor and the next minute you’re teaching in a classroom with inmates wearing orange and you’re steps away from a help button.

And it’s never felt so right.

Sunday Story

The Atmosphere

I was speaking to summer camp kids at Allardt Elementary recently and a student asked, “How does the atmosphere keep the earth warm?” What a good question!

Our atmosphere is unique. No other planet has an atmosphere that even remotely resembles ours. Without this atmosphere, life on earth would not be possible. 

The atmosphere consists of layers of gasses. The heavier ones are closest to earth. Those consist of water vapor and oxygen, just to name a couple. Gravity is able to hold these heavier gasses nearer to the surface, while the lighter gasses are allowed to float higher into the atmosphere.

The gasses of the atmosphere act like a greenhouse, keeping our planet warmer than it would otherwise be. We can see what a planet like ours would look like without an atmosphere when we look at Mars. We are so similar in so many ways, but the absence of a thick atmosphere leaves Mars uninhabitable. 

We do know that Mars may have had an atmosphere at some point. There is ample evidence of running water having once flowed across that planet’s surface. Any atmosphere that may have once existed, keeping that water safely on the surface,has all but vanished. 

The Greenhouse Effect, as it’s called, keeps our planet comfortable. With no atmosphere to trap some of the sun’s heat, all that heat would escape back to space at night. That would send temperatures plunging more than 100 degrees below zero across our planet. I guess you could say our atmosphere acts like a blanket. 

The delicate balance of gasses is why you hear so many atmospheric scientists stressing the importance of not causing a man-made imbalance of those gasses. That atmosphere keeps us safe and we want to protect it as best we can!

You all have a great day and keep lookin’ up!

Note: To offer support to Meteorologist Mark and his educational outreach programs, please consider giving via  https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meteorologistmark. If you can’t give, no worries! Just keep following and tell your friends! 

Please feel free to “Follow” me on Social Media!

Facebook @meteorologistmark

Twitter @meteo_mark

Instagram @MeteorologistMark

MM News

I had a great time talking with the kids at South Fentress yesterday morning! I have a feeling there are many aspiring meteorologists and astronauts in those classrooms!

Weather Headlines 

Rain chances begin to increase tomorrow

Best chance of rain holds off until mid-week

A wet end to the workweek

Meteorologist Mark’s Wx Vlog 

Seven-Day Forecast

Daily Forecast 

Today: Mostly sunny. Hot and humid.

Sunday – Tuesday: Partly cloudy, with a chance for a mainly afternoon/evening shower or storm.

Wednesday – Friday: Partly to mostly cloudy, with scattered showers and thunderstorms.

Hay Weather Forecast

Forecast Discussion

If current guidance verifies, a cold front will actually make it through our area the end of this week. If that can happen, we will be set for a holiday weekend that will feature sunny skies, low humidity, and below normal temperatures. Say tuned!

Meteorologist Mark’s Wx Concerns

Almanac for Yesterday

Tropics 

An area of low pressure wants to organize, but ocean temperatures just aren’t quite warm enough just yet for this system to realize its full potential. It is worth tracking, as it may encounter better conditions in about a week, if it can survive that long.

Sun & The Moon

Planting by the Moon in June

On This Day in Wx History

1994- Middle Tennessee is struck by four tornadoes during the evening. The worst is an F-3, which travels a remarkable 38 miles, touching down at Lutts (Wayne County), and traveling southeastward, passing through Iron City and St. Joseph, before crossing the Alabama state line. There are 22 injuries, but no fatalities. Six more persons are injured along a four mile F-2 path near Altamont (Grundy County). An F-1 touches down near Topsy (Wayne County), cutting a five mile path, but with no reported injuries.

Yesterday’s National Temperature Extremes

High:  114° at Death Valley, California

Low:   32° at Berhtoud Pass, Colorado  

Saturday Silliness Weather Blooper

Today’s Tennessee Weather 

It’s a sunny day across the state, with just a slight chance for an isolated shower or storm near the southern border of the state. Humidity will be higher today, making it feel much warmer.

Drought Monitor

The drought monitor is updated each Thursday.

Weather SnapShots

It was a stormy Friday evening in Indiana! This photo of a likely tornado was shared by Brandon Reef on Twitter. He stated that this was a photo his brother sent him from Carroll County, Indiana. Brandon’s brother is a sheriff’s deputy there.

NASA Nerdology 

During this week in 1993, the crew of STS-57 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour were woken up to the tune of “The Walk of Life” by Dire Straits in preparation for their spacewalk later that day.

You all have a great day and keep lookin’ up!

Note: To offer support to Meteorologist Mark and his educational outreach programs, please consider giving via  https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meteorologistmark. If you can’t give, no worries! Just keep following and tell your friends! 

Please feel free to “Follow” me on Social Media!

Facebook @meteorologistmark

Twitter @meteo_mark

Instagram @MeteorologistMark