Step outside and you can see the westernmost edge of Ian’s clouds lit up by the sunset. Just look east and you will see what I’m talking about.

The storm has made a long journey and now we can see the clouds.

If you look to the east you can see the leading edge of the cloud cover of Hurricane Ian! Those of you with an elevated and clear view to the east (toward Knoxville) will have the best chance of seeing those clouds.

Ian is poised to move onshore the South Carolina coastline with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. Higher gusts are likely. The main effects of Ian will stay well to the east of the Cumberland Plateau.

The current satellite view shows the leading edge of Ian’s clouds just east of Knoxville. Our elevation on the plateau allows us to see those from here.

If you feel moved to give to Hurricane Ian relief, I strongly encourage you to look no further than Samaritan’s Purse. They have an excellent credibility rating that is the envy of many other relief organizations. Check them out at https://www.samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/hurricane-ian/#

LOCAL WEATHER 

72-Hour Wx Summary

Look for more clouds than sun over the next three days. Some of those clouds may drop an isolated shower or sprinkle from time to time, but tainfall totals will likely stay around a trace. A bit of a breeze from the north will make it feel cool and very fall-like.

MM’s Wx Vlog

This Week’s Hazards

Widespread hazards are not expected over the next five days.

Five-Day Outlook

Five-Day Weather Forecast

Friday: Partly to mostly cloudy skies. Northeast wind at 5-10 mph. with gusts to 20 mph in the afternoon. Chance for a shower overnight.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy. North wind at 10-15 mph.

Sunday: Continued mostly cloudy with a slight chance for showers. North wind at 5-10 mph.

Monday: Partly cloudy. Northeast wind at 5 mph.

Tuesday: Sunny.

Almanac 

HISTORY

On This Day 

2018- Crossville has their wettest September on record, with a total of 10.59″ of rain.

1950 – Radio’s “Grand Ole Opry” is broadcast on TV for 1st time.

REGIONALLY

HRRR Radar Model

This simulation runs from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. tonight. Notice all the rain stays east of us through this time period.

Past 24-Hour Precip Totals 

Drought Outlook 

As expected, drought conditions worsened over the past week. Unfortunately, rainfall from Ian will not reach much of Middle and West Tennessee, so drought conditions are liable to worsen even more over the coming week. Hopefully, East TN will get enough rainfall to help with their dry conditions. For even more drought info, please visit my link at https://meteorologistmark.com/drought-info/

Tennesseans in drought conditions last week: 14,424

Tennesseans in drought conditions this week: 19,584

NATIONALLY 

Past 24-Hour Temperature Changes

Bluer colors represent colder temps from 24 hours ago, while redder colors indicate warmer temps from 24 hours ago.

 

Today’s High Temps & Departure from Average

Today’s high temps are shown below. The coloration indicates departure from average, with redder colors indicating above-average high temps and bluer colors indicating below-average high temps. White coloration indicates average temps.

Highest temp expected today: 106 degrees (red star)

Coolest high temp expected today: 28 degrees (blue star)

Tomorrow Morning’s Low Temps & Departure from Average

Tomorrow morning’s low temps are shown below. The coloration indicates departure from average, with redder colors indicating above-average low temps and bluer colors indicating below-average temps. White coloration indicates average temps expected.

Warmest overnight low expected: 81 degrees (red star)

Coolest overnight low expected: 19 degrees (blue star)

Hurricane Forecast 

Hurricane Ian continues to track more eastward. The heaviest rains will be to the right (east) and north of the center. It’s a rough day for the Carolinas, with tornadoes, flooding rainfall, and very gusty winds. Coastal storm surge will also be a hazard.

This shows the extent of forecast tropical-storm-force winds (winds greater than 40 mph).

Fall Foliage Map

MM NEWS

Rocket Launch Update

Hurricane Ian really took a toll on the rocket launch schedule. The good news is that the Space Coast seems to have weathered the storm very well, thanks to lots of good preparation. The bad news is that I can no longer attend the launch of this particular rocket. BUT, I will be back down there sooner than later. I’ll keep you posted!

MM Classes for Kids

Join the email list for updates for when the next classes will be. Just email me at meteorologistmark@gmail.com and request to be added to that list.

MeteorologistMarkPro 

Subscriptions to my bi-weekly newsletter help pay for materials for the MM kids’ classes! Try a free copy today or subscribe at https://meteorologistmarkpro.com/ Thank you!   

Other important weather information will be shared when needed. This includes additional severe weather information, model data, drought info, hurricane info, and more. Many of these can be found as tabs to this page at any time.

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

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We need the rain, but our rain chances for the weekend continue to look bleak. I’ve reduced by chances to 30%. In the NWS briefing at 11:00 the NWS stated that they wouldn’t be surprised if many locations don’t get any rain at all.

The bottom line is this…if you have an outdoor event this weekend and it’s no big deal if a shower comes up, then go forward with that event. If you absolutely cannot get rained on then you need a backup indoor plan, just in case.

There is a greater chance that we’ll just be partly to mostly cloudy, with a few showers/sprinkles around and cool temps.

Rainfall amounts have trended downward for several days now. We were originally expecting 1-2 inches of rain but now we’re down to expecting 1/4 inch or less.

I’ll keep an eye on things but that’s where things stand right now.