Author: Meteorologist Mark

Main threats

No widespread hazardous weather in sight. Just be safe in the heat!

Summary

Well, it’s been a very warm week with no rain. Now that the weekend is upon us we might as well keep this streak going for a few more days, right? Yesterday’s high of 85 was a record and we may break more records over the coming days.

Make sure you take it easy in that afternoon heat. Just chill and stay cool in the hottest part of the day. Have your cookouts, etc in the evening and in the shade. I think we’ll have our first official 90-degree day of the season within the next few days.

Our next system may bring us some rain as early as Wednesday, but even that looks like isolated/scattered activity at this point. Still, we’ll be needing some rain at that point so let’s keep our fingers crossed for that!

WeatherTAP WeatherFACT

Worldwide, there are an estimated 16 million thunderstorms each year. At any given moment, there are approximately 2,000 thunderstorms in progress. The U.S. has about 100,000 t-storms a year, with about 10% of those reaching severe limits.

Records

Remember on Monday I said we had snow on that day in 1894? Well guess what? Yeah, it snowed again here on this day in 1894! Can you imagine how bad we would be freaking out if we had two snows in the same week in the third week of May? I don’t think we got as much here on the plateau this go around, but southeast Kentucky was buried under half a foot of snow! What a crazy May that was!

On this day in 1940, a stationary severe t-storm produced hail that accumulated to 6-8 inches in Alda, Oklahoma. By the time the storm was over, some drifts of hail were up to five feet deep!

Almanac

Yesterday’s record high: 85 (2010,1970)

Yesterday’s record low: 39 (1963)

Today’s record high: 89 (1996)

Today’s record low: 38 (1961)

Today’s sunset: 7:46

Tomorrow sunrise: 5:27

Today’s day length: 14 hrs 18 mins 13 secs

Tomorrow’s day length: 14 hrs 19 mins 28 secs

One year ago today

We had a high temp of 86 and a low temp of 61. A rainfall amount of 0.36″ was recorded at the Crossville airport.

Astronomy 

Sky viewing conditions tonight: GOOD

Moon rise: 12:11 a.m.

Moon set: 10:28 a.m.

Moon phase: Waning Gibbous, 70% illumination

What to look for in the night sky tonight

Well, you just can’t miss Jupiter tonight, folks. The giant planet rises before 10:00 and it will be quite the sight. It will be the brightest point in the sky until Venus rises in the morning. If you can see it through a telescope, you will get the rare opportunity to see Jupiter’s biggest moon, Ganymede set behind the planet at 12:41 a.m. That moon is so big it takes it 14 minutes to set! You’ll also be able to see the dramatic cloud features on the planet.

News

Well, I’m still recovering from my news from NASA. It was so hard to sleep last night! Clearly, I need to just start budgeting for these trips (ha). I spent my income tax return on the last launch opportunity (pretty cool way to spend that, right?). Now, I need another tax return. lol They can do that, right?

This is the most powerful rocket in our country’s arsenal of rockets and this will only be the third time it has been fired! I am so dang excited. I’ll be sharing the whole experience with you all, right here, so be looking for that. I’ll also share it all on my personal Facebook page. This will be June 21-22. I’ll have videos, pics, interviews with NASA and SpaceX folks, etc etc. It’ll be a blast! Please tell any friends you have who may be space enthusiasts!

You all have a great day!

I’m so excited!!!! I just got the official email from NASA!!! I can hardly breathe!!!

“Congratulations! Recently you applied for social media credentials to attend the social media activities and launch of the Department of Defense and SpaceX’s Space Test Program-2 (STP-2) mission.  We are pleased to let you know that your application has been approved to attend the event.

The two-day event will be no earlier than June 21-22. Registration location and time will be communicated to you once you have applied for credentials in the online system.

During the event, you will be provided with the opportunity to:

• Tour NASA facilities at Kennedy
• Meet and interact with subject matter experts
• Meet fellow space enthusiasts who are active on social media
• Meet members of NASA’s social media team
• View the launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket”

This is the most powerful rocket in our fleet and I can’t wait to see her fly!!!! Only 55 people were invited and I’m one of them!!!

Main threats

No widespread hazardous weather in sight. Just be mindful of the heat.

Summary

The hot and humid weather will continue right on into next week. The models hint, from time to time, at a stray shower or storm in the afternoons of each day, but that chance is so small. Like I said yesterday, 90-95% of the plateau should stay dry each day.

The next system to threaten us may come in the middle of next week. Right now it looks weak in the model data. Hopefully, it’ll be strong enough to bring us some rain, as things are going to be getting quite dry by then.

WeatherTAP WeatherFACT

The Tri-State tornado of 1925 traveled 219 miles, moving through parts of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. It is also the deadliest tornado in U.S. history, killing 695 people.

Records

An usual late-season snowstorm blanketed parts of Iowa on this day in 1882. At least four to six inches of snow fell in some locations.

It was a hot May in parts of Texas in 1989. By this day, the town of Midland had recorded its sixth straight day of 100+ degree hit, hitting 106 on this particular day.

Almanac

Yesterday’s record high: 88 (1970)

Yesterday’s record low: 32 (2002)

Today’s record high: 85 (2010, 1970)

Today’s record low: 39 (1963)

Today’s sunset: 7:45

Tomorrow sunrise: 5:27

Today’s day length: 14 hrs 16 mins 57 secs

Tomorrow’s day length: 14 hrs 18 mins 13 secs

One year ago today

The high was 82 and the low was 61. No rain fell.

Astronomy 

Sky viewing conditions tonight: GOOD

Moon rise: midnight

Moon set: 9:32 a.m.

Moon phase: Waning Gibbous, 79% illumination

What to look for in the night sky tonight

Since the moon doesn’t rise until midnight, we have a nice dark sky to see things with tonight! Skies should cooperate, as well. This means it’s a good evening to spot beehives! (ha) No, not that kind of beehive.

Go out and look west after darkness falls. Look about 30 degrees up into the sky and you’ll see a faint cloud about several stars. This is the Beehive star cluster (M44). Through binoculars, they explode into dozens of stars! Go out and have a look!

If you look to the northwest you’ll see Mars.

On the skychart below, I have the Beehive cluster circled at 9:00. Mars is below it in purple.  Don’t forget that Jupiter rises in the southeast at about 10:00. That planet sure was shining bright last night!

News

The big weather news today is all the cleanup taking place after yesterday and last night’s storms across the central plains and the Midwest. The flooding is horrible, too. I read yesterday that Illinois farmers have only planted 25% of the crops that they would normally have planted by now due to flooding.

A weatherTAP follower sent in this pic of a storm he chased in Oklahoma yesterday. This storm, at one point, was severe and moving toward metro areas of Oklahoma City. Thankfully, even after three strong attempts, it never produced a tornado. That was one ominous looking storm, though! (photo by Jon Morrow)

I have more images/video that I’ll be sharing later from a former student of mine at Mississippi State. He was chasing and caught up with the violent tornado that narrowly missed Joplin, Missouri. The twister missed Joplin by 10 miles, on the 8-year anniversary of the EF-5 that nearly wiped Joplin off the map.

More severe weather is expected toward across the plains, with more tornadoes likely.

You all have a great day and keep all the folks who are not having such a great day close to your hearts.