Meteorologist Mark

Today will be very similar to yesterday, weather-wise. We’ll see highs near 80 and an isolated shower/storm. On Friday we’ll start to see the influence of a strong cold front that will be approaching. It now looks like most of the day may be dry, with only isolated showers/storms. However, as we get closer to the evening hours the shower and storm chances increase. A few storms could be strong but widespread severe weather is not expected. Saturday still looks awesome, with highs in the mid 70s and super low humidity. It may even feel a bit chilly Sunday morning! On Sunday, the pattern starts to change and we may have to deal with some clouds and showers. Next week looks to be below normal with temps and above normal with rainfall.

We’re keeping an eye on a system that just came off the coast of Africa. It has a very good chance of becoming a tropical storm over the next week. I’ll keep an eye on it.

Wish me luck at Memphis Air Traffic Control today! I’m so excited! I’m sure I’ll have lots to tell!

We’re still on track for a beautiful Saturday. Highs will be in the mid 70s, with super low humidity. We may even be in the 50s for lows both Saturday and Sunday morning. But first, today looks to be a carbon copy of yesterday. Highs will be near 80 and there’s a very slight chance for an afternoon storm. Repeat the same forecast for Thursday. By Friday, a strong cold front moves in and storm chances will increase as the day goes along. I think the first half of the day will be fine, with a much greater chance of storms coming Friday evening. Models are suggesting that the storms Friday evening will have the potential to be strong, but severe weather does not look to be an issue, as of now. I’ll keep a watch on it, though.

After a beautiful Saturday, Sunday looks a bit wetter with each new model run. I’d definitely do my outdoor plans on Saturday and not Sunday. Sunday doesn’t look to be a washout, by any means, but there will certainly be some showers around.  Next week continues to look mild and wet with off-and-on chances of rain each day and highs around 80.

Tomorrow I get to visit the Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC)! I get to sit in on a shift and watch how the meteorologists work with air traffic control. I was invited after I attended a conference there  few weeks ago about weather’s impact on aviation. I was invited to come back and sit in a shift and I quickly accepted! The Memphis ARTCC services the air space within the blue area within the area that has a ‘star’ for Memphis. They cover the air space all the way to Cookeville. Crossville is covered by the Atlanta ARTCC. If you have any questions for these folks, just let me know! Hopefully, we’ll get at least an isolated storm  in the air space so I can watch the planes be diverted around it. I’ll let you all know how this goes and what I learn! Oh, and if you hear of any aviation conundrum within that area tomorrow, I didn’t do it! 🙂

My calendar is right beside the thermometer that tells me the outside temperature, and I’m wondering if it’s really August 1st? Did I really contemplate turning on the heater in my truck this morning? Even more interesting, is that I can’t see any really hot weather in sight. Even the extended outlooks through the middle of August indicate below normal temps and above normal precipitation.

Out West, however, they are experiencing record heat. Some places in Oregon may record their hottest temperatures ever today (100+ deg). And they don’t typically have ACs out there either.

As for us, clouds will keep us cooler today. We should climb to 80 by the afternoon, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t make it there. Lows tonight will fall to around 60. Both Wednesday and Thursday will be partly to mostly sunny, with highs in the low 80s and a slight chance of a shower or storm, though some of the models this morning keep us completely dry until Friday. On Friday, we’ll see a strong cold front approach, and that will bring showers and storms, some of which could be strong. Friday is definitely the wettest day this week. Saturday looks absolutely perfect! Highs in the mid 70s (that’s right, MIDDLE 70s!) and no humidity. A yard salers paradise, folks! (ha) Sunday still looks good but models are trying to bring in a disturbance that could bring some showers, so if you have outdoor plans this weekend, do it Saturday. Next week looks cool and wet.

As for the tropics, Tropical Storm Emily didn’t survive the trek across Florida very well and she is pretty much history. The other disturbance in the Atlantic has also pretty much disintegrated, so all is quiet in the tropics again.

I was noticing in the records today two events that took place on this date. On Aug 1, 1985 a severe t-storm stalled out on Cheyenne, WY, and dropped 6″ of rain in 6 hours. The storm also, get this, dropped 2-5 FEET of hail! Twelve people lost their lives and 65 million dollars in damage was left behind. It was the most damaging storm in WY history. On this date in 1986, a powerful t-storm with 100 mph winds and hail raced across Kansas and into Missouri. Crops were mowed to the ground, roofs blown off houses, and 71 million dollars in damage was done by the storm. It was the worst t-storm in KS history, with a damage path 150 miles long and 30 miles wide.  Notice that both storms were not tornadoes and were the most destructive ever in each state. You don’t have to have a tornado to have a life-threatening, damaging storm (like our windstorm Memorial Day weekend).

So, on that note, you all enjoy this nice, calm, and unseasonable weather we have in TN today!

We couldn’t ask for better weather for the last day of July! And how about this past weekend? We are definitely in a pattern that I think most people agree is very welcome for this time of year (or any time of the year!). Today, the pleasant weather continues, with low humidity and highs around 80. Tonight, we’ll dip back down to near 60.  The nights here lately have been perfect for giving your AC a break and opening the windows and letting some fresh air in. On Tuesday, we’ll be a degree or two warmer than today and the humidity will be slightly higher, but still a very nice day for us. Humidity levels start to really increase by Wednesday and that humidity will stay high through Friday, though high temps will still stay in the lower 80s, so it won’t be anything like the oppressive humidity that we’ve seen before this last front moved in. We do have some strong storms to be concerned about on Friday, which is something the yard salers will have to watch out for. I might also need to mention that we have isolated storm chances Wednesday and Thursday, too, but those will be very isolated. Friday is definitely the wettest day of the week. But, just hold on, because that stormy weather is due to another unseasonably strong cold front that will bring us another absolutely beautiful weekend next weekend! In fact, it should be exactly like this past weekend!

In other news, we now have Tropical Storm Emily in the eastern Gulf of Mexico! The storm has winds of 45 mph and will make landfall near Tampa later this afternoon. The storm is already producing very heavy rainfall for the southern half of the state. I’ve attached a graphic of the current position and expected path of the storm.  We also have another disturbance farther out in the Atlantic that we’ll be watching over the next week at tracks westward.

You all have a wonderful Monday and let me know if you have any questions!