Meteorologist Mark

We’re still on track for a beautiful weekend! But first, we have to get through the next few days. Today will just be hot and humid. Highs will get to near or right at 90 degrees. We could see an isolated storm but that’s just from the heat and humidity. Thursday will be much of the same, but we will see an increase in showers and storms, especially as we head into the overnight hours. We do have the potential for strong to severe storms both Thursday night and Friday as a strong cold front makes it way through. Friday looks storms, with highs in the 70s.

By Saturday, the front will have cleared the area and we are right on track for highs in the upper 70s! AND the humidity will be really low! That’s about as perfect as it gets for this time of year, folks!

So, be safe in the heat the next couple of days and pay attention to the storms Thursday night and Friday. I’ll be in Charlotte for a trade show but I’ll do my best to keep you updated, especially on my personal blog at https://meteorologistmark.com

 

The models are really starting to come into agreement that the cold front that slips through here on Friday will be strong enough to bring us some nice relief by the weekend! We may not even hit 80 degrees for both Saturday and Sunday! And, the humidity levels will be very low. Overnight lows will dip to near 60. Now that’s some nice relief, folks. Just keep your fingers crossed that the forecast doesn’t change!

But first, we have to get to the weekend, right? Today and tomorrow are going to be very hot and humid. Highs will reach into the upper 80s but it will feel much hotter with that humidity. By Thursday we’ll see more clouds and that should keep us a degree or two cooler, but with stifling humidity who’ll notice? We will see showers and storms becoming likely Thursday and that will persist right into Friday. Since this cold front is so strong for this time of year, we have to be mindful of the possibility of strong to severe storms both Thursday night and Friday. Skies clear by Saturday morning, leading to a great weekend.

We have some interesting weather going on in the Pacific right now. We have hurricane Irwin and Hurricane Hilary. Hilary is expected to become a major hurricane  by tonight. What’s interesting is that Hilary is going to overtake Irwin and absorb him. That’s called the Fugiwara effect. That should take place on Thursday. We’ve seen that happen only twice in the Atlantic but it happens more often in the Pacific, where there tends to be more storms. The circulation of Hilary will wrap Irwin around and they’ll do a bit of a dance around each other before Hilary absorbs poor little Irwin. I’ll leave the political jokes to you all on this situation. I’m just a meteorologist  🙂

 

Whew, I don’t know about you but Saturday was a brutally hot and humid day! Sunday seemed a bit better, especially with the clouds around. Temps this week will be hot, as well, but humidity levels will be a bit lower, especially tomorrow and Tuesday. Humidity is what you have to watch out for this time of year. After all, it’s July so it’s going to be hot. All we can hope for is lower humidity. The slightly lower humidity will hang around through Wednesday, before picking back up on Thursday-Saturday.  We still can’t rule out an isolated storm through Wednesday. Much like last week, a weak front will drop into our area at the end of the week, bringing better chances for showers and t-storms. The best chance for stronger storms looks like Friday. The good news is that, as of now, Sunday looks great! Highs around 80 and really low humidity. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for that forecast to hold true!

You know, even if a storm isn’t severe you still have to watch out for that deadly lightning. I noticed that our weather fact of the day involves a man who was working on his fence near Livingston on this day in 1999. The fence was struck and the current traveled to the farmer, knocking him unconscious. He was given CPR by a neighbor, rushed to a hospital, and survived. He was very lucky! If you’re caught outside try your best to get indoors. Stay away from any electrical appliances and plumbing. If you’re in your car make sure you’re not touching anything metal or electrical. The tires don’t protect you (a very common myth) but the metal sheath around you does. The current is then directed into the ground.  This is the time of year when storms can pop up on a whim. If you hear thunder roar, go indoors.  And if you see dark clouds gathering, go ahead and make your way inside. You may not get to hear the warning of thunder if you’re the first strike!

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

The well-advertised biggest heat wave of this summer season is still in full swing. The slow-moving front that I’ve been talking about has slowed a bit more and it now looks like today will be a carbon copy of yesterday. Hot, humid, with an isolated storm. It may actually be a bit hotter today than it was yesterday, with highs at or slightly above 90, since we don’t have the early morning clouds to fend off the sunshine like we did yesterday. Tonight, overnight lows will stay in the 70s. Nashville is forecasting a very warm low temp tonight of 77! On Sunday, that slow-moving front finally creeps closer and that will set off more storms in the afternoon and evening. We may even see some of those linger overnight. Some storms Sunday will be more than capable of becoming severe, with large hail and damaging winds the main threat. On Monday, we’ll see much of the same, with perhaps a bit of an increase in showers and storms. The bad news is that the front isn’t going to bring much relief from heat next week, but it will bring slightly lower humidity levels. That’s a plus in my book!

The tropics remain quiet, for now. There are indications that things will dramatically pick up the second to third week of August. I’ll keep you posted!

I’ll also keep you posted on Sunday and Monday’s severe storm potential. Right now, I don’t expect anything too incredibly organized, like a derecho, but I can’t rule that out 100%. I’ll let you know if I see anything change with that! For now, be safe out in this heat today!