Meteorologist Mark

The hot and very humid weather continues today, with a good chance of afternoon and evening t-storms. Some of these storms could be strong, possibly severe, with heavy rainfall and damaging winds. We also have to be on the lookout for dangerous lightning, of course. Highs today will be in the mid 80s, but the high humidity will make it feel more like 90. Tonight will be a muggy one, too, with scattered showers and storms. On Saturday those rain chances continue, along with the heat and humidity. If you have outdoor plans keep an eye on the radar. Slightly drier air works in here for Sunday, so that will be nice. That will also lead to a drier day, as well.  Next week looks like a typical week in July, with highs in the low to mid 80s and a slight chance of an afternoon/evening storm.

On this day in 1998 a rain event developed over southern Middle TN that broke numerous rainfall records for Middle TN. In fact, these records stood until the big flood hit Nashville in 2010. The town of Lawrenceburg was hardest hit, when 12.26″ of rain fell on the town in only two days! Two people were killed and 20 were injured. Numerous roads were washed away and 122 homes were damaged or destroyed. An additional 13 mobile homes were completely swept away by the flood waters. The water and sewage plants were left inoperable, leaving the town with no clean water to drink.  I’ve attached a state map, with Lawrenceburg circled in red.

You all have a safe and relaxing weekend! Keep in mind that some of our storms today could be on the strong side. I’ll be watching it!

 

The heat and humidity continue for today and right on through Saturday. Highs will be in the mid to upper 80s and overnight lows will be near 70. We will see a few more storms around today than we did yesterday, but the best chance of storms comes on Friday. This is the result of a “cold” front that will be moving in. Some of the storms on Friday could be quite strong, with damaging winds being the main threat. By Saturday, we will still have some rain and storms around but by Saturday night we will see drier air filtering in behind that cold front. This time of year, the air behind these cold fronts is certainly not cold, but it is drier and that makes all the difference this time of year! Sunday is looking fantastic! Temps will be in the lower 80s and humidity levels will be very low for this time of year. Get out and enjoy it! The humidity begins creeping back in on Tuesday next week.

I have a super cool photo to show you this morning. It’s of Jupiter’s Red Spot, which is an enormous storm that has been ongoing for at least 350 years and is bigger than Earth! NASA’s Juno satellite did a fly-by last week that is the closest approach we’ve ever made to the planet. This is one of the images captured.

That is one heck of a storm, folks! Again, we’ll have spotty storms today but they will pick up in coverage and intensity on Friday. If you’re going to the Summer Concert Series this evening (over by the Library) to hear our very own John Bristow play, dress for hot weather! Hopefully we’ll dodge any storms! I just checked the latest model data and it shows a couple of storms around the plateau at 6:00 p.m., but they’re not over Crossville. Let’s hope that stays true!

The heat is going to be cranking up today, folks. Highs will reach near 90 again and the humidity is going to make it feel much hotter. With this much heat and humidity around, you can bet there will be a storm or two around this evening, especially on the southern end of the plateau. Tomorrow, the atmosphere will be a bit more supportive of storms, so we’ll see a few more around than what we see today. On Friday and Saturday a front begins to approach and that will kick off even more showers and storms, though neither day will be a total washout.  Our area has been highlighted by the Storm Prediction Center for the possibility of severe storms, so we’ll have to be on the lookout for those. Of course, any storm that develops in all this heat can briefly reach severe limits, with damaging winds and some hail, not to mention that dangerous lightning. That front passes through Saturday night and that should drop humidity levels down for Sunday, which will also significantly decrease our chances for storms.

 

Some big storms this week in the Upper Midwest have left a lot of destruction in their wake. This cornfield in Iowa was pulverized by golf ball sized hail and 70-80 mph winds. The corn was 5-6 feet tall before the storm. All this bad weather makes our heat and humidity seem more tolerable, right?

Notice the “eye” with the hook echo on this particular storm! That’s some violent rotation!

Another photogenic supercell near Ada, Minnesota.

 

We’re already 80 degrees and it’s not even 9:00 a.m. Welcome to July in TN! I noticed that our humidity is higher today than it was this time yesterday too. I told you the humidity wouldn’t stay away for long. I think we’ll squeeze out another dry day today, just hot and more humid. Highs will approach 90 by this afternoon. Tonight, we’ll only drop to about 70. It originally looked like Wednesday would be 100% dry, but with humidity even higher and temps in the upper 80s, you can almost count on an isolated storm somewhere on the plateau. By Thursday those rain chances increase and we’ll see a few more storms around the area. That trend will continue through the weekend. No one day looks like a washout, but you’ll just need to check the radar each afternoon and evening to see where the isolated storms are popping up. We don’t expect anything too severe, but you know how these summer storms can be. They can put down heavy rain, gusty winds, and lots of lightning.

The tropics have looked like they were going to get active, but now things have quietened down again. I’ll keep an eye on that, though.

If you haven’t see the moon this week you’ve really been missing out! It was full a couple nights ago but it is still plenty big and bright. Get out and watch it rise this evening! This pic was taken near Cape Cod, Massachusettes, but it’s been just as pretty down here in good ole TN!