Meteorologist Mark

This pesky stationary front just will not go away! We’ll see more clouds and showers today, with the possibility of a t-storm thrown in the mix by this afternoon. Isolated showers continue tonight and then pick back up for our Friday. Off and on showers and storms will continue right on through Monday. Highs each day, thanks to the clouds, will struggle to reach 80 degrees. Another 1-2 inches of rain can be expected between now and Monday.  It looks like another strong cold front will surge into the area on Monday night or Tuesday, bringing drier air by the middle of next week. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some August sunshine!

The first hurricane of the Atlantic season made landfall last night on the east coast of Mexico. The cat 1 storm brought a lot of flooding to the area and more flooding is expected today. Unfortunately, many of the areas it will pass over today are ill-equipped to handle even minimal hurricanes, so the flooding will be catastrophic for those folks. The storm will re-emerge over the Pacific in a day or two and possibly redevelop into another storm.  Franklin is one of those systems who just does not want to die out!

So, today’s weather history is bizarre. There’s nothing much for TN, but there’s been some bizarre weather across the country on this date. On a sad note, in 1924 a twister touched down in Colorado and was very visible for miles. The men of a local Mennonite community all left to render aid to those affected. After they left, the twister made a turn toward their own community, killing a woman and nine children in one house. This is the deadliest Colorado twister in that state’s history. On a more bizarre note, on this date in 1882 there were snow squalls reported in parts of Ohio! Frost was even reported in the suburbs of Chicago.

And then there’s the interesting idea out of Bluefield, West Virginia. In 1939 the Bluefield Chamber of Commerce decided that free lemonade would be served to the town if the temperature ever hit 90 degrees. In 1941, the temp hit 90 and free lemonade was served for everyone.  They come closer to hitting 90 on this date than any other date. During WWII, rations on sugar and fruit jeopardized the new tradition, but when the town hit 90 deg in 1942, the whole town gave up their ration coupons to make lemonade. In the 50s and 60s the religious leaders of the town worried that the free lemonade exploited the young ladies who served the lemonade (wearing shorts)  and the tradition almost ended. That controversy put Bluefield in the national news and ended up making the lemonade tradition more popular than ever.  The things you learn while being a meteorologist…. haha

I’ll keep an eye out for any storms, though I don’t foresee anything too strong. There is still the disturbance out in the Atlantic that needs to be watched. It had a rough night last night and we’ll have to see how it recovers. It wouldn’t be a threat to the US East Coast until next week, if it makes it.

You all have a great day and stay dry! I posted a couple of tropical graphics below of the land-falling Franklin and the disturbance in the Atlantic.

Tropical Storm Franklin has just been upgraded to a hurricane by the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane Franklin becomes the first hurricane of the 2017 hurricane season. The storm is currently located in the southern Gulf of Mexico in the Bay of Campeche. Franklin is expected to make landfall on Thursday on the east coast of Mexico. It will be no threat to the US.

We are on the brink of having our first hurricane of the Atlantic season! Tropical Storm Franklin is churning in the southern Gulf of Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, which is only four miles per hour short of hurricane strength. We are expecting him to reach hurricane status by noon today. Incidentally, maximum sustained winds are calculated by taking the average one-minute wind speeds.  Gusts are those winds experienced in 3-5 second intervals. Franklin is headed west and should make landfall in Mexico later tonight. Another area of concern is out in the Atlantic. That storm will be Gert. The models continue to indicate a threat to the Carolina coast for next week. When storms hit over there the clouds try to come over the mountains and can give us spectacular looking clouds! Another side-effect of Carolina storms is that we’ll be on the backside of the storm, where the north winds blow, which would lead to more below normal temps for the end of next week.

As for now, we’ll have to contend with more showers and storms. I don’t think coverage will be all that great today, but it may pick up tonight as an old frontal boundary drifts back toward us from the south.  Tomorrow looks wet, so be sure and plan on that. Showers and storms continue right on through the weekend and into early next week. At least the clouds and showers keep us from getting too hot.  Our highs will only be around 80 for the next week.

I’ll keep an eye on the tropics and an eye on our eclipse forecast. I will tell you this about the day of the eclipse….so far the models are not painting a good picture. It’s still too early to know anything for sure, but the models are suggesting that we will still be in this pattern of cloudiness/showers on the day of the eclipse. That can certainly change. I’ll keep you posted.

It looks we’ll get a break from the rain today.  The front that brought us rain yesterday has sagged to our south, taking the deepest moisture with it. The front is still close enough that we could see an isolated shr or storm this afternoon, esp south of I-40. By tomorrow, the front throws a bit more moisture our way and we should see scattered showers and storms at any point during the day. That forecast holds true right on through the weekend and into early next week.  As of now, Thursday looks to be the wettest day of the week, but scattered showers and storms can happen anytime, day or night, in this kind of pattern. Highs each day will be in the mid to upper 70s, with lows in the low to mid 60s.

Next week looks continued unsettled, with a possible tropical system thrown in as well. As of now, and things can certainly change, it looks like we may have a tropical system impacting the Carolinas and throwing moisture all the way over to us. It’s something to watch as models have been consistent with this forecast. I’ll keep an eye on it! If you, or anyone you know, has travel plans to the Carolinas next week, pay attention to the forecast.

We’ve seen a bit of an usual August so far, but it’s not the first time August has been unusual! On this date in 1989, a total of 99 cities across the central and eastern US recorded record low temperatures.  Mt Mitchell, NC was the coldest spot in the nation on this date, with a morning low of 35 degrees! On this date in 1882 a ship on Lake Michigan reported being covered with six inches of snow and slush, and snow showers were reported along the shores of Lake Michigan. That’s weirdly cold even by their standards! Most of our records here in Crossville for August are for heat, but ever once in a while we have a cooler-than-average August, like the one we’re having now. What does that mean for the fall and winter? I’ll have more on that later on!