Meteorologist Mark

First of all, how crazy was that eclipse?  Our temp here at TAP dropped six degrees during the eclipse. It went from 89 to 83 degrees in just a few minutes time. It’s really incredible to think that we here in lil ole Crossville ended up right smack dab in the middle of the path of totality. Pretty darn cool, right? Now, who’s up for  road trip for the next one in seven years? We only have to drive to eastern Arkansas. Roadtrip!!! 🙂 It also passes over Niagara Falls in 2024, so that will make for some cool photography! The next astronomical event to look for here will come during the night of December 13, when the Geminids Meteor Shower peaks. This is considered the king of all meteor showers, producing multi-colored meteors at a rate of 120 per hour.

As for your weather, we have some rain and storms coming today. We could see an isolated shower or storm anytime this afternoon, especially after the heat and humidity get cranking. Those chances increase tonight and we should all get some rain. Some of the storms could be strong, possibly severe, especially the farther north of Crossville you live.  Any storms that develop will be capable of damaging winds, large hail, frequent lightning and torrential downpours of rain.  Rain could linger through Wednesday morning, before skies begin to clear out later in the day. Highs Wednesday will be in the mid 70s. Thursday and Friday look spectacular! Highs each day in the 70s and really low humidity. Overnight lows may drop in the lower 50s. That’ll be refreshing! Heat and humidity start to return by the weekend, but it still looks mostly dry.

Next week is already looking very unsettled. A tropical system will make landfall on the Texas coast the end of this week, possibly as a minimal hurricane. The remnants will likely head our direction, leading to the potential for some heavy rainfall early next week. I’ll keep you posted.

I was looking at our climate records and noticed something interesting. Yesterday was the anniversary of Crossville’s warmest August reading on record. On August 21, 1983 the mercury soared to 99 degrees. However, today is the anniversary of Crossville coldest August reading on record when we dropped all the way down to 42 degrees (1956).  Folks, that’s only 10 degrees above freezing! I know of places around the county that are “cold spots” that I wouldn’t be surprised got into the 30s that night. The weather on this plateau can be very interesting.

You all have a great day and be mindful of those storms this evening.

 

 

Well, the day is here! The Great Eclipse is upon us and it is so cool to see everyone so excited about something “sciency”! Yeah, I’m gettin’ my geek on today (ha). Seriously, this is an incredible day here on the plateau and I sincerely hope you take full advantage of this historic phenomena.

For today’s post, I put together a timeline of things for you too look for. I hope you read over this and make note of what to look for. It all happens really fast once totality draws near.

Eclipse timeline

It may seem like it take forever for totality to near, but as we get into those final seconds before totality, there’s a lot to look for in a short period of time!

A few minutes before totality

Look for mysterious stripes of light and shade caused by the sun’s rays being distorted by Earth’s turbulent atmosphere. This is the same kind of turbulence that causes the stars to twinkle.

A few seconds before totality

Look for the approach of the moon’s dark shadow by concentrating on the northwest part of the sky. It will be surging toward you at 30 miles per minute and may first appear as a deep gray, tinged with hues of red and orange. Any clouds between you and the shadow will appear to darken dramatically. Totality is nearly at hand.

Baily’s Beads

Also in those final seconds before totality, you’ll see little points of light around the moon. This effect occurs as the mountains on the moon reach into the thin crescent sun and block parts of it from view, while valleys permit the last remaining rays of sunlight to form glittering spots, or beads, at the edge of the moon’s black disk. This will last for only a few moments.

Diamond Ring

It’s time to remove your glasses! The very last thing you’ll see before complete totality is what is referred to as the diamond ring effect. This is the final bead of light. It forms a small explosion of light that resembles a diamond on a ring. This is when you’ll hear those around start oohing and ahhing. Ha

Totality!

This is what you’ve been waiting for and what those in the 99% or less will not get to see. The whole landscape plunges into darkness similar to that of a full-moon night. Stars begin to pop out and a couple of planets will become brightly visible. The temp drops about 10 degrees and you may feel a slight cool breeze. The corona of the sun is now in full view. The light beams out for millions of miles, like streamers.

To the right of the sun, look for Venus. It will be that very bright object that looks like a bright star. Look to the far left, that’s Jupiter you see shining bright. Look even closer and you’ll see some stars shining through. Stars…in the afternoon!

Look around the horizon. It will resemble a sunset that surrounds you. When have you ever seen sunset/rise colors on the northern or southern horizons? Never, until today!

Finally, another explosion of light as you will see the diamond ring effect reappear. This is the warning that you need to be preparing to put those glasses back on. The eclipse will seem to end much quicker than it began.

For even more, download the free Eclipse Safari App!

Enjoy!

 

 

The latest model runs continue to trend drier and sunnier for us on Monday afternoon. Don’t head to the mountains along the East TN and North Carolina border, though. Clouds may obscure a lot of the view over those mountains. Even here on the plateau we still have to be ready to move, just in case a cloud threatens to hide totality at the last minute. There will be some clouds around, but the overall sky condition should be fine. Here is the latest model projection for Monday afternoon when it comes to precipitation. Notice we’re rain free, though we will have some clouds floating by. During totality it will get much darker and will be comparable to a full moon night. I’ll have much, much more on what you can expect to see later on today or Monday morning. I’m working on a list of things to see and the times at which you’ll see them during the eclipse. Tomorrow is going to be a very exciting day!

 

At this time last week the models were painting a very gloomy picture for the eclipse. They showed widespread showers and storms all across the plateau. As we’ve grown closer to eclipse day, the models have, thankfully, trended toward more isolated shower activity. This morning, the models all paint about the same picture. They show the majority of the state being rain-free at 1:00 pm. However, there are isolated showers on the plateau. This is where things get tricky. There is a chance that location where you are might be cloudy, while just down the road is still rather clear. I would be prepared to move.  Just keep in mind that everyone else may be on the move too. This is the latest model forecast, which indicates isolated showers across the plateau. I circled the plateau on the map.  It’s a typical summer day, except we have a total solar eclipse occurring (ha).

Regardless of cloud cover, expect the temperature to drop 5-10 degrees during the eclipse. This will mean that Monday will be a bit cooler than we otherwise would be, though we’ll still be in the 80s. At least we don’t have the problems California is facing. The state gets 40% of it’s electric power from the sun. With the eclipse, that output is going to be cut by half! Folks  who rely on rooftop panels will have to switch to the regular power grid, putting a strain on the whole system. I hadn’t even thought about the impact on solar power. If we do have showers/storms around during the eclipse, it’ll be incredibly interesting to see how they respond to the eclipse. Will they suddenly dissipate? With they get weaker/stronger? I guess we’ll find out! (This is a hot topic in the meteorology community right now, so all eyes will be on us if weather develops!)

As for today’s forecast, we can expect mostly to partly cloudy skies with isolated showers and storms. The weekend is looking hot but dry, with highs near 90 and high humidity. Keep me in mind in the morning, as I’ll be in Nashville running a 10K that raises money to fight sex trafficking in Tennessee (have you seen the horrific stories in the news lately on this?). Hopefully, we won’t get too hot out there running!

Yesterday was the anniversary of Hurricane Camille hitting the Gulf Coast. A devastating storm that will never be forgotten. Today, we move north to Iowa where, on this day in 1925, a hailstorm like they had never seen before struck in the late morning hours. The hailstorm completely destroyed all crops and killed most of the livestock in its path. That path was 75 miles long and 10 miles wide! Corn fields were so demolished that the farmers had to leave their farms to find work elsewhere. It was, to this day, one of the worst hailstorms in US history. We have our own incredible hailstorm anniversary coming on August 29, you know? You’ll want to check back here on that day, for sure, when I write about that historic event. I’ve got some good stuff (ha)!

Meanwhile, I’ll be checking that eclipse forecast and posting updates here on Monday morning and over the weekend at https://meteorologistmark.com/.

You all have a great, safe weekend and let me know if you ever have any weather or eclipse questions!