Meteorologist Mark

Main threats

No major threats in sight.

Summary

Can you believe we’re getting two sunny days in a row? It just doesn’t seem possible, but alas, here we are! (ha) This sunshine should be with us through Tuesday.

We’ll start seeing a chance of showers creep back in to our forecast on Wednesday. This is not a washout, by any means, but we could certainly see a few showers across the plateau. Those chances increase a bit for Thursday.

Our best chance of rain for the week comes on Friday, when a strong cold front will be knocking at our door. This will bring even more showers and t-storms. At this time, severe weather does not look likely and flooding doesn’t look to be a big problem either. We have several days to dry out between now and then and that will help out a lot. Things dry out fast this time of year!

By Saturday, we could still see some showers around as temps fall. The sun should return by Sunday. Temps could fall into the teens Sunday night.

Records

A major winter storm struck the Midstate on this day in 1894. Most places had over half a foot of snow, with many having over a foot! Byrdstown officially recorded 14 inches, while Nashville had nearly 10 inches.

Drought in 1977 brought reduced visibilities from dust to Virginia and Florida from the 24th thought the 28th. Visibilities were caused by dust from the Great Plains. Severe drought there and winds that gusted to 100 mph carried dust all across the country, leading to miserable breathing conditions and filthy air.

Almanac*

*Almanac data was not available from the NWS this morning, so I pulled data from weatherTAP’s rooftop station. Therefore, some numbers may change tomorrow. 

Record high: 73

Record low: 2

Today’s sunset: 5:31

Tomorrow’s sunrise: 6:13

Today’s day length: 11 hrs 17 mins 28 secs

Tomorrow’s day length: 11 hrs 19 mins 41 secs

One year ago today

The official high on this day one year ago today was 64 degrees, but that occurred just after midnight. A cold front had passed through and temps were dropping. Most of the day was spent in the upper 40s and lower 50s. The cold front dropped 0.87 inches of rain when it passed through.

Astronomy

Sky viewing conditions tonight: GOOD

Moon phase: Waning Gibbous, 60% illumination

If you’re up late, the moon is absolutely beautiful these days! I saw it last night around 11:00 and it was a beautiful sight to see. That moon will be on display again tonight!

Toward dawn, look for Jupiter. It will be hanging out with the moon this week during those early morning hours. Let the moon be your guide in directing you to Jupiter this whole week!

News

My excitement continues to build for the launch of DEMO-1! Be SURE and follow weatherTAP on Twitter. I’ll post updates quite often here, too. I’m going to be busy posting to social media! But hey, that’s what I do, right? And, that’s the point of this trip; to share NASA and SpaceX’s success with everyone. You’re sure to learn something!

Here’s is the agenda, for those of you who are interested. I’ll be updating social media as each activity takes place.

You all have a great day! If you have any questions about this trip, or if you have any questions you would like me to ask them, just let me know!

I apologize for that post that just went out. I was trying to work on tomorrow’s and accidentally published it.

This rocket launch this week has just got me all crazy, folks (ha) But, it’s a good kinda crazy. This goof gives me an opportunity to share with you what I just published on Facebook this evening.

“This week, SpaceX is poised to make history with the first-ever test flight of a private spaceship built to carry astronauts into orbit. It will launch the Crew Dragon Demo-1 mission at 2:48 a.m. EST on Saturday, March 2,” SpaceX, via Twitter.

I’ll be there covering it all! BE SURE and follow my blog (https://meteorologistmark.com/)! And follow weatherTAP on Twitter (twitter.com/weathertap”

You’ll want to follow along and the best way to do that is via WeatherTAP’s Twitter page, this blog, and/or Instagram. I will be posting on weatherTAP’s Facebook but those posts are not timely (it’s a Facebook thing). My personal page posts may show up much quicker, esp if you go to your options and select “see first” under the “Following” tab.

Main threats

Summary

Discussion

Records

Almanac

Astronomy

Ok. We simply cannot have two sunny days in a row. Who broke the universe?!

News

Record rainfall

Rocket launch

We were very fortunate when it came to severe storms last night. That could have been a lot worse. Just don’t forget those who weren’t so fortunate, and who are cleaning up lots of debris today. At least one family is mourning the lost of their loved one in Columbus, Mississippi.

We can’t make light of our ongoing flooding situation. We also can’t make light of these gusty north winds that I’ve been warning you about. It won’t take much to topple some of these trees and we are still facing the risk of power outages.

But, at least we have drier weather today! And that sun won’t look half bad, too. We’re looking dry through at least Tuesday. The winds will be subsiding by Sunday night.

And now for the Sunday story!

This is one of those things I get asked about every once in a while. It’s an intriguing question and one I attempt to answer in today’s Sunday Story! I hope you enjoy.

Does Hot Water Freeze Faster Than Cold Water

There is no shortage of myths when it comes to weather. You’ve probably heard your fair share!

One myth I hear quite often is that hot water freezes faster than cold water. This is probably one of the more popular myths of our time.

This myth, like most, originates from a misunderstanding. Hot water cools faster than cold water, but the freezing part is a different story.

Let’s say you have a bowl of hot water in one hand that is 200 degrees (better use a potholder!). In the other hand you have a bowl of cold water that is 40 degrees. If you set both outside on a 20-degree night, the temperature of the 200-degree water is going to cool very quickly!

Meanwhile, the water in the 40-degree pot is going to lose heat much more slowly and gradually fall toward the freezing temperature of 32 degrees.

The interesting thing is that the temperature in the 200-degree water will very quickly close in on the colder water’s temperature, but it will not reach the freezing temperature before the cold water does. The hot water simply lost heat quicker, but it won’t freeze quicker.

Interestingly, water is one of the only substances on earth that floats when it becomes frozen. Most substance become more dense and sink. If water had that quality aquatic life would have no way of surviving icy waters, as life would be crushed by sinking ice.

If you hear a myth don’t be afraid to test it. Just don’t repeat my mistake of testing the “hot water freezes first” on porch steps. As a kid, I put cold water on one side and hot water on the other side or our porch steps.Then, I forgot about the experiment and I forgot to tell dad.

I’m still apologizing for that one.