Archive for June 26th, 2012
Another Day and Another Parade of Heat
Here is a roundup of todays highs from far and wide
ALABAMA (it will be a lot hotter in just two or three days)
96 Huntsville
93 Cullman
KANSAS
110 Dodge City
110 Goodland
106 Wichita
115 Hill City (hottest in the nation today)
110 Medicine Hat
112 Russell
OKLAHOMA
111 Gage
110 Clinton, Frederick
104 Oklahoma City
TEXAS
106 Dallas (Dallas Fort Worth Airport)
108 Wichita Falls
106 Amarillo
108 Childress, San Angelo
109 Austin, Del Rio
110 Laredo
OTHERS
104 Fort Smith, Ark.
105 Roswell, New Mex.
106 Tucumcari, New Mex.
110 Phoenix
108 Scottsdale and Yuma, Ariz.
105 Denver
111 Lamar, Colo.
106 Pueblo, Colo.
USA EXTREMES TODAY
32 this morning at Truckee, Calif.
115 this afternoon at Hill, Kans.
Pleasant Tonight; But Nasty Heat Ahead
An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player on the right sidebar of the blog. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here.
RIGHT NOW: Only 84 degrees at Valley Head at 2:00 this afternoon… other “cool” places include 86 at Scottsboro, and 88 at Albertville and Crossville. Most other places are in the low to mid 90s with very low humidity values; the dew point has dropped into the 40s over parts of North Alabama.
Tonight will be pretty pleasant, and most places will see a low between 60 and 65 early tomorrow. But, no doubt some of the cooler spots will wind up in the upper 50s across Northeast Alabama. Not bad at all for summertime in Alabama.
SIZZLING DAYS TO RETURN: The heat tomorrow will won’t be too bad, with low to mid 90s. But, unfortunately it looks like we have potential for at least four consecutive days of triple digit heat for much of Alabama Friday through Monday, with daily highs between 100 and 105 degrees. The most intense heat should come Friday, Saturday, and Sunday… the most extreme readings will come over North and West Alabama, closer to the upper high (the “death ridge”). Most all of our heat records in late June were set in 1931, and we could very well break a few of those along the way. Our hottest June temperature on record in Birmingham is 106 degrees, set on June 29, 1931… I doubt if we get to that level, but it will be close.
And, of course, the heat ridge also means basically no significant rain as the dusty conditions continue across our state.
NEXT WEEK: The heat should back off a bit next week; highs should be in the mid 90s around the 4th of July, and we might even see a few “scattered, mostly afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms” as the upper ridge breaks down a bit. Still, not the kind of widespread rain we need. Take some time to watch the afternoon Weather Xtreme video for all of the details.
WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 90 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40. Scroll down for the show notes on this week’s episode we recorded last night.
CONNECT: You can find me on all of the major social networks…
Look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow…
WeatherBrains 335: Don’t Hit the Red X
WeatherBrains Episode 335 is now online (June 26, 2012). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE netcast audio program for you!
Our Guest WeatherBrain for this episode is Cathy Post. Author of Hurricane Audrey, The Deadly Storm of 1957, published by Pelican Books in 2007. She joins us from her home in New Mexico.
And joining us as a special guest WeatherBrains is Jill Kidder
. Jill is in charge of fund raising for the National Hurricane Museum and Science Center, a project that is under development in Lake Charles LA.
Our third guest WeatherBrain is Gray Stream. Gray is the Board Chairman of the National Hurricane Museum and Science Center. Gray joins us in Lake Charles with Jimmy and Keith Trahan, who are survivors of Hurricane Audrey. Jimmy and Keith are stars in the documentary about Hurricane Audrey.
Our guest panelist this week is Brian Neudorff. Brian is the chief meteorologist at KMVT in Southern Idaho. A graduate of Purdue University, Brian also has earned his Certificate of Broadcast Meteorology and is certified by the American Meteorological Association.
Other discussions in this weekly podcast include topics like:
- Extreme flooding south of Tallahassee
- Tropical Storm Debby
- National Heat Wave continues
- and more!
Our email bag officer is getting the hang of things, so he summarizes the incoming email.
From The Weather Center:
WeatherBrains 101: Coming through the first month of hurricane season for 2012, so there is a question as to how big tropical storms are. 101 delves into that question coming up with some interesting facts on the biggest and smallest of storms.
TWIWH: Bill Murray looks back at the week of June 26th.
Listener Surveys: Okay, we continue to drive this topic into the ground, but we really do like to hear from you. Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to fill out the Listener Survey. The survey takes just a minute or two to complete and provides us with an opportunity to learn where you are and hear your thoughts and comments on the show. Click here to take the survey.
Web Sites from Episode 335:
Picks of the Week:
Brian Neudorff – Mesowest Weather Observations
JB Elliott – NASA’s Blue Marble Project
Nate Johnson – T. S. Debby revised forecast tracks
Bill Murray – Precipitable Water Plots
Brian Peters – no pick this week
Kevin Selle – Mushroom cloud over Beijing
James Spann – Meteorological Weatherstation
JP Spann – Wind Map
The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like JB Elliott, Nate Johnson, Bill Murray, Kevin Selle, and Brian Peters. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating netcast about weather.
Debby May Be A Depression Soon
Debby is looking extremely ragged this morning. The wind shear and dry air are taking a toll on the storm.
The flight level winds continue to decrease and surface wind measurements with the Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR) are as well.
Debby will become a depression in the next 24 hours as it moves slowly eastward.
Debby is expected to continue east or east northeast across Florida. The new official track has it into the Atlantic by by early Thursday. It could re-intensify over the open waters, but it should not threaten any land areas.
It will finally be goodbye to Debby.
Heat Levels Drop A Bit
An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player on the right sidebar of the blog. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here.
NOT AS HOT: A nice, refreshing airmass is over the Northeast U.S. this morning, and we will catch just the far edge of it, but temperatures will back down a bit with highs back in the low 90s today and tomorrow. Humidity will be fairly low for summer in Alabama, and nights a little cooler. Some of the cooler pockets might even reach the upper 50s early tomorrow.
BUT… the heat makes a quick comeback late in the week as the “death ridge” moves back in from the west. We return to the 99-102 degree range Thursday and Friday, and over the weekend the high should be at or 100 degrees Saturday and possibly Sunday. Actual model output statistics (MOS) guidance from the GFS prints 100 for Birmingham Friday, followed by 97 Saturday and 96 Sunday. Keep in mind MOS products skew toward climatology, so often temperatures are hotter in summer with a strong upper ridge, especially with dry soil conditions like we have now. I fully expect some West Alabama communities like Tuscaloosa to experience triple digit heat Thursday through Sunday.
FORGET THE APPS: I probably have 50 twitter messages from people showing screen grabs of smart phone apps showing highs in the 107-111 degree range for North Alabama this weekend. Won’t happen… those apps are based on automated model algorithms, and it won’t get that hot here. Yes, I do believe somebody over in West Alabama might make a run at 104, but 111 isn’t going to happen here. If that is what you app is telling you, you might dump that one.
NEXT WEEK: The upper ridge breaks down a bit early in the week, meaning the heat backs down with highs in the 90s, and it also opens the door for a few scattered, mostly afternoon and evening showers and storms by Tuesday and Wednesday. This isn’t a wash-out type rain (although that is badly needed), but at least a few spots could see a nice, cooling shower or storm for a while. But, generally speaking the Fourth of July weekend looks pretty routine around here with highs in the mid 90s, partly sunny days, and that risk of a pop-up afternoon shower or storm.
DEBBY: The tropical storm in the Northeast Gulf will continue to move eastward very slowly in coming days; the main threat for Florida will come from heavy rain and a few isolated, small, brief tornadoes. The bulk of the rain today will be from Tallahassee east to Jacksonville, and south through the peninsula. See the Weather Xtreme video for all of the graphics and details.
GULF COAST WEATHER: Conditions continue to improve. About 7 to 9 hours of sunshine on a daily basis for the rest of the week and the upcoming weekend from Gulf Shores east to Panama City… just a few isolated showers or storms. Highs will be in the 87 to 90 degree range, and the sea water temperature this morning at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab is 82 degrees. We should also note the Atlantic basin is pretty quiet, and once Debby leaves tropical storm formation is not expected through next week.
WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 90 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40. You can watch the unedited video version of the show below… the produced audio version will be posted later today (we are waiting on one phone interview that goes in the show).
CONNECT: You can find me on all of the major social networks…
I will be up in Jasper this morning speaking to a group of kids in a summer program at Bevill State… look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 or so this afternoon. Enjoy the day!
