Archive for July 24th, 2012
Dog Day Afternoon
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.
QUIET IN THE WEATHER OFFICE: The radar is very inactive across the northern half of Alabama today; warm air aloft associated with the upper ridge is keeping a lid on shower development so far; most of the showers and storms in Alabama are south of U.S. 80 (Demopolis to Selma to Montgomery to Opelika), and even down over South Alabama the activity is pretty widely separated.
As you might expect on a late July day, the weather is hot. At 2:00 temperatures include 93 at Anniston, 94 at Birmingham, and 95 at Tuscaloosa. The sky is mostly sunny.
REST OF THE WEEK: The weather won’t change much tomorrow and Thursday. Afternoon highs will be generally in the 94 to 98 degree range, and any afternoon showers will be few and far between. But on Friday an upper trough to the north will put a big dent in the heat ridge, and we expect a good increase in the number of showers and storms thanks to the colder air aloft, and a surface front approaching from the north. The high Friday should drop back into the low 90s thanks to the clouds and showers. Can’t promise rain for everybody Friday, but it will clearly be our best crack at a good rain this week.
WEEKEND OUTLOOK: Drier air begins to move into North Alabama Saturday. Looks like the best chance of showers and storms will be from roughly I-20 southward… and by Sunday almost all of the state should be in drier, continental air. Looks like a high Saturday in the low 90s, followed by mid 90s Sunday, but the humidity Sunday should be relatively low for late July in Alabama.
NEXT WEEK: That dry should linger across much of Alabama Monday and Tuesday with generally dry conditions and highs in the mid 90s. See the Weather Xtreme video for more long range ideas.
TROPICS: A non-tropical low northeast of Bermuda is being monitored… I am not a big fan of giving these systems names since they are really hybrid systems in the North Atlantic… it is moving northeast and won’t impact any land area. The rest of the Atlantic basin remains very quiet.
AT THE BEACH: Very typical summer weather is likely from Panama City west to Gulf Shores through the weekend. About 5 to 7 hours of sunshine daily, with the risk of scattered showers and thunderstorms. Highs along the immediate coast will remain in the 87 to 90 degree range, and the sea water temperature at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab this afternoon is 87 degrees (F).
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 new episode.
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…
Attention Facebook Users!
Social media is an interesting thing. Many claim to be an “expert”, but I am not sure there really such a thing. It is constantly evolving, but for sure it is very powerful and a great tool I use extensively.
Many people use social media as their primary source of severe weather warnings these days, and that has forced me to make a change in how I distribute weather content on Facebook…
First off, let me say this doesn’t not impact my Twitter or Google Plus feeds… you subscribe to @spann on Twitter and you will get all of the content… same thing if you put the +James Spann account in a circle on Google Plus.
THE FACEBOOK DILEMMA: There is a cap on the number of “friends” you can have on a regular account, and I have been at that 5,000 limit for several years. So, generally when this happens, you develop a “like page”, which I have done. In fact, that page has over 102,000 “likes”. These are generally people that are looking for good weather information, including severe weather watches and warnings.
So, what is the problem? Only about 10 to 15 percent of those that subscribe to the “like page” get the status update when posted! That means if a tornado warning is posted, only about 12,000 of the 102,000 will see it. Very, very dangerous. And, not acceptable.
THE SOLUTION: I am moving all weather updates, including warnings, back to the regular account page here. The one good thing Facebook has done is allow people to “subscribe” to an account, so even with the 5,000 friend limit, you can have an unlimited number of subscribers.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO: I know many of you use Facebook exclusively on your phone or tablet, but to be sure you get the warnings, you really, really need to do this on a computer.
Sign in to your Facebook account, and go to my regular account here.
You will need to click on the “subscribe” button (NOT a friend request… you will be told I have “too many friends” if you try).
Here is the important part. After you subscribe, hover the mouse over that same button (which will then say “subscribed”) and click on “settings”. Then, be sure you click on “all updates”. This will send all warnings, and weather updates I post to your Facebook wall. If you don’t do this step, it will be like the “like page”… you will miss most of the messages.
As of this morning I have over 45,000 subscribed to the account…. and for those that chose the “all updates” option they will receive all weather updates, severe weather warnings, etc that are posted.
WILL THE “LIKE PAGE” GO AWAY? Absolutely not. This is where you can post pictures, ask questions, pass on reports, etc. I continue to monitor that page like always… you just won’t see the weather updates there.
So… the summer “Facebook conversion” continues. Be sure to subscribe to the Facebook.com/spann account, and choose “all updates” to be sure you won’t miss anything. Before you know it, we will be in the midst of some kind of big weather event and you will need that information. And, be sure and pass this along to those you know that would like to subscribe.
The Heat Is On
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.
HEAT LEVELS CREEPING UP: The weather across Alabama won’t change much today through Thursday. Hot afternoon temperatures will be the headlight; most places will see a high in the 95 to 98 degree range with a good supply of summer sunshine. There will be a few cooling showers and thunderstorms around each afternoon, but they will be widely spaced due to the upper ridge overhead; the chance of any one spot getting wet is only about one in five.
FRIDAY: This will be the day with the best coverage of showers and thunderstorms as the upper ridge weakens thanks to a trough over the Great Lakes. Can’t promise rain for everybody, but no doubt this will be your best crack at getting a decent shower or storm. Temperatures fall back into the low 90s thanks to the clouds and showers.
THE WEEKEND: The GFS continues the idea of drier air working into Alabama from the north; we will mention just an outside risk of a stray shower Saturday, and we will keep Sunday and Monday dry. Temperatures will rise into the low to mid 90s, but humidity levels could very well be lower by Sunday and Monday. See the Weather Xtreme video for details and graphics.
RAIN UPDATE: Birmingham’s rain total for the year is 24.08?, making the deficiency for the year a very significant 7.89?. The deficit at Anniston is 6.26?, while Tuscaloosa needs 7.76? to get back to average for the year.
TROPICS: A weak disturbance over the northeast Gulf of Mexico will move into the far eastern part of the Florida Panhandle today with no development; this feature has enhanced showers and storms over the Florida Peninsula over the past 36 hours, but it really won’t impact our weather around here. The rest of the Atlantic basin is very quiet, with very dry air over much of the eastern Atlantic.
GULF COAST FORECAST: Scattered showers and storms near Panama City could be a little more numerous today and tomorrow, but otherwise we expect about 7 to 9 hours of sunshine through Thursday from Destin to Gulf Shores with just a few widely scattered showers and thunderstorms. Highs will be in the 87 to 90 degree range, and sea water temperatures are in the mid 80s.
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 the new episode we produced last night.
CONNECT: You can find me on all of the major social networks…
Look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 or so this afternoon…. enjoy the day!
WeatherBrains 339: Two Rooms Away and Asleep
WeatherBrains Episode 339 is now online (July 23, 2012). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE netcast audio program for you!
Tonight’s Guest WeatherBrain is the Science and Operations Officer at the National Weather Service Milwaukee. Dr. Jeff Craven is also one of the most recognized names in severe weather. He is one of two developers of the Craven-Brooks severe weather index.
Also joining us is Drew Smith from ReadyWarn. He spends some time discussing the ups and downs of social media.
Other discussions in this weekly podcast include topics like:
- Dust storm in Phoenix, AZ
- Extremes today were 119 at Death Valley, CA, and 29 at Chemult, OR
- JB – the strange looking guy
- Lake Meade at lowest level since 1937
- Hot in the middle section of the country as well
- Severe thunderstorm watch New York into New England
- and more!
Our email bag officer is really prepared with an audio update due to a conflict with another appointment.
From The Weather Center:
WeatherBrains 101: We hear the terms troughs and ridges, so this week we tackle a look at these two items.
TWIWH: Bill Murray looks back at the week of July 23rd. This week includes weather factors impacting an aircraft landing in New York City and crashing into the Empire State Building.
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 339:
NWA National Conference in Milwaukee
CIPS Warm Season Analog Guidance (and Jeff’s pick)
Picks of the Week:
JB Elliott – No pick – gets the horn!!
Bill Murray – CIPS Web Page
Brian Peters – Gets the Fog Horn
Kevin Selle – pc seventy two
Drew Smith – Treehouse Weather Kids
James Spann – Meteorsat 9 Views
The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like JB Elliott, Bill Murray, Kevin Selle, and Brian Peters. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating netcast about weather.
