Beau Dodson's WeatherTalk Blog

July 13, 2016: Warm weather

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This forecast update covers far southern Illinois, far southeast Missouri, and far western Kentucky. See the coverage map on the right side of the blog.

What do the confidence levels mean?

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This forecast covers the counties in red.

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This forecast covers the counties in red.

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New!  Video page on the main Weather Talk web-site.

I am posting videos each day on the WeatherTalk website.  The videos can be found under the BeauCast tab. Click here.
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The probabilities for rain each day will vary.  Trying to time these little vort maxes/energy will be tricky.  Don’t get too hung up on the % number.  Also, keep in mind, a 30% chance for storms typically means that there WILL be storms in the area.  But, perhaps the odds favor them missing you.  A 30% chance for storms does not mean there is a small risk for thunderstorms.  

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Tuesday Night – Partly cloudy.  Warm and humid.  A few evening thunderstorms possible.
What impact is expected?  Maybe wet roadways and lightning.  
Temperatures:  Lows in the 72-76 degree range
Winds: Winds southwest at 4-8 mph.
What is the chance for precipitation? 50%
Coverage of precipitation:  Scattered
Is severe weather expected?  Unlikely, but monitor updates.
My confidence in this part of the forecast verifying: Medium
Should I cancel my outdoor plans?  No, but check radars from time to time

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Jul 13, 2016
Wednesday 
– Partly sunny.  Warm and humid.  Thunderstorms possible.
What impact is expected?  Lightning and wet roadways if storms form.
Temperatures:  High temperatures in the  88-94 degree range.  Heat index at or above 100 degrees.
Winds:  Southwest winds at 5-10 mph with gusts to 15-20 mph.

What is the chance for precipitation? 40%
Coverage of precipitation?  Perhaps scattered
Is severe weather expected?  Unlikely, but monitor updates.
My confidence in this part of the forecast verifying: Medium
Should I cancel my outdoor plans?  No, but check radars
Sunrise will be at 5:46 a.m. and sunset will be at 8:14 p.m.
UV index will be 8-11.  High.
Moonrise will be at 2:41 p.m. and moonset will be at 12:42 a.m.  Waxing Crescent

Wednesday Night – Partly cloudy.  Warm and humid.  A chance for thunderstorms.
What impact is expected?  Maybe wet roadways and lightning.  
Temperatures:  Lows in the 72-76 degree range
Winds: Winds southwest at 4-8 mph.
What is the chance for precipitation?  40%
Coverage of precipitation:  Scattered
Is severe weather expected?  Perhaps.  Monitor updates.
My confidence in this part of the forecast verifying: Medium
Should I cancel my outdoor plans?  No, but monitor updates

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July 14, 2016
Thursday 
– Partly sunny.  Warm and humid.  Thunderstorms possible.
What impact is expected?  Lightning and wet roadways if storms form.  Perhaps gusty winds near storms.
Temperatures:  High temperatures in the  86-92 degree range
Winds:  Southwest winds at 5-10 mph with gusts to 15 mph.

What is the chance for precipitation? 60%
Coverage of precipitation?  Scattered to perhaps numerous
Is severe weather expected?  Monitor updates.
My confidence in this part of the forecast verifying: Medium
Should I cancel my outdoor plans?  No, but check radars
Sunrise will be at 5:46 a.m. and sunset will be at 8:14 p.m.
UV index will be 8-10.  Moderate to high.
Moonrise will be at 3:36 p.m. and moonset will be at 1:48 a.m.  Waxing Crescent.

Thursday Night – Partly cloudy.  Warm and humid.  A thunderstorm possible.
What impact is expected?  Maybe wet roadways and lightning.  
Temperatures:  Lows in the 72-76 degree range
Winds: Winds southwest at 4-8 mph.
What is the chance for precipitation?  50%-60%
Coverage of precipitation:  Scattered to perhaps numerous
Is severe weather expected?  Unlikely, but monitor updates.
My confidence in this part of the forecast verifying: Medium
Should I cancel my outdoor plans?  

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July 15th
Friday 
– Partly sunny.  Warm and humid.  Showers and thunderstorms possible.
What impact is expected?  Wet roadways and lightning.  Perhaps gusty winds near storms.
Temperatures:  High temperatures in the  85-90 degree range
Winds:  Northwest winds at 5-10 mph with gusts to 15 mph.  Winds may be variable in direction, at times.

What is the chance for precipitation?  40%-50%
Coverage of precipitation? Scattered to perhaps numerous.
Is severe weather expected?  Monitor updates.
My confidence in this part of the forecast verifying: Medium
Should I cancel my outdoor plans?  No, but check radars
Sunrise will be at 5:47 a.m. and sunset will be at 8:13 p.m.
UV index will be 4-8.  Low to moderate.  If we have less clouds on Friday then you can increase the UV numbers.
Moonrise will be at 4:30 p.m. and moonset will be at 12:24 a.m. Waxing Crescent

Friday Night – Partly cloudy.  Warm and humid.  Showers and thunderstorms possible.
What impact is expected?    
Temperatures:  Lows in the 68-74 degree range
Winds: Winds northwest at 4-8 mph.
What is the chance for precipitation? 40%
Coverage of precipitation: Scattered
Is severe weather expected?  Unlikely, but monitor updates.
My confidence in this part of the forecast verifying:  Low
Should I cancel my outdoor plans?  

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July 16th
Saturday 
– Partly sunny.  Warm and humid.  Thunderstorms possible.
What impact is expected?  Lightning and wet roadways if storms form.
Temperatures:  High temperatures in the  84-88 degree range
Winds:  North winds at 5-10 mph with gusts to 15 mph.

What is the chance for precipitation? 40%
Coverage of precipitation? Perhaps scattered.  Low confidence.
Is severe weather expected?  Unlikely, but monitor updates.
My confidence in this part of the forecast verifying: Low
Should I cancel my outdoor plans?  No, but check radars
Sunrise will be at 5:49 a.m. and sunset will be at 8:12 p.m.
UV index will be 8-10.  Moderate to high.
Moonrise will be at 5:42 p.m. and moonset will be at 3:05 a.m.  Waxing Crescent.

Saturday Night – Partly cloudy.  A thunderstorm possible in the evening.
What impact is expected?  Maybe wet roadways and lightning.  
Temperatures:  Lows in the 68-74 degree range
Winds: Winds east/northeast at 4-8 mph.
What is the chance for precipitation? 30%
Coverage of precipitation: Scattered
Is severe weather expected?  Unlikely, but monitor updates.
My confidence in this part of the forecast verifying: Low
Should I cancel my outdoor plans?  

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July 17, 2016
Sunday 
– Partly sunny.  Perhaps an isolated thunderstorm.
What impact is expected?
Temperatures:  High temperatures in the  86-88 degree range
Winds:  East/southeast winds at 5-10 mph with gusts to 15 mph.

What is the chance for precipitation? 20%-30%
Coverage of precipitation?  Perhaps isolated
Is severe weather expected?  No
My confidence in this part of the forecast verifying: Low
Should I cancel my outdoor plans?  No, but check radars
Sunrise will be at 5:49 a.m. and sunset will be at 8:12 p.m.
UV index will be 8-11.  Moderate to high.
Moonrise will be at 6:17 p.m. and moonset will be at 3:50 a.m. Waxing Crescent.

Sunday Night – Partly cloudy.
What impact is expected?  
Temperatures:  Lows in the 70-74 degree range
Winds: Winds southwest at 4-8 mph.
What is the chance for precipitation? 20%
Coverage of precipitation:
Is severe weather expected?  No
My confidence in this part of the forecast verifying: Low
Should I cancel my outdoor plans?  

More information on the UV index.  Click here.

The weekend forecast is sponsored by Farmer and Company Real Estate.

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The weekend forecast is sponsored by Farmer and Company Real Estate.  Click here to visit their site.

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Don’t forget to check out the Southern Illinois Weather Observatory web-site for weather maps, tower cams, scanner feeds, radars, and much more!  Click here

beausanalysis

An explanation of what is happening in the atmosphere over the coming days…

  1.  Rain chances
  2.   Warm and humid
  3.   Heat wave next week?

The tornado survey from Ballard, McCracken, and Massac Counties is finished.  There was a tornado that stretched across all three counties.

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Here is the official storm survey  Click Here

Subscribers to my weather texting service received the only tornado alert issued.  There were no other tornado warnings issued.

We did have some showers and thunderstorms push through the region on Monday night and Tuesday morning.  Mostly over extreme southern Illinois and western Kentucky/Tennessee.  Some of the storms produced heavy downpours and gusty winds.

This is what radar looked like early Tuesday morning

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And, here was the Tuesday morning satellite view.  You can see the large area of storms over Kansas and Missouri.  This system weakened considerably through the morning hours.

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Two dying MCS’s pushed towards our region on Tuesday morning.  One from western Missouri and one from the north/northwest.  These systems left behind outflow boundaries.  These boundaries were the focus for new thunderstorm development on Tuesday afternoon.

A series of weak disturbances will move along an incoming front over the coming days.  These disturbances will spark a new round of showers and thunderstorms.  Some of the storms could contain gusty winds and heavy rain.   Lightning, of course.  The threat for severe weather isn’t zero, but it isn’t all that great either.  If we were to have some severe weather it would probably be in the form of damaging winds.  A down burst is also possible.

Wednesday morning lows

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Wednesday afternoon highs

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 A cold front will sink into our region from the north on Thursday.  The front will stall over our region until Saturday.  The stationary front might move back north as a warm front on Saturday or Sunday.  What that means is that we will have a few chances for showers and thunderstorms through at least the first part of the weekend.
It will be difficult to forecast each MCS that might form over the coming days.  Model guidance handles MCS’s (thunderstorm complexes) poorly.  When you have a stalled front, during the Month of July, you can expect several rounds of heavy thunderstorms.  PWAT values will continue to range from 1.6 to 2.3″.  PWAT values are used to measure moisture in the entire atmospheric column from the surface to thousands of feet aloft.  The higher numbers generally favor heavier rain events.
If thunderstorms form and train over the same areas then some spots could easily pick up 1-3″ of rain.  As a matter of fact, on Tuesday morning, some spots did pick up more than 2-3″ of rain.  Caldwell and Hopkins Counties received a widespread 1.5 to 3.5″ rain event between 3 am on Tuesday morning and 10 am.
A heat wave my develop next week.  Almost all of the guidance is showing heights increasing by Monday onward.  That could mean daily highs in the 90’s with heat index values above 100 degrees.
Here is the 500 mb map showing heights.  You can see the ridge riding up and over our region.  And, the center of the heat ridge might be centered over the Missouri Valley.  That would keep us in the hot zone.  Whether any disturbances will make it into our region next week is still questionable.  The pattern has been for us to bounce back and forth between the ridge and the trough.  We heat up when the ridge is present.  And, we pick up storms when the trough is present.
Thunderstorm complexes will likely track through the Dakotas and perhaps into the Great Lakes area.  Into southern Canada, as well.
Here is the 500 mb map for July 21st
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Here are the latest crop numbers for the week ending July 10th.
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I will keep the Beau Dodson Weather Facebook page updated, Beau Dodson on Twitter, and the texts.  Don’t forget if you want to receive links to the daily blog and Facebook updates to check box number four on the texting site.  That is the one used for non-severe days.

What are PWAT values?  Great question!  I found this blog post that explains it quite well.  Click here for more information on PWAT values.

Storm Tracking Radar

http://www.weatherobservatory.com/weather-radar.htm

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We have regional radars and local city radars – if a radar does not seem to be updating then try another one. Occasional browsers need their cache cleared. You may also try restarting your browser. That usually fixes the problem. Occasionally we do have a radar go down. That is why I have duplicates. Thus, if one fails then try another one.

If you have any problems then please send me an email beaudodson@usawx.com

WEATHER RADAR PAGEClick here

We also have a new national interactive radar – you can view that radar by clicking here.

Local interactive city radars include St Louis, Mt Vernon, Evansville, Poplar Bluff, Cape Girardeau, Marion, Paducah, Hopkinsville, Memphis, Nashville, Dyersburg, and all of eastern Kentucky – these are interactive radars. Local city radars – click here

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Live Lightning Data – zoom and pan:  Click here
Live Lightning Data with sound (click the sound button on the left side of the page): Click here

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Can we expect severe thunderstorms over the next 24 to 48 hours?  Remember that a severe thunderstorm is defined as a thunderstorm that produces 58 mph winds or higher, quarter size hail or larger, and/or a tornado.

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Tuesday night:  A few thunderstorms possible.  Mostly during the evening hours.  Storms that develop could produce isolated reports of high winds.  Heavy rain and lightning, as well.  Small chance for dime to nickel size hail.
Wednesday into Saturday:  Periods of showers and thunderstorms will be possible.  I will need to fine tune the details.  I can’t rule out additional severe weather.  Damaging winds would be the primary concern.

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Small adjustments to rain probabilities.  Still struggling with the different systems that will push through our region over the coming days.  Each one could spark some storms.
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A couple of storms could become severe over the next few days.  Currently, a widespread outbreak is not in the forecast.  Monitor updates, however, in case the severe weather threat increases.
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Main concern will be a few pop up storms over the coming days.  Storms could produce heavy rain, lightning, gusty winds, and small hail.  Avoid flooded roadways.  Move indoors till lightning passes.  Common sense rules of summer.
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How much precipitation should we expect over the next few days?
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We will continue to have at least scattered thunderstorm chances over the coming days.  It is a tricky forecast.  Timing these little vort maximums, that travel through the upper air flow, is difficult.

Any storms that form could produce heavy downpours.  Much like recent weeks, there is no shortage of moisture in the atmosphere.

Rainfall totals will likely range from 0.25″ to over three inches between now and Saturday night.  Again, storms this time of the year can drop heavy rain in short periods of time.  And, some spots could have flash flooding.

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Here are the current river stage forecasts.   You can click your state and then the dot for your location.  It will bring up the full forecast and hydrograph.

Click Here For River Stage Forecasts

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Here is the official 6-10 day and 8-14 day temperature and precipitation outlook.  Check the date stamp at the top of each image (so you understand the time frame).

The forecast maps below are issued by the Weather Prediction Center (NOAA).

The latest 8-14 day temperature and precipitation outlook.  Note the dates are at the top of the image.  These maps DO NOT tell you how high or low temperatures or precipitation will be.  They simply give you the probability as to whether temperatures or precipitation will be above or below normal.

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Who do you trust for your weather information and who holds them accountable?

I have studied weather in our region since the late 1970’s.  I have 37 years of experience in observing our regions weather patterns.  My degree is in Broadcast Meteorology from Mississippi State University and an Associate of Science (AS).  I am currently working on my Bachelor’s Degree in Geoscience.

My resume includes:

Member of the American Meteorological Society.

NOAA Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador. 

Meteorologist for McCracken County Emergency Management.  I served from 2005 through 2015.

I own and operate the Southern Illinois Weather Observatory.

Recipient of the Mark Trail Award, WPSD Six Who Make A Difference Award, Kentucky Colonel, and the Caesar J. Fiamma” Award from the American Red Cross

In 2009 I was presented with the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety Award. 

Recognized by the Kentucky House of Representatives for my service to the State of Kentucky leading up to several winter storms and severe weather outbreaks.

I am also President of the Shadow Angel Foundation which serves portions of western Kentucky and southern Illinois.

There is a lot of noise on the internet.  A lot of weather maps are posted without explanation.  Over time you should learn who to trust for your weather information.

My forecast philosophy is simple and straight forward.

  • Communicate in simple terms
  • To be as accurate as possible within a reasonable time frame before an event
  • Interact with you on Twitter, Facebook, and the blog
  • Minimize the “hype” that you might see on television or through other weather sources
  • Push you towards utilizing wall-to-wall LOCAL TV coverage during severe weather events

I am a recipient of the Mark Trail Award, WPSD Six Who Make A Difference Award, Kentucky Colonel, and the Caesar J. Fiamma” Award from the American Red Cross.  In 2009 I was presented with the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety Award.  I was recognized by the Kentucky House of Representatives for my service to the State of Kentucky leading up to several winter storms and severe weather outbreaks.

If you click on the image below you can read the Kentucky House of Representatives Resolution.

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Many of my graphics are from www.weatherbell.com – a great resource for weather data, model data, and more

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You can sign up for my AWARE email by clicking here I typically send out AWARE emails before severe weather, winter storms, or other active weather situations. I do not email watches or warnings. The emails are a basic “heads up” concerning incoming weather conditions.

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