MikJournal Monday 08/19/2019...Change From Hot and Dry?

Good Monday morning. I awakened to some computer issues this morning. That's always fun. Hopefully, this post will make it to your screen.

Anyway, let's talk weather. More and more people living in Kentucky are beginning to understand what I've been dealing with for several weeks here near Louisville: a lack of rainfall.

It has rained only two days this month for a drought-busting 0.71" at my place in Valley Station. I heard thunder around 1:00 this morning, but no rainfall here once again. The airport picked up 0.01" and now has 0.60" for the month. Yay!

Through yesterday, there were 22 Mesonet sites in Kentucky that have registered less than 0.50" this month. The Drought Monitor report due this Thursday will likely show an expansion of the 'abnormally dry' areas. I still don't think anyone really qualifies for moderate drought status yet.

And it appears that nobody will. Maybe. The CPC has our region in a 40-50 percent chance for above normal rainfall in the day 6-10 time frame. But, that drops to a 33-40 percent chance for above normal readings in the 10-14 day time period.

Temperatures that have been soaring well into the 90's lately, flustering meteorologists who make forecasts, will be coming down. I mean we're not talking record lows here, but it should feel much better than what we've been dealing with here lately.

In the meantime, here is something we do not regularly talk about during the summer months, a top ten list of driest months.

I know we still have 12 days to go before the end of the month. But, for those who are curious, here are a few locations who stand a realistic chance of making the top ten driest August list. In the list below, I used the 10th place value. Obviously, that means anything greater than that amount will not be on the list.

Louisville....0.96" (0.60")
Lexington....1.26" (0.41")
Jackson........2.64" (0.07")
London........2.02" (0.00")

As for temperatures, yesterday really highlighted what a dry ground can do for temperatures. Several areas of central and eastern Kentucky soared into the mid 90's. Lexington recorded a high of 97 degrees, beating out Louisville's 96. These values only add more intensity to sucking out the moisture from an already dried out ground, or at least the top few inches of the soil.

So, let's hope for some much needed rainfall. The CPC gives us a fair shot for above normal rainfall along with the beleaguered GFS.

Have a good week everyone.

MS