The Hottest of the Hot

Check out these temps so far this month of August for selected 'hot' cities.
Average High/Low/Month Average format

Yuma AZ  112.0 / 86.6 / 99.3
Dallas (Exec) TX 109.0 / 85.8 / 97.4
Tulsa (Int'l) OK 110.2 /84.2 / 97.2
Wichita Falls TX 110.0 / 84.4 / 97.2
Phoenix AZ 109.2 / 84.8 / 97.0

MS

Record Still In Jeopardy

In a previous post, I wondered if we hit 90 degrees on Friday. It turned out we briefly touched the 90 degree mark. So, the streak continues at 20. However, today may even be more hard-pressed to touch that mark.

As of 11:30am, a weaking line of showers was approaching the Louisville area from the west. Heavier, steadier showers look to stay south of the Metro. More importantly, cloud cover will be tough to erode. With temperatures in the low 80's and expected to fall a few degrees with any onset of precipitation, I'm not expecting a bounce in readings until after 2:00pm.

My forecast chart, admittedly NOT professional, shows our temps dipping into the upper 70's to near 80. Then rebounding to a high of 88 IF we have the clouds and sun mixture. If we do get enough clearing, then 90 looks reasonable, but again, like yesterday, barely.

MS

No Record???

Did we hit 90 today? If we did, it was barely. It may not be official, but I haven't seen an official  90 degrees today at the Louisville Int'l airport. That would break the string of consecutive days at or above the 90 degree mark. Remember, the record was 22 consecutive days. Could the record for consecutive days above 90 stop at 19?....Stay tuned.

MS

Microburst For Valley Station

Looking at the radar, one wouldn't think too much about the storm cell over my area. Sure, there is heavy rain and lots of lightning.

But I couldn't get over how localized the storm was. That actual cell was made up of several smaller cells within the main cell, each one with its own power.

At my house, we had a brief gust of 50 mph winds and lots of lightning and rain. Possibly one of those wet microbursts. A little over a half-inch of rain. Yet, two miles away at my parents' home, streets were submerged, hail up to pennies was falling, and intense lightning. I would say 1-2" had fallen within a 2-mile radius there.

MS

Joining The 100-Degree Club...

Let's add Bowling Green and Hopkinsville to our growing list of 100-degree inductees. During the past couple of hours, Bowling Green hit 100 while Hopkinsville has reached 102. Nashville TN has hit the 100 degree mark now for the second time this summer.

The cold front is still lurking just north of the Ohio River. Therefore, with the atmosphere so juicy, cannot rule out an isolated storm near Louisville with better chances further south.

Keep cool. Heat index last hour at Louisville was 108! No official heat advisory though as we haven't met the 'time' qualification, I guess? I don't know but our heat index may touch 110 before the front passes.

MS

Emily On the Move...

Aug 3 - 4:30am UPDATE
I'm continuing to follow Emily's progress. The system has slowed some and therefore my original projection for a morning landfall near the Dominican Republic has been pushed back nearly 12 hours from my first estimate. Adding to the woes is the uncertainty of surface-based circulation and location at times. However, an overall consensus has arisen that places Emily on a path toward the vicinity of Santo Domingo as a strong tropical storm and then gets nearly shredded. Then there is the possibility of re-intensification as Emily moves more quickly to the north and northeast, thanks to the steering component of an upper level trough. Therefore, it's looking more and more likely that Florida will just see some wave action and not any other serious effects as this tropical system passes by to the east.
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11:00am UPDATE
Growing pains? Since my last report, Emily has been having issues trying to get herself together. The NHC is even having difficulty keeping up where the center of circulation is presently. Although the most recent satellite imagery shows a little better effort at reorganizing, there is that bit of dry air poised just north and could hamper short-term development. Until a certain fix on the center of circulation is made, the coordinates from the NHC are not reliable. I find it hard to believe that a tropical system can go from 14mph to stationary in a matter of a few hours. We'll see if Emily can give us a better look for the next report as more convection will be readily available.
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The Dominican Republic appears to be next in line to receive the full brunt of a possibly strong tropical storm Emily. Latest coordinates I saw from the NHC was 15.5N and 63.5W. I calculated this to be about 520 miles southeast of Azua moving west-northwest at about 17mph. Other locations include...
Santo Domingo 460 miles SE.

Depending on how much dry air Emily sucks in, winds could ramp up to 60-70mph before impacting land, somewhere between Azua and Santo Domingo, within the next 27-33 hours (5:00am - 11:00am edt Wed).

Looks like Puerto Rico could receive a glancing blow from Emily's effects.

Click HERE for your downloadable and printable tracking map and follow Emily's progress.

Updates later this morning from this post...

MS

Tropical Storm Emily - It's "Official"

Well, it's about time. Emily finally decided to show up. After several peeks and pokes at some surface-based circulation over the Atlantic and Carribean waters, this tropical wave has now been upgraded.

Hopefully, those along the windward and leeward islands treated this as a tropical storm threat despite no "official" watches or warnings. Because now, Emily is bearing down on areas near Dominica and moving west-northwest at a pretty healthy clip.

Get out your tracking tools! This system looks to affect several land areas.


















This appears to be an accurate depiction of what could happen over the next several days. Hopefully, Emily won't reach hurricane status before slamming into the Dominican Republic and Haiti. However, look out Miami and Fort Lauderdale FL.

MS