So Much Weather...

Trying to decide what to write about is a difficult task this week because there is so much to talk about - summer-like heat in the east, hurricanes, snow in the Rockies and Plains, and heavy rain from Texas to Iowa. A number of , so Here is a quick summary of the significant weather events taking place across the U.S.

To start with, here is the latest watch/warning map for the U.S.to give you an idea of the variety of weather ongoing.

Watch /Warning/Advisory map as of 9:23 p.m. CDT 10/9/2018. The latest map can be found at www.weather.gov

Tropical Weather

The major news this week is Hurricane Michael, destined to make landfall along the coast of the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday. Dangerous winds gusting more than 100 mph and catastrophic storm surge are expected as Michael approaches and crosses the Florida coast. As I write this Michael is a strong Category 3 storm and is expected to reach Category 4 before landfall. 

Hurricane Michael as the sun was setting over the eastern Gulf of Mexico at 6:07 p.m. EDT.
Image from https://weather.cod.edu/

Infrared image of Hurricane Michael at 10:07 p.m. EDT. Image from https://weather.cod.edu/

Hurricane Leslie has been looping around the Atlantic for 17 days, and reached hurricane again tonight. I it expected to maintain tropical status as it moves east toward Africa this week.

This afternoon, Tropical Storm Nadine in the eastern Atlantic was named and is forecast to move northeast before weakening by Friday.

For the latest information on Hurricane Michael visit the National Hurricane Center web site.


Winter Weather

Snow has been falling on and off in the Rockies the past several days as cold air spilled into the region and a low spun up over the southern Rockies. Snowfall from Monday to Tuesday accumulated from Montana south through Colorado, and from Colorado northeast through the Nebraska panhandle and into the Dakotas. More than 5 inches of snow fell west of Denver in the 24 hour period ending Tuesday morning, and 6 to 8 inches accumulated northeast of Rapid City, SD. Tonight winter weather advisories extend from northern Minnesota south into western Kansas.

24 hour snowfall ending the morning of October 9, 2018.

Heavy Rain

It has been a stormy set up on the boundary of the cold air in the west and warm air in the east, and rain fell this week from Texas northeast to the Canadian border. Rainfall accumulations this week ranged from 7 to 9 inches in parts of Texas, 6 to 8 inches in western Oklahoma, and 7 to 10 inches in eastern Kansas and in the Kansas City metro area.

Big changes are ahead later this week. Hurricane Michael will make landfall, weaken, and move into the Atlantic. Cold air that has been pooling in Canada and the western U.S. will spread to the east and Gulf coasts bringing an end to summer-like weather for most.