Mesoscale, Synoptic Features & Dolly

Well it is not surprising to see the highest rainfall totals on today's national map coming from south Texas.

Hurricane Dolly dropped a swath of 6-12 inch rainfall totals from near Brownsville to San Miguel.

We finally saw rain here in the Denver area on Wednesday, and should see more later in the weekend as the remnants of Dolly are forecasted to move through as it gets caught up in the monsoonal flow from the southwest.

Elsewhere there was some very heavy rains in New York yesterday, with flash flooding reported in several communities.

There was even a family trapped in their home by rising flood waters in Sullivan County.

Golf ball sized hail fell on Wednesday in Rapid City, South Dakota from a left-turning supercell thunderstorm.

Penny-sized hail fell at the airport in Philly, and there was some wind damage associated with thunderstorms in Florida.

This time of year the weather is very random -- there are all kinds of "small-scale", or as we call it in meteorology, "mesoscale" features going on.

Yesterday we were tracking a hurricane, a few small cold fronts, daytime heating interacting with low-level moisture in place, a low pressure, etc.

In the spring and winter months we are usually tracking one big "large-scale" or "synoptic" feature like a cold front that sweeps across the entire US.