Wrapping Up Tennessee; Severe Weather Outbreak Ahead

I'll start with the breaking news of the day and that is a moderate risk for a severe weather outbreak in the center of the nation today.

The state of Missouri is the target for many storm chasers this Wednesday as well as western Illinois.

Overnight the Storms Prediction Center added much of northeast Oklahoma, southeast Kansas and northwest Arkansas to the threat area, but my gut still says eastern Missouri and western Illinois will be the place to be if you want in on the worst of the storms.

The map below shows tornado probability today, and 10% is a high number.



So if you live in this part of the nation today, go ahead and activate your severe weather plan. If you have kids who come home alone on the bus after school, make sure you have a plan in place for them to follow because things will probably be heating up in terms of intense storm activity by late afternoon.

My good friend, and officially now Meteorologist Tony Laubach as of Tuesday afternoon, is currently in Missouri chasing. He has a great web site if you want to check it out. Click here to follow him today. Tony has already seen 6 tornadoes this year alone.

I am very proud of this guy, it took 9 long hard years to accomplish his goal of adding the title meteorologist to his name. Ironically it took me the same amount of time. Our paths to becoming meteorologists have been very similar, taking us across the country to a new home in the west, working 2 and 3 jobs the entire time and holding down internships too. Both us of got very involved with a weather passion that took up a lot of our time as well -- him storm chasing and me CoCoRaHS. I am so glad he stuck with it and didn't give up. Tony -- congratulations!!!

I am supposed to go on a chase with him, every year I say I will and never do, so this year I have decided it will be the one! When and where will have to be determined later this summer.

Wrapping Up Tennessee Climate

Last but not least let's talk about the temperatures across Tennessee.

Annually, one word sums it up and that is warm.

But where is the warmest locations?

Memphis and western Tennessee experience the highest annual average temperatures, but it beats out the rest of the state by only a few degrees.

The annual summer high is about 90 degrees at most locations, coolest in the higher terrain of eastern Tennessee where mid to upper 80s are more common.

The annual winter low temperature is about 30 degrees at most locations, with mid to upper 20s in the eastern half of the state where the terrain is a bit higher.

So for a person who doesn't like the bitter cold of the northern states, Tennessee would be a great place to live.

You will definitely experience all 4 seasons, but you will also have to contend with a lot of humidity.

Personally, having spent a fair amount of time visiting family and vacationing in Tennessee as a kid, I think the western half of the state is the worst for those hot and humid days. Once you get east of Nashville and I-65 you gain elevation and lose a few degrees so the feels-like temperature becomes a little easier to handle.

The temperature extremes for the state of Tennessee span over 140 degrees.

The highest temperature ever recorded was 113 degrees, most recently measured on August 9, 1930 at Perryville, Tennessee.

Perryville sits at just under 400 feet above sea level in Decatur County, Tennessee -- which is about half way between Memphis and Nashville, just south of Interstate 40.

The coldest temperature ever recorded in Tennessee was -32 degrees on December 30, 1917 in Mountain City, Tennessee.

Mountain City, with an elevation just under 2,500 feet, is located in extreme northeast Tennessee, near the borders of Virginia and North Carolina.

More About Tennessee Climate

Yesterday we established that Tennessee receives a lot of moisture annually.

Today I want to talk more about their climate -- specifically, precipitation.

Here are the top three wettest months for the main 4 anchor cities.

Memphis -- April (5.79"), November (5.76"), December (5.68")

Nashville -- May (5.07"), March (4.87"), December (4.54")

Chattanooga -- March (6.19"), January (5.40"), November (4.88")

Knoxville -- March -- (5.17"), July (4.71"), May (4.68")

And the top three driest...

Memphis -- August (3.00"), September (3.31"), October (3.31")

Nashville -- October (2.87"), August (3.28"), September (3.59")

Chattanooga -- October (3.26"), August (3.59"), June (3.99")

Knoxville -- October -- (2.65"), August (2.89"), September (3.04")

So we can tell a few things about Tennessee from the wettest and driest months at the four stations above.

Late summer and early fall appear to be the driest months to be in Tennessee on average

It is hard to come up with a clear pattern for the wettest time of the year statewide other than it is wet in spring, and at most stations, also in late fall (perhaps this has to do with the second peak of severe weather season the south usually experiences in late fall)

THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES

Tennessee averages about 50 thunderstorm days each year. Some of which can turn quite severe.

Tornadoes are possible statewide, but west Tennessee is slightly more vulnerable. Possibly just due to location being closer to the tornado alley of the United States.

On average, there are about 15 tornadoes per year that touch down in the state of Tennessee.

A study out of Northern Illinois University concluded that Tennessee has the highest number of nocturnal tornadoes of any state in the United States, with 45.8% of all reported tornadoes between 1950-2005 happening overnight.

Arkansas was second with 42.5% and Kentucky was third with 41.5%.

Now my mind says hmmmm....why?

The first thing that popped into my brain was simply geography and the time line that thunderstorm development usually follows.

A common set up for severe thunderstorms is a dry line that initiates storms in the mid to late afternoon across west Texas and Oklahoma and then moves east.

By the time it reaches Arkansas and west Tennessee it is usually night.

I recall as a kid growing up in Arkansas watching the storms on most nights enter western Arkansas around sunset and be to us in the Little Rock area between 9 pm and midnight.

Another study says that Tennessee doesn't have the highest number of tornado fatalities in the United States, but that it does have the highest number of tornadoes that produce fatalities.

Which would go right along with the highest number of overnight tornadoes since most people are sleeping and don't have measures in place to monitor the changing weather conditions outside.

HURRICANES

Tennessee is prone to remnants from tropical systems.

Due to the size and long shape of the state, it is possible that a tropical remnant from land-falling hurricanes and tropical storms will pass either over or close enough that some impact will be felt.

The biggest threat is simply heavy rain, but some wind and even a few tornadoes are possible when tropical systems pass by.

In 2005, west Tennessee had 3 tropical remains pass over the region.



WINTER STORMS

Winter storms don't hit often in Tennessee, but when they do, it can be a nightmare. This is partly due to lack of equipment to handle wintry weather, and also to a population that isn't accustomed to traveling on snow or ice.

Ice storms can be a problem in Tennessee. They can do significant damage to trees and power lines, and trap people at home for days.

Fog is also a persistent problem in portions of Tennessee, especially in the eastern part of the state.

You might recall back in 1990 there has a horrible traffic accident on Interstate 75 over the Hiwassee River 40 miles northeast of Chattanooga.

It involved over 70 vehicles and unfortunately resulted in over a dozen deaths and several dozen injuries.

Here is a link to an article about the fog-related traffic accident.

Tomorrow we will talk a little about temperatures in Tennessee and find out where the warmest annual temperatures can be found.

Exploring Tennessee's Climate

Well I am going to attempt our blog series where we explore each CoCoRaHS state's climate and hopefully we all will learn something new.

I have a variety of sources for my information, and may find new ones as we go along.

I am going to start the series today with the state of Tennessee.

The climate of Tennessee is quite interesting simply due to the shape of the state, stretching several hundred miles from the Gulf Coastal Plain along the Mississippi River, all the way to the peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the North Carolina border.

Overall, it could be described as mild and wet.

Most of Tennessee is classified as having a humid sub-tropical climate, but the highest terrain along the eastern border is considered to be a maritime temperate climate.

Although maritime usually describes climates that are near an ocean, it can also be used to describe places inland that have climates similar to tropical or sub-tropical areas in terms of annual moisture moisture, but the temperatures are too cool to be truly classified as tropical or sub-tropical.

In the United States, there are only a handful of inland locations with a maritime temperature climate, and they are mostly along the spine of the Appalachian Mountain chain from Pennsylvania to east Tennessee.

Europe has the highest number of inland locations classified in the maritime temperatate climate zone. In fact, the majority of the continent is classified in the maritime temperatate climate zone.

Tennessee receives a copious amount of moisture annually. Winds from the south transport most of the state's annual aveage of 50 inches of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.

Here is the average annual precipitation for a few major cities.

Memphis (west Tennessee on the Arkansas and Mississippi border) -- 54.65 inches

Knoxville (east Tennessee near the North Carolina border) -- 48.22 inches

Chattanooga (southeast Tennessee near the Georgia border) -- 54.52 inches

Nashville ( middle Tennessee near the Kentucky border) -- 48.11 inches



One thing I noticed right off the bat by just taking a quick look at the data from the 4 cities above is that Memphis and Chattanooga are almost the same and so are Nashville and Knoxville.

Now look at the map above and find Memphis and Chattanooga. They are nearly on the same line of latitude and both on the southern border of the state.

And by latitude, I mean you could nearly draw a straight east-west line between the two locations.

Nashville and Knoxville are also nearly on the same line of latitude and both are much further north, closer to the top of the state.

Of course just using those 4 data points is not enough to make a generalization about the whole state of Tennessee, but seeing as how they are very well spread out and represent most of Tennessee, I am inclined to say that the average annual precipitation drops off as you head north.

Which would make sense since you are moving further away from the moisture source for Tennessee, which is the Gulf of Mexico.

In my next blog entry, we will explore the precipitation patterns of Tennessee a little more -- and talk about an interesting flip flop of rainy vs. dry seasons as you travel from Memphis to Knoxville along Interstate 40. (a VERY LONG drive by the way -- but also VERY SCENIC)

Derecho, MCC Hammers Southern Missouri

A very large complex of thunderstorms has swept across southeast Kansas and into southern Missouri this morning.

It is currently moving into southeast Missouri and clipping extreme northern counties of Arkansas.

When you get a long-lived complex of thunderstorms like this, it is called an MCC, or meso-scale convective complex.

A meteorologist usually uses an infrared satellite to determine an MCC. They typically form at night and cover a large area.

MCC's bring heavy rain, a lot of lightning and wind, often hail and sometimes even tornadoes.

In today's case, this MCC has been dropping 3 inches of rain per hour on some locations in southeast Kansas.

Today's storm system moving across southern Missouri also is a derecho.

The origins of this word are Spanish and mean straight.

Check out the radar image just before 10 am local time below.



Notice the comma shape to the radar return, or backwards "C" shape, shown in red.

This is the leading edge of the thunderstorm complex that has bowed out and moved across dozens of counties for over 100 miles.

All along that comma shape there are very strong, straight-line winds at times in excess of 80 mph.

This is a textbook example of a derecho, which is a widespread and long-lived, violent straight-line windstorm that is associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms in the form of a squall line usually taking the form of a bow echo.

Portions of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas remain under a PDS Severe Thunderstorm Watch.

PDS means particularly dangerous situation.

Out ahead of this MCC a tornado watch has been issued for southeast Missouri, northeast Arkansas, southern Illinois and portions of western Tennessee and Kentucky.

Elsewhere around the nation the weather is active on a different note.

Record heat can be found from west Texas to the deserts of southern California and wildfires are still threatening many areas of the Santa Barbara, CA vicinity.

New Poll Posted, More Severe Weather & Heavy Rain

Wow my friends and family in the south are just about over the rain. I just keep reminding them to enjoy it because when the "Dog Days of August" (and July) come they will long for the cool and damp weather.

More severe weather and heavy rain is possible today in the south, with even greater chances tomorrow.

Moderate severe weather risks have now been posted for eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas.

I posted a new poll today asking if you have ever formally studied meteorology.

And grandma (whom I call Mimi) has one final lesson for us before she starts some college level teaching. She informed me these lessons are intro level.

A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat

All babies are subject to change without notice

His luck is so bad, he put a seashell to his ear and got a busy signal

I don't know how much money I have in the bank I haven't shaken it lately

All banks are the same They have one window at which ten people are standing and four windows called "Next window"

Enjoy and have a great day!

Sorry for the short blog but I am on a time crunch today with work.

Over the weekend I will throw some thoughts together so next week we can start learning more about our CoCoRaHS states.

Flooding, Severe Weather & Another Lesson From Grandma

Wow, check out these pictures my mom sent me this morning from her front yard. This is in northeast Pulaski County, on the northeast side of the Little Rock metro area.



This is her street and the picture below is the house across from her. Luckily, the road peaks at a small hill right where she lives, and she happens to be on the high side of it.

But her nieghbors aren't so lucky.



The Little Rock area picked up another 2 to 3 inches of rain overnight, bringing their total for the last week into the 8 to 12 inch range.

Some isolated locations have seen in the 15 to 20 inch range.

And the problem is not just in Arkansas. There are flood watches and/or warnings in effect from Texas to Pennsylvania.

More rain is in the forecast for these water-logged areas.

In addition to the flooding, severe thunderstorms rolled from southern Arkansas across Mississippi overnight.

Currently they are moving across northern Alabama and impacting some major population centers, including Huntsville, Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.

There have been several reports of severe weather and even a few tornadoes. There is a possible fatality in Mississippi.

Due to the water-logged soils and high thunderstorm winds, hundreds if not thousands of trees are down across the region. The high winds combined with the very loose roots systems/soils due to all the recent heavy rain, and they just simply fall right over.

Several tornadoes touched down just east and south of the Raleigh/Durham, NC metro area on Tuesday causing some damage.

Several months ago I talked about starting a blog series where we go CoCoRaHS state by CoCoRaHS state and explore the climate characteristics.

I am hoping to start that next week.

And finally, today's lesson by my ham of a grandma, Amelia. She is teaching from the book called Jolly Jokes For Older Folks.

She writes, and I quote...

"Alright kids, sit up straight, spit out the gum, and look smart!"

Reading while sun bathing makes you well-red.

A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat.

If you stand up, you'll be seen. If you speak up you'll be heard. If you shut up you'll be appreciated.

A man was complaining about the cost of a baby. The nurse said "Sure, but look how long they last"

And last but not least,

If a sea gull flies over the sea, what flies over the bay?----A bagel!

Bye now

May Means Increased Thunderstorms

With the month of May comes a lot of things...such as warmer temperatures, greener landscapes, flowering plants and trees, more humidity and longer days.

A few of the above combine to bring an increased threat of afternoon showers and thunderstorms to a larger territory as well. (the longer days, warmer temperatures and higher humidity)

Today the threat for storms is mainly in the southern states, with a moderate risk in the Red River Valley of Texas and Oklahoma.

Currently, there is a severe thunderstorm watch in effect for coastal South Carolina. This is kind of good news.

As dry as it has been there, any cloud-to-ground lightning strikes that occur could start new wildfires.

But at the same time, the threat for thunderstorms could deliver some MUCH NEEDED moisture to places lucky enough to see the inclement weather.

May is the start of a very important time of the year for portions of the country, such as eastern Colorado.

While the mountains depend on snow for the bulk of their annual precipitation, the eastern plains of Colorado depend on the warm season cycle of afternoon showers and thunderstorms.

Although this cycle doesn't really get going until late June when the monsoon kicks in, May is still a very important transition month.

In Denver, we average about 2.32 inches of precipitation in May, which happens to be the wettest month of the year for us on average.

Suzanne sent me some more great pictures of the high waters in her area of middle Tennessee. Needless to say, after 6.34 inches of rain over the weekend, area creeks and stream are running high.

She calculated that over 400,000 gallons of water fell on her property this past weekend alone.

There is even flooding in her backyard due to the water table being so high from all the rain the ground has absorbed.

Here is picture below from Suzanne near Lewisburg, Tennessee. The waters are muddy due to all the runoff from the recent heavy rains.



Someone asked me in the blog yesterday if there is an outlet online for us to all share weather pictures?

Not yet, but hopefully soon.

And finally, I want to leave you with a cute email my 83 year old grandmother sent me yesterday. She calls it her daily lesson.

This woman is smart, sharp as a tack and down-right sassy at times. I am lucky God chose her to be my grandma.

When two egotists meet, it is an I for an I.
A bicycle cannot stand on its own because it is two tired.
Time flies like and arrow,Fruit flies like bananas.
A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
The man who fell into the upholstery machine is fully recovered.
When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
He had a photographic memory that was never developed.
The short fortune teller who escaped from prison, was a small medium at large.
And last but not least for my lesson today
A lot of money is tainted --- It taint yours and it taint mine.

Have a great day!

Spring Weather Can Be Extreme

It seems like the weather has been so active over the last few weeks, and at times extreme.

From Fairbanks, Alaska -- where highs in the 70s posted 4 days in a row, including a new all-time April record high of 76 degrees on the 30th of April.

That type of weather is more like the third week of July.

Fairbanks typically averages 47 days each year with a high above 70 degrees, and only 7 days with the mercury cracking the 80-degree mark.

This week things are back to more seasonal levels with highs in the 50s and lows in the 30s.

In the mid-south it has been very wet, mostly due to the recent pattern of the polar and sub-tropical jet streams, along with a nearly stationary cold front.

The result was 4 to as much as 8 inches of rain falling from Arkansas to Alabama over the weekend.

CoCoRaHS observer Suzanne from Lewisburg, Tennessee sent this picture to me over email. It really tells the story of just how wet and dismal the weekend was for the mid-south.

The heavy rain nearly drowned her tomato plant starts!



Several tornadoes were reported over the weekend as severe weather developed from Texas to North Carolina.

I am sure many saw the damage around the Dallas/Ft. Worth area on your local and national news as severe storms rolled though.

Tornadoes caused some injuries in Miller County, Arkansas on Saturday along with a lot of damage to trees, power lines and even some homes.

There was a death in Mississippi that was storm related.

I even saw a tornado warning for a brief time on Sunday just north of Boise, Idaho. I never saw any confirmed touchdowns, but there were a few hail reports in Idaho yesterday.

This week the storm track will shift to the northern tier of states as the weather pattern becomes more zonal, or moving basically from west to east.

A storm is currently hammering the Pacific Northwest and will move into the upper mid west over the next few days.

And in the southern tier of states it will heat up this week. Some 100s will show up on the maps both in Texas and the deserts of the southwest.

The most recent blog poll closed on Friday and there were 64 votes. 53% of participants don't typically notice air pressure changes with regards to body and health.

The rest sometimes and often do notice changes when the air pressure shifts, mostly with past injuries and headaches.

Here are the actual results...

Does your body notice air pressure changes?

Yes, I get headaches -- 14%

Yes, a past injury hurts -- 20%

Yes, both the above -- 6%

Yes, other symptom -- 6%

No, I don't notice any symptoms -- 53%

Recall back on Good Friday there was an outbreak of severe weather in the southeast states. See picture of storm reports below.



The local National Weather Service offices are starting to publish final reports on these tornadoes.

Here is a report of the tornadoes that struck middle Tennessee.

Here is a report of the twisters that hit Georgia.

Here is a report out of central Alabama.

There may be others from a few other NWS offices.

Wet Weekend Ahead For Central States

It's a somewhat rare morning in Denver. We woke up to fog and mist.

It happens here, but so infrequently that when it does, you kind of look around for a minute and double check the clock, the calendar and your location, just to be sure you weren't transported elsewhere during your sleep.

Ok I am being a bit silly -- I think I needed a little more sleep last night. Hang on while I top off my coffee. ;-)

So we are forecasting a socked in weekend with periods of showers weekend along the Front Range of Colorado. It will be warmer than last weekend so the entire city shouldn't wake up to snow like we did on Monday.

But then again it is possible as some data shows snow levels down near 6,000 feet over the weekend.

If it does snow the accumulations would be none to minor at best with the exception of places above 8,500 feet or higher.

This will be weekend #2 like this -- a little irritating since I need to get out in the yard and start a few major projects, but -- I know how precious this moisture is and that our window for long duration, gentle precipitation events is rapidly closing.

Soon we will be into the hot and drier months where we long for afternoon thunderstorms.

A stratiform precipitation event, like what is coming our way this weekend, is great because that means the clouds are socked in, and the precipitation is light and gentle with no convection, or thunderstorms.

Therefore all the moisture, or at least a good percentage of it, has time to absorb into the ground and not run off.

But a little east and south of here, there will be plenty of convection where a lot of water may pour form the sky in a short amount of time.

Numerous flash flood watches have been posted in the midwest this weekend, in particular, across Oklahoma and Missouri.

There is also the risk for periodic rounds of severe thunderstorms in the middle of the country over the next few days.

A severe thunderstorm watch is active even as I type across northeast OK and northwest AR.

Currently a severe storm is in the Enid, OK vicinity where all that tornado damage remains from the storms last week.

Attention East Coasters

If you live on the east coast, this coming week will feature the chance to go and tour the hurricane hunter aircraft if you live in or near the following locations...

Monday, May 4: Pease Air National Guard Base, Newington, N.H., 2:30-4:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 5: Republic Airport at Farmingdale, N.Y., 2:30-4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, May 6: Raleigh-Durham International Airport, N.C., 3:00-5:00 p.m.

Thursday, May 7: Wilmington International Airport, N.C., 3:00-5:00 p.m.

Friday, May 8: Naval Air Station Key West at Boca Chica Key, Fla., 1:30-4:00 p.m.

It is all part of a campaign by the National Hurricane Center to raise awareness about the upcoming hurricane season, which begins June 1.

If anyone of you can attend and tour the aircraft, be sure to share your experience and a picture or two.

You can read the full press release by clicking here.

Air Quality Awareness Week

It is Air Quality Awareness Week all across the United States.

Here is a great link with the topic of the day and resources for you to learn more about air quality.

Click here.

Today's topic is keeping your heart and lungs safe.

Snow For Some, Tornadoes For Others

Good morning from snowy Denver, Colorado!

I have a fresh half-foot of heavy, wet snow on the ground.

Thank GOD the pavement is warm so I really don't have to do any serious shoveling.

East of here residents from northeast Iowa to central Texas dodged strong to severe thunderstorms all weekend.

Some even saw tornadoes with a lot of damage in and around locations like Kansas City, MO, Wichita, KS, and Enid, OK.

One man lost his life in Kansas after being hit by lightning while driving his motorcycle.

Along with the storms we have seen some extremely heavy rainfall. A few places have seen totals reach the 4-8 inch range.

More storms are possible today in the southern plains.

An active weather week lies ahead as more storm systems move across the country.

The April heat wave on the east coast delivered a hot but nice weekend to the big cities of the northeast with widespread 80s and 90s.

My trip to Glenwood Springs was amazing!

The picture below is the hot springs pool, fed by a natural hot spring. The temperature of the water is around 90 degrees, and in the therapy pool, it is 104 degrees!



On Saturday it was sunny and warm with a high in the 60s. But while we were night swimming, it was in the 30s with a rain/sleet/snow mix falling.

It was cool because the water is so warm, it was like swimming in a fog with all the steam rising off the water.

But when you got out of the pool to run to the locker room, WHEW!!!! Was it ever cold!!

We then took the tram up to Glenwood Caverns and spent 90 minutes exploring caves. At one point we were 150 feet below the ground when I took the picture below.



The cave was humid, cool and sometimes even gave you a kiss! (that is when a water drop hits your head -- it is supposed to mean good luck!)

I snapped this picture of Glenwood Springs from the entry to the caves. It is about 2,000 feet above the valley floor.



Well looking outside another snow band has moved in -- I better get going to work!

Have a great day!

Active In The Middle &What Exactly Is A "Chance"

It will be an active weather weekend for the center of the nation as a storm system with a lot of wind pull out of the west.

It will bring some showers, thunderstorms and even snow (above 8500 feet) to the inter-mountain west and severe thunderstorms from the pandhandles of Texas and Oklahoma all the way to the Great Lakes vicinity.

The hot spot right now looks to be southwest Kansas down into west Texas where very large hail and some tornadoes are anticipated to develop.

So you see all the time in the forecast that there is a "chance" for rain or some type of weather phenomena, right?

So what does that mean exactly?

Precipitation (or "pop", as forecasters routinely call it) is defined as the likelihood of occurrence of a measurable amount of liquid precipitation (or the water equivalent of frozen precipitation) falling during a specified period of time at any given point in the forecast area.

I found a great write-up of this on the weather page for the National Weather Service in Grand Junction, Colorado. Click here to read.

I know we have some bloggers in the CoCoRaHS Community. If you are a blogger, will you send me a link to your blog or your weather homepage?

OSNW3 I have yours.

Dewdrop -- I know you host one but I don't have the link at hand.

Those are the first two that came to mind this early in the morning.

I am packing up for a quick little weekend roadtrip over to the western slope. That is what we call the locations west of the Continental Divide here in Colorado.

Some friends and I are having a relaxing weekend at Glenwood Springs. Home to one of the largest hot springs mineral pools in the world. We are also going to the vapor caves, which are caves that have 100°+ waters flowing though, apparently with a lot of steam.

And the "vapor" relaxes you and is good for the skin with all the natural minerals and such you will absorb.

Maybe I will get my next big brainstorm out there as I relax and chill out over the next 2 days from all the stresses for working 2 jobs and paying off a truckload of high debts. ;-)

As I am sure 99 out of 100 can relate to.

Have a great weekend and for all those in the areas for strong to severe thunderstorms this weeekend -- keep an eye to the sky, have your severe weather action plan in place, and be safe!

Spring Roller Coaster Rides Now Available

Rather you want it or not, your ticket to ride the spring roller coast weather ride might be already in hand!

A cold front is slicing through the west and Upper Midwest this morning.

Here in Denver the temperatures are hovering around 60 degrees this morning, but just over an hour north in Cheyenne, Wyoming, it is a raw morning with temperatures in the 30s.

Many locations will go from the 70s and 80s this week, down into the 40s and 50s for the weekend, and then right back toward the 70-degree mark heading into next week.

Montana for instance had some 70s and 80s earlier this week, and now many locations are seeing snow.

It's just par for the course this time of year and it keeps things interesting to say the least.

Over the next few days, if you live in the middle of the country, anticipate wet, and at times, stormy weather.

This is good news for Texas and Oklahoma, but too much moisture may be bad news for the water-logged water ways of the Upper Midwest.

We can't buy a drop of rain in the southeast, where wild fires have been causing a remarkable amount of destruction.

In Horry County, South Carolina, which is the vicinity of Myrtle Beach, a 20,000 acre fire has claimed 70 homes.

We just don't think about fires like this in a coastal community where water is usually so abundant.

The Bermuda High Pressure has migrated west and is keeping the coasts of Georgia, South Carolina and much of Florida very dry.

There are really no organized areas of precipitation in the future for this region looking out 5-10 days.

So let's keep our fingers crossed that the land-sea breeze interaction can be enough to stir up some local showers to help the situation out.

Severe storms rolled across the Atlanta metro area last night with a ton of hail and an intense light show featuring dozens of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes.

The winners this weekend for best weather in the nation will be those living in New England as temperatures climb into the 80s with sunny skies.

The most recent poll on the CoCoRaHS blog closed with a record number of votes. We had 171 responses!

The question was how many US States have you been to?

0-10 states -- 14%

11-20 states -- 22%

21-30 states -- 15%

31-40 states -- 17%

41-49 states -- 27%

All 50 states -- 2%

We've got some people who love to travel in our CoCoRaHS community!

A new poll will be posted later today.

Have a great weekend!

Measuring Snow Each Hour

OSNW3 -- you can measure snowfall each hour to find out the rate of accumulation, but you would measure snow depth every 6 hours or when the storm moves out. (that is clearing the board you measure snow depth on)

This is so you don't get an inflated snow depth.

As snow falls, natural melting, settling and compacting takes place, and if you cleared the board each hour, you'd interrupt this process.

When I worked on a weather record project in Minnesota for the State Climatology Office, I saw a lot of this.

So a 25" snowfall would produce a 25" snow depth. Sometimes, especially in the dead of winter, this would be possible, but not all the time.

The storm last weekend here in Denver produced about 20 inches of snow at my house, but it never piled up to more than 10 or 11 inches on the ground because it was so wet and heavy it compacted.

An hourly clearing of the snow board may have made it appear as if I had a 20" snow depth to go along with the 20 inches of snow that fell from the sky.

But due to the weight, settling and compacting, along with some melting because the temperature bounced between 31-33°, it never piled up that deep.

Hope this makes sense...I am writing fast on a lunch hour.

Measuring Snow

The other day I had the question from Texas about a 25" snowfall that only accumulated to 4" deep.

So how did they know 25" of snow fell?

Snow measurement definitions and practices have changed and evolved over the years. There are some differing opinions on how you should handle different situations, such as measuring with wind, or when the temperature is hovering around freezing.

At one time in NWS history, observers were taught to estimate the accumulation of snow as if it were not melting when it reached the ground.

This was normally done by estimating an approximate snow to water ratio, then measuring the amount of precip that fell from the melting snow, and then multiplying that amount of precip but the inches of snow per unit amount of water to get a total snowfall estimate.

In the 1990s, many observers and users of snow data decided that was not an appropriate way to report snowfall.

Since then, we report only snow that can be seen to accumulate. If it melts on contact, it does not contribute to a reported accumulation.

So more than likely, in the case of the 25" snow that only measured to be 4" on the ground, they were estimating the accumulation.