6/3 - 7pm - 13 Years Down, 4 to Go!

Today was the last day of school for all JCPS students, meaning that today was my last at duPont Manual High School as well. Needless to say, I'm ecstatic to be moving on to greater prospects like storm chasing and college at Mississippi State. It's bittersweet to be preparing to leave Louisville in August, but what lies ahead in Mississippi will help me launch my career in broadcast meteorology. Things that I've yet to learn like calculus II, calculus III, differential equations, calculus-based physics, thermodynamics, and a host of others are on my to-do list for the next four years. In the meantime, it's time to start my summer vacation!

The rain moving through East Louisville should clear out in the next few minutes, leaving us with a nice evening. We missed the brunt of the thunderstorms that came through the area this afternoon, with most staying to our south where a Severe Thunderstorm WATCH is in effect. There may be a few more storms around the area later tonight and tomorrow, but things should clear out nicely by tomorrow afternoon. A nice weekend with highs well into the 80's is on the way, but a daily chance of rain exists for next week.

It's still a bit too far out to tell exactly how good the prospects for my storm chasing trip will be when we start on Sunday, but the overall pattern certainly looks good considering the "tornado doldrum" the Plains has been experiencing this season. An area of low pressure sitting right on top of Kansas early next week should help things out a bit and instability will be fairly decent as well. I think we'll start off our trip Sunday heading eastward from Denver to Eastern NE or KS, but that's a very rough estimate based on long-range instability and upper air models. The SPC seems to agree with this general chase area on their 4-8 day outlook:


I do want to thank our friend the Jet Stream for finally deciding to come south from Canada this week. This alone will really help things kick into high gear in Tornado Alley this weekend and next week.

3 days until storm chasing begins!