Saturday, May 1, 2010

5/1 - 11am - Kentucky Derby & Severe Weather?

It's the first Saturday in May and we all know what that means in Louisville: The Kentucky Derby! The rain is still falling here, but I think we may catch a break around lunchtime and the sun may even come out. We'll see more rain after that brief clearing, but the latest RUC computer model runs are indicating another break in the rain around 6pm, when the Derby will run.

Severe weather has been a big issue to our southwest over the past 24 hours, but the Louisville area may see a few severe storms this afternoon and evening, especially if the sun comes out after the rain breaks this afternoon. Heavy rain will be making its way back into the region tonight, when we could have some flooding problems in the Ohio Valley. To the right is the expected rainfall estimate for today and tomorrow from the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center, which shows Louisville getting over 6" of rain.

A rare High Risk of severe weather has been issued for parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee today due to the threat of strong, long-tracked tornadoes. This is the third time in a week that a High Risk has been issued by the Storm Prediction Center. Tornado watches have been issued for these areas, including the region around Mississippi State University. This comes after last night's severe weather troubles in Arkansas, where tornadoes damaged homes and caused at least one fatality. Big time flooding is occurring in Memphis right now, with more rain on the way this afternoon and evening.

With all of this severe weather going on I nearly forgot that we are exactly one week away from the start of my month-long storm chasing trip! I'll be leaving Louisville on May 8th to go storm chasing with Storm Chasing Adventure Tours. Don't miss my blog posts and updates from May 8th to June 5th!

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