4/10 -7:15pm - Quiet... Too Quiet...

Here's the situation. There's a nasty squall line getting fired up along the Mississippi River right now heading NE at about... oh, say... 70MPH!!! There is a tornado WATCH out for that corridor, but most of the tornadoes are on the Iowa part of the line. It's interesting because there are really two smaller lines right now, only miles apart. It seems as if they're canceling each other out in terms of energy, but once one dissipates then we're off to the races. I think that the southern part of the line is getting ready to hit the most unstable part of the country in just a couple hours. That ought to fire the storms up.

Another component is the tornadic activity in Iowa I mentioned. These storms are heading north pretty quickly, so I think those cells will die off pretty soon as they hit cooler, more stable air. Once that occurs, it is possible that the moisture feed could open up for our storms to use. Again, this is what is supposed to happen, not what actually will in most cases.

The SPC didn't issue a HIGH risk like many thought they would today. It seems that cloud cover ahead of the line of storms limited their punch. What affect the earlier cloud cover out west would have on our severe potential is not known.

If all goes according to plan, storms should roll in here just after midnight well within severe limits. Wind damage will be the primary problem, but a couple tornadoes aren't out of the question. Keep your weather radios on alert mode folks.

8/30 - 9pm - Tropical Depression Within 24 Hours

Well folks, it looks like we could be in for a round of drama in the tropics:


(This new experimental outlook from the NHC is really cool isn't it?)

My biggest concern is circle #1 on this map. It looks like its in the best position right now to pose a danger to the Caribbean and the US. This is the wave that could become a tropical depression tomorrow. The GFS has this wave doing nothing, but the GFS doesn't know up from down in the tropics right now. None of these tropical waves are showing great signs of development right now, but the fact that there are this many of them really ups the chances of one getting organized. So just keep watch on #1, because if it hits the warm Caribbean waters just right we may have a new storm on our hands.

How about that cooler weather here today? It was really nice not to be in the 90's for a day. Unfortunately we'll see 90's on Sunday, a little earlier than expected. **BUT** there will be no upper or mid 90's next week luckily.

This news article popped up today and I thought it was interesting:

WASHINGTON - As the world warms, the United States will face more severe thunderstorms with deadly lightning, damaging hail and the potential for tornadoes, a trailblazing study by NASA scientists suggests.

While other research has warned of broad weather changes on a large scale, like more extreme hurricanes and droughts, the new study predicts even smaller events like thunderstorms will be more dangerous because of global warming.

Full Story

If this is true, looks like my job will get harder as time goes on!