8/15 - 6pm - Severe Weather Craziness Back Home

Radar image from NWS Louisville

Saturday's severe weather in Louisville put many LG&E customers without power as winds exceeding 60 mph hit the city. At its peak the storm caused over 128,000 customers to lose power in Louisville, but that number has now dwindled down to 23,000. On radar it appears the storm may have bowed outward a bit due to the strong winds pushing ahead of it, and downbursts were likely the cause of much of the heavy damage in central parts of the city. Folks in Southeastern Jefferson County near the Jeffersontown, Middletown, Fisherville, and even down to Bullitt County saw a bit of a scary sight as the leading edge of the storm produced an arcus or shelf cloud. While not dangerous on its own this cloud often marks the leading edge of the gust front in a thunderstorm, which can carry damaging winds. Check out my photo from my back yard below:

With some schools still lacking power, Jefferson County Public Schools has cancelled classes tomorrow after already cancelling the first day of school for the academic year today. I'm not sure if JCPS has ever canceled the first day of school before, but this is certainly not the first time they've had to cancel due to power outages (wind storm of September '08 and major ice storm of January '09 are prime examples). A couple more nice weather days in Louisville will help with power restoration and tree clearing efforts.

Mississippi State Weather

I'm back at Mississippi State University for the semester and classes begin on Wednesday. The humidity been much lower in Starkville today since the passage of a cold front yesterday. Unfortunately reality will gradually return this week as temperatures surge back into the 90's and humidity increases as return flow transports Gulf moisture northward again. Daily small afternoon storm chances will return on Thursday or so.

Return to TV in Jackson, TN

If you're in Jackson, TN or the surrounding West Tennessee region, you'll want to tune into WBBJ ABC 7 this Saturday morning at 6am as I make my return to the Good Morning West Tennessee Saturday newscast. It's been about four months since my last show there due to my month-long storm chasing trip and time back home in Louisville, so I'm itching to get back to what I love doing most. We'll be bringing you weather updates every 10 minutes along with the morning's top news stories and events that you need to know about to get your weekend started!

8/14 - 6:30pm - Leaving for Mississippi State Tomorrow!

I'm off to Mississippi State University tomorrow to begin a new semester. This will be a particularly exciting semester because I'm enrolled in my first-ever meteorology class, and it's sure to be a fun one! As I said before, I'll be posting updates on MSU weather while I'm down there and throw in some Louisville reports if anything extreme happens. It's a challenging 8-hour drive to get to Mississippi State from Louisville, but it's well worth it when you consider how top-notch their meteorology and broadcasting programs are.

A broken line of severe storms again affected Kentuckiana, causing some power outages and torrential rain. Reports of a possible tornado touchdown are coming in from Jefferson County, Indiana, but overall most places saw very heavy rain and straight-line winds.

Here's a video I shot on Thursday of a very severe storm that passed through Louisville. The 60mph+ winds (which made it look like a tropical storm or hurricane was occurring) took off some siding on my house and reorganized our patio furniture into quite a mess. You can view the HD video below:

8/11 - 11:45pm - One Hot Summer...

We have had 57 days in the 90's or higher so far this summer in Louisville and there could be many more ahead as this brutally hot weather continues. It's going to get even hotter this week as the current ridging pattern stays in place, with temperatures expected to creep closer to 100 through Saturday. A Heat Advisory is in place through Friday, but I think a couple more Excessive Heat Warnings could be issued for us over the next few days. Like today, showers and thunderstorms could develop in the intense heat and spare some communities from the excessive temperatures over the next few days. As a cold front approaches the area by the end of the weekend, we'll see a better chance for rain and temperatures dipping (relatively speaking) into the lower 90's.

It's that time of year again. Like many college students, I'm heading off to school for the semester and that means not only a change of scenery for me, but a change of content on this blog for you readers out there. I'll be leaving Louisville for Mississippi State University on Sunday and I'm very excited to be getting back into the swing of things. This summer has felt extremely long for me and there's a good reason for that... Mississippi State has a three and a half month summer break, which is over a month more than the summer breaks I've had back home in Louisville. That extra month allowed me to witness eight tornadoes in the Plains this year while storm chasing. Needless to say, Mississippi State is a storm chaser-friendly university with that kind of semester schedule. As far as the content change on the blog goes, you'll be seeing Mississippi State-centric weather updates with a wealth of other weather news from around the nation. Hurricane season is still in full swing and I'll be covering that as well. As the semester gets underway I may throw a few surprises in the mix as well, so be sure to check back for new blog posts!

12/17 - 2:30pm - Weather Talk, Snow on Traffic Lights

I talked to a group of kindergarten and pre-k students today at Tully Elementary School in Louisville about weather today. I covered storm chasing, weather safety, snow, ice, and even demonstrated how a NOAA weather radio works. Best of all, each kid walked out of there with a severe weather safety coloring book and brochure, courtesy of the National Weather Service office in Louisville. Here are some pictures:




It was a lot of fun and I hope they enjoyed watching some of the video I brought in, as well as the talk itself.

Since it looks like we may get a couple inches of snow this weekend, I wanted to pass along an article I found about snow covering LED traffic lights, which Louisville has quite a number of. You can discern if a traffic light is LED or not by looking for a pattern of small dots on each light.

MILWAUKEE – Cities around the country that have installed energy-efficient traffic lights are discovering a hazardous downside: The bulbs don't burn hot enough to melt snow and can become crusted over in a storm — a problem blamed for dozens of accidents and at least one death.

[Read more from Yahoo! News]

8/6 - 11:30am - Tomorrow's the Day!

After a summer full of storm chasing, traveling, and wacky severe weather, it's finally time for me to travel to Mississippi State tomorrow for my first semester there. Move-in day is on Saturday, meaning all those boxes have to come out of the car and into my dorm room. The drive is fairly long (7-8 hours), but it should be fun and I hope that things will go smoothly!

The Louisville National Weather Service office has issued a regional map with 24-hour rainfall totals the morning after the flood:

You can really see how isolated the storm cell was that hovered over Jefferson County that morning. We were shocked to see that we only had .99" at the end of the day on our rain gauge here at home, but this map pretty much confirms that reading. The gym floor at my alma mater duPont Manual High School was flooded during this event, but luckily maintenance crews and administrators were on the scene to help reduce the amount of damage. Great job!

I also wanted to point out that we've just gone through the coolest July ever in the region. We usually have 12 days with 90 degrees or higher in Louisville during July, but this year we had none for the first-time ever. [Coldest July Ever Recorded in the Midwest/Ohio Valley - NWS]

6/5 - 4:30pm - Graduation and Storm Chasing, All Within 24 Hours!

It's been a wild day! I just graduated from duPont Manual High School this afternoon and have since been doing errands to prepare for my departure to Denver tomorrow. Not to mention packing my suitcase and camera equipment...

I'll post complete details on how you can track our storm chasing group early tomorrow morning, but you can check out the "Chase Location and Updates" links on the right-hand column of the blog to get an early glimpse. We're going to have live video, GPS location, this blog, and my Twitter and Facebook accounts in action as we traverse the Plains in search of severe weather.

While we won't actually be out chasing tomorrow, Sunday looks promising in Eastern Kansas and Nebraska, along with Iowa and maybe some of Missouri. While we won't hammer down a solid target area for chasing until late Saturday night or Sunday morning, I think we may be driving quite a ways east from Denver to get with the action.

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!

6/1 - 6:30pm - Are YOU Ready for 90's?

It seems weird to be talking about 90-degree weather whilst being in school, but hey, thank the remnants of Hurricane Ike and that horrid ice storm in January for that. School in Jefferson County ends on Wednesday, but the heat's already here! We should shoot past 90 degrees for the first time in 2009 tomorrow, with a high somewhere near 92. After a sunny Tuesday, storms will push through on Wednesday afternoon. A few severe storms could be in the works on Wednesday, but I'm not too impressed with the latest instability numbers and front placement at the moment. It'll take another day to hammer that one out completely.

Once any remaining storms clear early Thursday, we should be left with a nice end to the week. More rain is expected as a low pushes through the region early next week.

Let's talk storm chasing! The SPC's 4-8 day outlook made my day when I saw it a few minutes ago:


I arrive in Denver before lunchtime on June 6th, and Day 5 on the outlook includes June 5th and 6th and Day 6 includes the 6th and 7th. Obviously this is still a few days out, but how convenient would it be to have severe weather right next to Denver on the starting days? We'll have to track this as Saturday approaches to see if severe weather is actually in the cards for areas east of Denver during the beginning of my trip.

5 days until storm chasing begins!

2/17 - 8:30pm - Did Someone Say Snow?

I'm back from a great trip at Mississippi State University. Every time I go there it's difficult to come back home and adjust to high school life. Just under 4 months to go until I graduate!

Enough about me, let's look at what the GFS run for a snow system on late Friday into Saturday:



The 18z is really layering on the precipitation as a low passes to our north. I don't like how this low is passing to our north and generating that much moisture south of it. Usually the low would need to go south of us if we were to have temperatures cold enough for it to snow and to have the bulk of the moisture. Temperatures warm just above freezing in the daytime during this event on the GFS, but it's still too far out to call that the correct solution. There's still quite a bit of time for the GFS to get its act together this week, but I think we'll get some snow out of this regardless. Could be an inch or it could be several inches as is depicted right now, we'll see.

In the meantime, showers will be coming through tonight and continue as heavier rain tomorrow with a high near 60. We'll see a brief changeover to snow early Thursday morning, and that should continue until the late morning hours. Flurries and snow showers with little or no accumulation are expected on Thursday with a high near 32. Yep, that's about a 30 degree temperature difference between the highs on Wednesday and Thursday... yikes!

We'll top out just under 40 on Friday and it's uncertain what exactly will transpire this weekend with this snow system. I do know that a bit of a warm up is in store for next week, so be ready for another ride on the temperature rollercoaster!

2/14 - 11pm - Mississippi State

I'm on my way down to Mississippi State University to take care of some business for the coming school year, so there won't be any blog posts until Tuesday. With highs in the 40's and no rain between now and then, there shouldn't be any problems at all for the rest of this weekend.

1/12 - 7pm - Winter Weather ADVISORY

A Winter Weather ADVISORY has been issued by the Louisville NWS... in effect from 4AM to 1PM tomorrow.

Our clipper system is on the way right now, with rain showers to be falling after midnight tonight. These will quickly turn to snow as a cold front comes through early tomorrow morning. Right now, it looks like this will occur somewhere near the 6AM time period. With temperatures going below freezing at the surface just before that, I think any wet roads will quickly become icy. Snow should top out at just under an inch tomorrow, but we'll see what happens on the radar.

As far as school delays go, I think they're certainly possible given the circumstances. The morning rush after 6-7AM could be dicey with icy roads and low visibilities possible, but there is a little uncertainty as to the exact timing of this. Things should taper off by late morning, so closings are fairly unlikely. As far as who will actually delay tomorrow is unknown, so turn on the TV tomorrow before you head out or send the kids off to the bus stop.

Cold air will filter in behind the front tomorrow morning, so temperatures will drop throughout the day. Wednesday will not see temperatures rise above freezing, and more snow is on the way thanks to clipper system #2. Right now the models take this system well north of here with very limited moisture, meaning a couple tenths of an inch of snow at the most. The possible southward shift and increase in moisture I've been talking about for the last couple of days is getting less and less likely in each model run. Once the cold air comes in to the area tomorrow, we'll see if the models respond with a more southerly track with this system. Generally cooler air will shift a system like this southward, and right now the models take this storm further north than the one coming through tomorrow morning. That seems fishy to me.

So, I'm not sold on a northerly track for Wednesday's storm, but I'm starting to think that might be the solution based on the models. If the models keep with this track by tomorrow afternoon, then I'll throw in the towel with getting any appreciable snow on Wednesday. We shall see what happens.

9/19 - 1pm - Warming Up a Bit

Mid 80's will stick around here for the weekend as the sunny and dry weather continues. A small system to our south will bring showers to downstate Kentucky, but no such luck for us. We really do need the rain. At least the weather is pristine for the Ryder Cup!

We're down to 98,000 customers without power from LG&E, which is still a huge number considering the winds rolled through on Sunday. JCPS will have school on Monday since only 14 schools lack power and generators can be used for them. The school year will be extended to June 1st to accommodate the missed days. With a possibly nasty winter on the way, it's doubtful that this will be the final time this year that the last day of school is moved.

9/17 - 4pm - We're Back in Business!

The power came back on at my house a couple hours ago much to my surprise. Since we live on the Jefferson/Spencer County border, we're usually the tail end last people to get power restored after a storm. Three days of "camping" inside my house is finally over and normal life resumes... unless you go to a JCPS school (which I do). JCPS is canceling for the rest of this week due to more than 40 schools without power. Things should return to normal by Monday and classes should resume.

That was some wind event. I can't even call it a storm because barely a drop of rain fell with it! Many are still puzzled as to why this happened, and here's why: Remnants from Hurricane Ike slid northwest of here on Sunday morning as a cold front intercepted it and made it increase in speed. As that was happening, a low level jet of around 70-90mph was making itself known a few thousand feet off the ground. Once the air started mixing from the ground into that jet, high wind gusts got to our altitude and wreaked havoc. That's it in a nutshell.

With not a drop of rain in the forecast for the next week, highs should stay in the lower 80's. Our next chance of rain could be as far away as next Tuesday... boy do we need it!

8/11 - 5pm - More Dry, Comfortable Weather Ahead

It really can't get any better than this in August! It's 77 degrees in the suburbs with a dew point at 56. Not much will change this week as this dry and cool pattern continues. Rain chances will be on the increase for the weekend, but I think we'll need some rain by then.

Tomorrow is the start of my last year of high school, and with that comes more responsibility and less sleeping in. Blog posts will be more sparse than in the summer, but hopefully they don't fall below one every two days. I will tell you that I've applied to two colleges and I should know which one I'll be going to by October, so I'll announce that when the time comes. I will be majoring in meteorology, of course, at whichever of these two schools I go to. Hopefully this last year in Louisville is a good one!