The Tuesday afternoon map discussion video is on the server:
http://www.jamesspann.com/
HMMMM... Between J.B. Elliott here on the blog, and Dave Baird on TV, guess the world knows today is my 50th birthday. It also happens to be my 25th wedding anniversary... I married way over my head a quarter century ago, and my wife Karen is really the "wind beneath my wings". She needs some kind of award for being a "weather widow" for 25 years.
I also should note my boss, ABC 33/40 General Manager Mike Murphy, also turns 50 today. He did the smart thing and avoided the office; he is down on the beach, where I enjoyed some time off last week.
Thanks to all of you who sent an e-mail birthday greeting; I am beginning to think I have more e-mail birthday greetings today than nasty e-mails I received the night we had to break into "Dancing With The Stars" for a tornado warning for Clay County last summer!
By the way, I will have things to say about Dave and J.B. when the time is right! I have known those guys for a long, long time, and have some great stories to tell!
TOMORROW: The models sure look dry, but once again, caution Will Robinson. They don't handle northwest flow thunderstorms event in the summer very well, and we might have a few active storms late tomorrow or tomorrow night. SPC has the northwest part of Alabama in a slight risk of severe weather as an impulse rides down the back side of the eastern U.S. upper trough. But, generally speaking it looks like many communities will stay dry tomorrow.
THURSDAY-SUNDAY: Dry and hot weather headlines the forecast for these four days. Highs in the 88 to 92 degree range; lots of sun, and humidity levels slowly rising. Any afternoon showers or storms will be very isolated, and once again most front yards will stay dry.
LONG RANGE: The 12Z run of the GFS is back on the eastern U.S. upper trough bandwagon in the June 14-16 time frame; trying to suggest almost record cool temperatures here. Most likely that will be gone on the next run, so don't get your hopes up.
TROPICS: All remains quiet on the tropical front; but next week might be a little more favorable for some mischief in the Gulf of Mexico. We will keep an eye on it.
HABOOB TIME: Anyone ever heard of a haboob? I think I used to be called that on occasion in junior high school. That is a big, organized dust storm that can form in desert regions; and we might have one this evening across southern Arizona if storms can develop. That will be interesting to watch.
Be sure and check our this week's WeatherBrains podcast... listen for the "negative campaign ads" for me and Brian Peters.. very very funny stuff for this primary election day!
The next map discussion video will be posted by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow...
Tomorrow Looking Drier
June 6, 2006, 3:34 pmWEATHER BY THE NUMBERS--Tuesday Edition
June 6, 2006, 12:30 pm
We have updated the list of low temperatures around Alabama this morning to add some later reports. It is amazing that the low in Black Creek this morning was only about 7 degrees away from some possible light frost. Here is the complete list:
45 in Black Creek (NE Etowah County)
46 in Heflin
47 in DeSoto State Park
48 in Crossville, Gaylesville
49 in Munford and Cottondale, Hamilton
50 in Ft. Payne, Cullman, Gadsden, Wedowee, Ashville
51 in Anniston, Troy, Pinson
52 in Tuscaloosa, Anniston, Alexander City, Alabaster
53 in Evergreen, Vinemont, East Trussville (Jay Shelley), Alexander City, Jasper
54 in Huntsville, Tuscaloosa
55 in Albertville, Decatur, Helena
56 in Inverness, Birmingham, Montgomery
57 in Auburn, Muscle Shoals, Gadsden (Noccalula Falls)
59 at Shelby County Airport (NWS)
60 in Selma
63 in Mobile
Oak Grove in West Jefferson County reported a low of 39 this morning. We are dicounting that. Their minimum temperature has seemed several degrees too low for a week or more.
* 61 was the low at the skycam site on Mt. Cheaha this morning. That was due to a nice inversion and it was 10 degrees warmer than the low at Anniston Airport not far away and 12 degrees warmer than nearby Munford. It was only 74 on Cheaha at noon today.
* 6 June is the birthday of a well known (very well known) Birmingham meteorologist. Won't tell you how old he is, but the day he was born gasoline was selling for about 23.9 cents per gallon and even as low as 19.9 when there were gas wars underway. Gas wars are unheard of anymore.
* 35 dollars a gallon will be the price of gasoline when that certain weather man reaches age 100.
* 4 days after he was born, Britain gave up control of the Suez Canal after 72 years.
* 3 days after he was born, President Eisenhower was hospitalized again and had surgery to relieve an intestinal obstruction.
* 3 weeks after he was born, President Eisenhower authorized $33.4 billion for a nationwide network of interstate highways.
* 4 days after he was born (Hint: He knows where every pothole is in the State of Alabama), the U.S. Senate was looking into charges that the three major television networks--CBS, NBC and ABC--were trying to hinder the development of other VHF TV channels.
* 118 was the hottest in the USA yesterday in Death Valley.
* 31 at Stanley, Idaho, in the Sawtooth Mountains, and at Lake Yellowstone inside Yellowstone National Park was the coldest in the lower 48.
* 25 was the wind chill in Barrow, Alaska at noon CDT where snow was falling.
* 25 was the coldest temperature in Alaska this morning at Eagle.
* 36 was the low this morning atop Mt. LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains.
* 115 was the high in Bullhead City, Arizona yesterday. It is located near the lower Colorado River between Arizona and California and often competes with towns like Parker and Lake Havasu City for the nation's hot spot. It was 108 at Phoenix. The high temperatures in Phoenix are backing off just a bit and they are expecting a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms tonight mixed with blowing dust.
* 1885 is when weather records began at Valley Head in NE Alabama's DeKalb County, so they have been kept continuously for 121 years. Mr. Crow, the long time observer for Valley Head, received the Thomas Jefferson Award in 2003. That is the most prestigious award for NWS cooperative observers.
* 739 is the approximate number of people who died in the major July 19, 1995 heat wave in Chicago. That still stands as one of the worst weather related disasters in the State of Illinois. During that time, the temperature peaked at 106 at Midway Airport. During another famous heat wave in the 1930s, many people in Chicago slept outside in parks or along the shore of Lake Michigan. They were too afraid to do that in 1995.
* 2 is the number of days in a row that Goldwing Dave, one of our regular blog readers, has worn cold weather clothing while going to work on his motorcycle.
* 13.99 is the rainfall total so far this year at Orange Beach reported by Lewis Cullen, the 3340 Online Weather Watcher for that area. This is far below normal.
45 in Black Creek (NE Etowah County)
46 in Heflin
47 in DeSoto State Park
48 in Crossville, Gaylesville
49 in Munford and Cottondale, Hamilton
50 in Ft. Payne, Cullman, Gadsden, Wedowee, Ashville
51 in Anniston, Troy, Pinson
52 in Tuscaloosa, Anniston, Alexander City, Alabaster
53 in Evergreen, Vinemont, East Trussville (Jay Shelley), Alexander City, Jasper
54 in Huntsville, Tuscaloosa
55 in Albertville, Decatur, Helena
56 in Inverness, Birmingham, Montgomery
57 in Auburn, Muscle Shoals, Gadsden (Noccalula Falls)
59 at Shelby County Airport (NWS)
60 in Selma
63 in Mobile
Oak Grove in West Jefferson County reported a low of 39 this morning. We are dicounting that. Their minimum temperature has seemed several degrees too low for a week or more.
* 61 was the low at the skycam site on Mt. Cheaha this morning. That was due to a nice inversion and it was 10 degrees warmer than the low at Anniston Airport not far away and 12 degrees warmer than nearby Munford. It was only 74 on Cheaha at noon today.
* 6 June is the birthday of a well known (very well known) Birmingham meteorologist. Won't tell you how old he is, but the day he was born gasoline was selling for about 23.9 cents per gallon and even as low as 19.9 when there were gas wars underway. Gas wars are unheard of anymore.
* 35 dollars a gallon will be the price of gasoline when that certain weather man reaches age 100.
* 4 days after he was born, Britain gave up control of the Suez Canal after 72 years.
* 3 days after he was born, President Eisenhower was hospitalized again and had surgery to relieve an intestinal obstruction.
* 3 weeks after he was born, President Eisenhower authorized $33.4 billion for a nationwide network of interstate highways.
* 4 days after he was born (Hint: He knows where every pothole is in the State of Alabama), the U.S. Senate was looking into charges that the three major television networks--CBS, NBC and ABC--were trying to hinder the development of other VHF TV channels.
* 118 was the hottest in the USA yesterday in Death Valley.
* 31 at Stanley, Idaho, in the Sawtooth Mountains, and at Lake Yellowstone inside Yellowstone National Park was the coldest in the lower 48.
* 25 was the wind chill in Barrow, Alaska at noon CDT where snow was falling.
* 25 was the coldest temperature in Alaska this morning at Eagle.
* 36 was the low this morning atop Mt. LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains.
* 115 was the high in Bullhead City, Arizona yesterday. It is located near the lower Colorado River between Arizona and California and often competes with towns like Parker and Lake Havasu City for the nation's hot spot. It was 108 at Phoenix. The high temperatures in Phoenix are backing off just a bit and they are expecting a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms tonight mixed with blowing dust.
* 1885 is when weather records began at Valley Head in NE Alabama's DeKalb County, so they have been kept continuously for 121 years. Mr. Crow, the long time observer for Valley Head, received the Thomas Jefferson Award in 2003. That is the most prestigious award for NWS cooperative observers.
* 739 is the approximate number of people who died in the major July 19, 1995 heat wave in Chicago. That still stands as one of the worst weather related disasters in the State of Illinois. During that time, the temperature peaked at 106 at Midway Airport. During another famous heat wave in the 1930s, many people in Chicago slept outside in parks or along the shore of Lake Michigan. They were too afraid to do that in 1995.
* 2 is the number of days in a row that Goldwing Dave, one of our regular blog readers, has worn cold weather clothing while going to work on his motorcycle.
* 13.99 is the rainfall total so far this year at Orange Beach reported by Lewis Cullen, the 3340 Online Weather Watcher for that area. This is far below normal.
WeatherBrains Episode 19
June 6, 2006, 6:03 am
The 19th episode of our weekly 30 minute podcast called "WeatherBrains" is now available on iTunes, or on the Internet:
http://www.weatherbrains.com/
In this week's podcast:
-James Spann's Alabama coast getaway, taking roads less traveled;
-The challenging task television meteorologists face relating to viewers;
-The new weather technology viewers didn't like;
-J. B. Elliott reveals the name of a book he wants to write;
-Tired of the negative campaign ads? We consider what it would be like if the job of television meteorologist was an elected position--not pretty!
By the way, we have a new voice mail number if you want to call and ask a question or leave a comment:
(206) 339 5482 (yep, the area code is correct... hopefully your cell phone plan has free long distance, or you can use Skype and make the call for free)
http://www.weatherbrains.com/
In this week's podcast:
-James Spann's Alabama coast getaway, taking roads less traveled;
-The challenging task television meteorologists face relating to viewers;
-The new weather technology viewers didn't like;
-J. B. Elliott reveals the name of a book he wants to write;
-Tired of the negative campaign ads? We consider what it would be like if the job of television meteorologist was an elected position--not pretty!
By the way, we have a new voice mail number if you want to call and ask a question or leave a comment:
(206) 339 5482 (yep, the area code is correct... hopefully your cell phone plan has free long distance, or you can use Skype and make the call for free)
by James Spann
in General Thoughts
Another Lovely Day
June 6, 2006, 5:58 am
The Tuesday morning map discussion video is on the server:
http://www.jamesspann.com/
What a delightful morning... is this June or April? As I write this, Crossville (in DeKalb County) is reporting 48 degrees, most other sites are down in the 50s. We will run a full list of morning lows a little later here on the blog.
TODAY: We will warm into the mid 80s today with lots of sunshine. We will probably see some high cirrus clouds from storms northwest of here, but the low levels remain dry.
TOMORROW/WEDNESDAY: Both the NAM and the GFS have really backed off on any chance of rain tomorrow and Thursday. We will continue to mention the risk of a few scattered showers or storms for now, but if the model trend continues we will scale back on any chance of rain. Remember models usually don't handle northwest flow storms very well in summer.
THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: The upper high to the west will slowly nose in here, so the weather looks basically very warm (hot if you are outside
and mostly dry. Highs in the 88 to 92 degree range with plenty of sunshine. Guess you can't rule out an afternoon shower or storm somewhere (after all, this is June), but warm air aloft should keep a lid on things.
LONG RANGE: Nothing really out of the ordinary shows up on the 00Z GFS. We do note a nice upper air anti-cyclone over the Gulf of Mexico by June 14; we wonder if that might set up good conditions for "back yard" tropical action. Temperatures here look seasonal.
WEATHER BRAINS: A new episode will be posted shortly... David Black had some of his radio buddies put together some "negative political ads" encourging people to "vote" for either James Spann or Brian Peters for Chief Meteorologist. Some very funny stuff... we all need a good laugh after watching all of these negative campaign ads.
The next map discussion video will be posted by 3:30 this afternoon!
http://www.jamesspann.com/
What a delightful morning... is this June or April? As I write this, Crossville (in DeKalb County) is reporting 48 degrees, most other sites are down in the 50s. We will run a full list of morning lows a little later here on the blog.
TODAY: We will warm into the mid 80s today with lots of sunshine. We will probably see some high cirrus clouds from storms northwest of here, but the low levels remain dry.
TOMORROW/WEDNESDAY: Both the NAM and the GFS have really backed off on any chance of rain tomorrow and Thursday. We will continue to mention the risk of a few scattered showers or storms for now, but if the model trend continues we will scale back on any chance of rain. Remember models usually don't handle northwest flow storms very well in summer.
THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: The upper high to the west will slowly nose in here, so the weather looks basically very warm (hot if you are outside
and mostly dry. Highs in the 88 to 92 degree range with plenty of sunshine. Guess you can't rule out an afternoon shower or storm somewhere (after all, this is June), but warm air aloft should keep a lid on things.LONG RANGE: Nothing really out of the ordinary shows up on the 00Z GFS. We do note a nice upper air anti-cyclone over the Gulf of Mexico by June 14; we wonder if that might set up good conditions for "back yard" tropical action. Temperatures here look seasonal.
WEATHER BRAINS: A new episode will be posted shortly... David Black had some of his radio buddies put together some "negative political ads" encourging people to "vote" for either James Spann or Brian Peters for Chief Meteorologist. Some very funny stuff... we all need a good laugh after watching all of these negative campaign ads.
The next map discussion video will be posted by 3:30 this afternoon!
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