Please note that there is no video map discussion this morning. Happy to have a connection up at Mt. Cheaha, but it is just not enough to be able to get a video uploaded. James should have the next video posted tomorrow morning bright and early.
MT. CHEAHA ADVENTURE: Good morning once again from Mt. Cheaha State Park. I'm again sitting by the pool which is as still as a mirror with a temperature around 71 degrees according to my vehicle's thermometer. Feels nice - just humid.
Wow, what an afternoon and early evening we had on Alabama's highest point. I don't know how much rain fell up here, but it came down in buckets. And the lightning was so close that the flash and the thunder came simultaneously. We had driven down to Anniston and Oxford yesterday morning and had a small shower around noon near Alexandria. After a nice sandwich for lunch and a stop for some vegetables at a farmer's market, we proceeded back up the mountain.
The trip treated us to a number of great views of rain off in the distance, and we could not see the big point, so we weren't sure if it was raining there or just between us and there. When we got back to the campsite, we had hardly made it into the trailer when the sky opened up in grand fashion. That's when we had the lightning and the power went out. Fortunately the power was only out for about two and a half hours and came back on just before dark. No wind with the storm at least where we were. Temperature dropped close to 20 degrees with the heavy rain.
Before sunset and after the rain, we were treated to a grand view looking out from the lodge area on the valley below with mist curling up from the trees following the rain. I took a bunch of pictures which I'll try to go through and post some on the Blog later. And we had a four-legged visitor to our campsite. Just as we were leaving to sample the view after the storm, a full grown doe walked right into the camping area. She seemed to have no fear of us, and I took a couple of pictures in limited light with the deer only about 20 feet away from me. On the short trip to the lodge area, we saw two more deer chomping some supper along the side of the road.
TROPICS: Tropics remain quiet at this time. No suspicious areas to be watchful of. But we've passed the middle of July, so August and September, the heart of hurricane season, are just around the corner. I think we'd had four or five storms at this time last year.
WEEK AHEAD: It looks like our best chances for rain in Central Alabama were yesterday. I noticed Bill Murray estimated that about 80 percent of the area got rain yesterday. I did not see much radar during the storms yesterday afternoon, so I'll have to go with his estimate. Not everyone got rain yesterday, though, the character of summer thunderstorms.
Today and through much of the upcoming week we might see an isolated storm, but chances are going to be pretty slim. The upper air trough that helped to enhance rain chances yesterday should be located in the Montgomery area by early afternoon, so South Alabama and the Florida Panhandle will have the best chances for storms today and this evening. After that, the weather settles into a summer pattern with a big heat bubble high just off to our west and northwest centered over the Central Plains. Look for temperaures to remain in the 90s - mid 90s for most of us.
Interesting to note that the GFS is once again forecasting an upper level trough over the eastern half of the country by next Saturday. This could bring a weak cold front into the Southeast which would certainly be welcome since it could improve our rain chances and perhaps bring a slight cooling to the summer heat. The GFS has been pretty good in its forecasts for the last several months, so I'm hoping the GFS will be right on this even if the timing might be off a little that far out.
HEADED HOME: Well, Jane and I will be packing up the trailer this morning and heading home. Really hate to leave this wonderful spot - it is so cleansing to the mind and spirit especially with the beautiful views that we've been treated to during the last couple of days. I'll be filling in tonight for John or Jason or James, not sure which one was going to be working tonight. Aw, the plight of the part-time fill-in guy!!
SPOTTER TRAINING: Oh, and don't forget that I'll be doing a spotter training session in Calhoun County at the EMA office in Jacksonville next Saturday at 10 am. If you are interested in learning more about severe weather and what you can look for during bad weather, take a couple of hours out and join us next Saturday.
-Brian-
MT. CHEAHA ADVENTURE: Good morning once again from Mt. Cheaha State Park. I'm again sitting by the pool which is as still as a mirror with a temperature around 71 degrees according to my vehicle's thermometer. Feels nice - just humid.
Wow, what an afternoon and early evening we had on Alabama's highest point. I don't know how much rain fell up here, but it came down in buckets. And the lightning was so close that the flash and the thunder came simultaneously. We had driven down to Anniston and Oxford yesterday morning and had a small shower around noon near Alexandria. After a nice sandwich for lunch and a stop for some vegetables at a farmer's market, we proceeded back up the mountain.
The trip treated us to a number of great views of rain off in the distance, and we could not see the big point, so we weren't sure if it was raining there or just between us and there. When we got back to the campsite, we had hardly made it into the trailer when the sky opened up in grand fashion. That's when we had the lightning and the power went out. Fortunately the power was only out for about two and a half hours and came back on just before dark. No wind with the storm at least where we were. Temperature dropped close to 20 degrees with the heavy rain.
Before sunset and after the rain, we were treated to a grand view looking out from the lodge area on the valley below with mist curling up from the trees following the rain. I took a bunch of pictures which I'll try to go through and post some on the Blog later. And we had a four-legged visitor to our campsite. Just as we were leaving to sample the view after the storm, a full grown doe walked right into the camping area. She seemed to have no fear of us, and I took a couple of pictures in limited light with the deer only about 20 feet away from me. On the short trip to the lodge area, we saw two more deer chomping some supper along the side of the road.
TROPICS: Tropics remain quiet at this time. No suspicious areas to be watchful of. But we've passed the middle of July, so August and September, the heart of hurricane season, are just around the corner. I think we'd had four or five storms at this time last year.
WEEK AHEAD: It looks like our best chances for rain in Central Alabama were yesterday. I noticed Bill Murray estimated that about 80 percent of the area got rain yesterday. I did not see much radar during the storms yesterday afternoon, so I'll have to go with his estimate. Not everyone got rain yesterday, though, the character of summer thunderstorms.
Today and through much of the upcoming week we might see an isolated storm, but chances are going to be pretty slim. The upper air trough that helped to enhance rain chances yesterday should be located in the Montgomery area by early afternoon, so South Alabama and the Florida Panhandle will have the best chances for storms today and this evening. After that, the weather settles into a summer pattern with a big heat bubble high just off to our west and northwest centered over the Central Plains. Look for temperaures to remain in the 90s - mid 90s for most of us.
Interesting to note that the GFS is once again forecasting an upper level trough over the eastern half of the country by next Saturday. This could bring a weak cold front into the Southeast which would certainly be welcome since it could improve our rain chances and perhaps bring a slight cooling to the summer heat. The GFS has been pretty good in its forecasts for the last several months, so I'm hoping the GFS will be right on this even if the timing might be off a little that far out.
HEADED HOME: Well, Jane and I will be packing up the trailer this morning and heading home. Really hate to leave this wonderful spot - it is so cleansing to the mind and spirit especially with the beautiful views that we've been treated to during the last couple of days. I'll be filling in tonight for John or Jason or James, not sure which one was going to be working tonight. Aw, the plight of the part-time fill-in guy!!
SPOTTER TRAINING: Oh, and don't forget that I'll be doing a spotter training session in Calhoun County at the EMA office in Jacksonville next Saturday at 10 am. If you are interested in learning more about severe weather and what you can look for during bad weather, take a couple of hours out and join us next Saturday.
-Brian-
on July 16, 2006, 8:41 am
I noticed the Mt. Cheha skycam is now reporting observations again. Did you fix it while there Brian?
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