I Spy Sunshine and Warmer Temps

I Spy Sunshine and Warmer Temps

Blah! Where did June go? (I asked my wife the other day) and she replied, "Actually, I don't mind it since I'm pregnant, it feels good!" Now, now - let's not go spreading any rumors. Paul is out of town and I, Todd Nelson, am filling in for him while he's away. It is true, though, my wife and I are expecting our first child this July. I am the nervous expecting dad, not sure how I'll handle everything... I don't want to be that guy that ends up on the floor during delivery. It is a major milestone in our lives and we are expecting great things from being parents, we can't wait! Anyway, long story longer... I told my wife that we are finally going to warm up this weekend and she got a queezy look on her face. Good news for me, since I like the warmer weather, but bad news for expecting mothers that like things on the cool side. We'll be closer to average temperatures this weekend, upper 70's.


The image above, from NOAA's HPC or Hydrological Prediction Center, shows a "Best guess" at where and how much rain will fall over the next 5 days. MCC's or Mesoscale Convective Complex's (storm clusters) will develop just to our south along a stark temperature gradient. This is also where the strong upper level winds (aka: Jet stream) will be sitting as well. It appears the storm track will change and send moisture our way by early next week. In the meantime, cold air aloft will keep the atmosphere unstable over the upper Midwest. Temperatures will warm as we head into the weekend, but isolated showers/sprinkles will be possible as well.

This picture (courtesy the Associated Press) shows a tree down on the North Lawn of the White House. This tree, planted in 1940 (FDR's time), was downed by thunderstorms that rolled through Tuesday afternoon.

This is the Doppler radar out of Sterling, VA about an our or so after the tree was felled at the White House. The black dot/smudge shows where the White House would be located and the line of red indicates the severe thunderstorms producing large hail and damaging winds. Notice how the red bows out like a boomerang, this is a perfect example of a straight line wind signature on radar. These storms are more outflow dominate, meaning they have a better chance of producing straight line wind damage rather than tornadoes.

The blue and green dots represent hail and high wind reports, notice that there are any tornado reports in the northeast, rather the tornado reports (red dots) are found in the Midwest/High Plains.

Weather Headlines

* Threat of a peek or two of sunshine Wednesday. Still unsettled, possibility of a stray shower or sprinkle. Average high temperature is 76 degrees, we'll be about 10 degrees shy of that mark Wednesday.

* Slow warming trend extends into the weekend: low to mid 70s Saturday, mid to upper 70s Sunday. Most of the weekend looks dry right now.

* A few 80-degree highs return next week, when it will finally start to feel like summer again. Lightning and thunder potential as well.

Todd's Outlook

Today: Damp start, then intervals of sun. High: 67

Tonight: Partly moony (large moon still visible - last full moon was June 7th). Low: 46

Thursday: More clouds, unsettled, a few showers. High: Near 70

Friday: Partly cloudy with a stray shower or two possible. High: 74

Saturday: A mix of clouds and sun, slightly cooler than average. Spotty PM shower possible. Winds: SE 10-15. High: 75

Sunday: Fading sun, warmer. Slight chance of late-day T-storms, mainly far northern MN. High: 78

Monday: Hazy sun, more noticeable humidity. PM thundershowers? High: near 80

Tuesday: Clouds roll in - risk of a T-storm or two. High: 76