Archive of the July 2011

• July 28, 2011

  Hello Don!

  Janice Dean | Meteorologist

  Hi everyone! 

  Well, as expected we’ve got our 4th named storm in the Atlantic Basin.   Tropical Storm Don is churning towards the Texas coast at about 10 mph.   

  

  Don is pushing through the southern and central Gulf of Mexico and will approach the Texas coast on Friday into Saturday around the Corpus Christi area. 

  

  

  Don should be a moderate/strong tropical storm upon landfall and will bring some much needed moisture to the exceptional drought across the state! 

  

  As long as the storm doesn’t stall, I think this will ultimately be a good news story for Texas.

  As for the rest of the country, we’ll see tropical moisture all along the Gulf as Don approaches the area.  A cold front draped across the Great Lakes, MS Valley and into the Great Basin will bring showers and or thunderstorms along and ahead of the front.  Showers and or thunderstorms will also crop up over the Southern and Central Rockies.  Extreme heat remains a big story for the southern Plains and Midwest. 

  

  Dangerous levels of heat and humidity will continue through this evening:

  

  And finally, on America’s Newsroom today Bill Hemmer mentioned he’d love to play on TV’s Jeopardy!  I think he would be fantastic, don’t you?  We need to make this happen!  Alex Trebek, incase you read this weather blog, can you put in a good word for our Hemmer? 

  jd

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• July 27, 2011

  Tropical Storm Don? Texas needs you!

  Janice Dean | Meteorologist

  Hi everyone!

  Well, looks like we could have a tropical depression/storm forming very soon!  A nice big blob (Don I’m not referring to you here!  is developing off the coast of Cancun:

  

  Here’s what the computer models are thinking if/when this develops into a named storm:

  

  Waters are plenty warm for tropical development:

  

  Ultimately, this could be very welcome news to Texas as over 70 percent of the state is into exceptional drought, and of course the record breaking heat has been tough to say the least for Texans.  Obviously we don’t need a major hurricane to hit the coast, but a good tropical storm or even a minimal hurricane would help this region tremendously.  We’ll have to see what happens in the next 24 hours. 

  The next name on the tropical storm list is: DON!

  

  Meanwhile, we’re still dealing with extreme heat across the country.   Here are the latest heat advisories:

  

  

  Meanwhile, we had some nasty storms across the Northeast last night – one report of a tornado across Oneida New York!   The other storm reports were mainly wind damage from Pennsylvania up into Maine.   It certainly cooled things off nicely though.  This morning was beautiful.  We’re expecting another mini-heat wave this weekend.

  Talk to you soon!

  JD

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• July 25, 2011

  Some get a break from the heat...

  Janice Dean | Meteorologist

  Hello everyone!  Sorry for the delay.   I was struck with a nasty stomach bug that had me in bed for the end of the week and part of the weekend.  Thank goodness I was the only one who got sick.  The boys are all healthy and doing fine aside from Teddy’s teething!

  Just reading over some of the comments on last week’s blog.  First off, congrats to Margie on your new job!  Great news!  I know all of you were dealing with this nasty heat wave that affected most of the country.  I also see we have a couple of new visitors to the blog that seem a little upset about not hearing about their city/town during our weather coverage.  Because we cover national weather, it’s a little difficult to do any real local coverage unless it’s unique or extreme.  This heat story was very widespread, and we did our best to show the worst “hit” areas.    I’ve said it before – this is a friendly blog that encourages everyone to be considerate and kind with comments.  

  So, the good news is many areas on the weather map will see a break in the heat.  The bad news is parts of the Plains as well as the Southeast will still feel pretty nasty.  Here’s a look at today’s heat advisories:

  

  The worst of the heat continues to be across the southern and central Plains where temperatures will soar past the triple digit mark:

  

  And Dallas will probably end up with the 2nd longest 100 degree or greater temperature streak by the end of this week:

  

  Brutal.  San Angelo, Texas has had 58 100-degree days (as of yesterday) which ranks number 3 of all time.  Abilene has had 44,  and will probably tie its all time record set in 1934.

  A cold front sweeping across the Great Lakes is bringing temperatures back down to “average” for this time of year.  We do have a slight risk for severe thunderstorms and heavy rain to develop along and ahead of the front.

  There’s also the risk of strong to severe storms across the Northern Rockies and into the Dakotas.

  That’s it for now.   I lost 5 pounds from the flu this weekend – but when I stepped on the scale this morning, I gained it all back, plus one! LOL!

  Talk to you soon!

  JD

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• July 20, 2011

  HEAT SPREADS EAST

  Janice Dean | Meteorologist

  Hi everyone

  We are into a very dangerous heat wave this week that will last until the weekend.  Millions of people are affected, and with heat indices forecast above 100 degrees for dozens of states, the warnings are dire.   Here’s a list of the peak heat index numbers for Tuesday.  One of the reasons we’re seeing such high values is because of the record flooding that we saw this spring across the Midwest and Mississippi Valley.   There is plenty of available moisture that is evaporating and combined with the soaring temperatures, this is causing a “sauna effect” for dozens of states.

  

  The heat advisories cover over 30 states this morning:

  

  Here’s a look at the forecast heat indices for today:

  

  The high temperatures will will peak on Friday across the east:

  

  And looks like we’ll get a bit of a break (with exception to the south) at the end of the weekend, however,  some of the forecast models show a return of the heat and humidity mid-week!

  The West coast and Northwest are the nicest spots on the map!  Let’s all move to Seattle! 

  Be safe everyone!  Keep yourselves hydrated!    Beer does not count!  LOL!

  JD

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• July 18, 2011

  The Central U.S. gets baked

  Janice Dean | Meteorologist

  Hi everyone.

  Another huge heatwave.  This one reaching as far north as Minnesota and Wisconsin. 

  

  The humidity is the real problem with heat index values reaching 105-115. 

  

  This one is expected to last through the week and push east.

  

  

  We’re also watching our second tropical storm of the season, Bret:

  

  Good news, though. Bret is expected to move off to sea and not become a hurricane.

  

  Feeling a little under the weather today.  My little guy is teething, and keeping mama awake.  Poor guy.  Wish I could take his pain away.  

  Keep cool everyone.  Remember, winter is just around the corner, and we’ll be complaining about the cold soon enough!

  jd

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