WEATHER
Today’s unsettled weather pattern is courtesy of a disorganized upper-level storm system that’s centered out to our west — the southerly winds ahead of that system are sending waves of moisture up toward the Midstate, which means we can expect scattered showers and storms off-and-on throughout today and the first half of tonight. It won’t rain everywhere all the time today, but keep the umbrella handy and be flexible with any outdoor plans through this evening.
Where will it rain, and when? Welllllll…that’s the problem today. With a disorganized system like this one, trying to pin down the placement and timing of the best storm chances is almost impossible. In general, I expect scattered showers this morning, with a better chance of some thunderstorms and heavier rain this afternoon and evening. Futurecast shows that pattern:
Keep in mind, that’s one version of one model. Your odds of seeing at least some rain are pretty good, but today won’t be a washout.
Usually when we’re talking about thunderstorms in April, we’re also talking about the potential of some of those storms becoming severe, but that’s really not the case today. You could hear some rumbles of thunder and see some flashes of lightning (especially this afternoon), but the odds of any of those storms becoming severe today are low:
In between the scattered showers and storms, enough sunshine will peek through the clouds to push temperatures up to around 70 degrees:
The shower chances will diminish tonight, with just a slight chance of some lingering rain on Friday. I’ve taken even the slight rain chance out of the forecast for Saturday — the first half of the weekend is looking good, and Sunday is looking GREAT:
If we hit 80 degrees on Monday, it will be for the first time in the month of April…but not for the first time this year. We hit a record-setting 87 degrees back on March 15.
LINKS
The nerd-links are back! Lots of weather stuff to lead off the geekiness today…
- Accuweather is starting to post 90-day forecasts, which is laughable.
- Scientists are getting a more detailed picture of how volcanic lightning forms.
- More lightning trivia here, including the U.S. and worldwide lightning hot spots.
- The “melting season” is underway on the Greenland ice sheet…about two months ahead of schedule.
- There are signs that ice loss (not just in Greenland) is so significant that the North Pole is now migrating in a new direction.
- Some good news for us professional weather nerds — meteorologist ranks as one of the “least creepy” professions.
- Why do so many TV meteorologists quit?
- It took the Japanese space probe Akatsuki longer than planned to reach Venus, but it’s there now and starting to send back data.
- Tiny laser-powered spacecraft designed to visit Alpha Centauri, the star closest to us (other than the Sun, of course). Sounds like science fiction or a David Bowie song, but it’s a plan that’s in the works. Is the plan ambitious, or just plain crazy?
- Some deep reading here — what does “dark matter” have to do with the extinction of the dinosaurs?
- I always struggle with this after my yearly bout of sinus issues — how fast should you resume your exercise routine after being sick?
- We showed this on the news this morning, but it’s so great that I’m sharing it here too: a paralyzed man is now able to control his arm thanks to a computer implant.
- Some lucky person did a scientific study about the best way to play with your dog.
4WARN Weather Blog 