WEATHER
Widespread thunderstorms will move across the Midstate this morning into early this afternoon, bringing frequent lightning, heavy downpours, and the threat for damaging winds and hail. The strongest storms will occur from late morning into early afternoon — the HRRR model’s radar simulation has a pretty good handle on that:
The Storm Prediction Center has outlined a “Slight Risk” (level 2 of 5) of severe weather that includes the entire Midstate:
Basically, that means that there will be a lot of storms, but only a few of those storms will be capable of triggering a severe thunderstorm warning. “Severe” has a very specific definition — 60+mph straight-line winds or 1+” diameter hail are the only criteria. (The frequency of lightning or the intensity of rainfall have nothing to do with whether a storm is categorized is severe.) Of those severe criteria, damaging winds will be the main hazard today:
Large hail and localized flooding are certainly possible as well. The tornado threat isn’t zero, but it will remain quite low.
Temperatures will be warm despite the rain, remaining in the low to mid 60s, briefly hitting the upper 60s for an official high temperature:
Mild temperatures will stick around Wednesday, with another chance of showers and non-severe storms late in the day. The RPM model shows the showers:
Highs Wednesday will reach the mid 60s, then a 36-hour cold snap settles in late Wednesday night through early Friday morning:
The weekend looks warm but unsettled…spotty showers Saturday might interfere with your attempts to get out and enjoy the warm weather, but the better chance of rain will move in late Sunday. No big rush of cold air behind that system, so next week will start off cooler but still above-average:
LINKS
- A new study finds that Ohio is the state with most deadly wintertime driving accidents.
- A fierce storm in the North Atlantic is going to send temperatures soaring at the North Pole…yet again.
- Our infrastructure will get more vulnerable as extreme heat events increase.
- Politicians used to say “I’m not a scientist” when confronted any kind of evidence that contradicted their claims. Now they’re trying a different tactic.
- New geologic stress maps might help prevent man-made earthquakes (like the “frack-quakes” that are now common in Oklahoma).
- The skies over Wisconsin and Illinois lit up Sunday night as a meteor burned up overhead — if something like that happened near us, how would you be able to tell regular rocks from bits of meteorite on the ground?
- Oops…the Super Bowl ad with Bill Nye got at least three chemistry details wrong.
- Trying to sneak away from your desk unnoticed? Good luck. New research indicates more people are looking at you than you think.
- Need more proof that beer is the official drink of nerds? Look at the science involved in producing it on a large-scale basis.
- You may not have to wait 30 years to get really good scotch: chemists have discovered a shortcut for aging liquors.
- Urban legend holds that almost all of our money has cocaine on it. Is it true?
- A scientific answer to a simple question: why do we love our pets?
