Steve’s Weather Blog – 08/22/2016
Monday, August 22, 2016
Today’s Weather –
A diffuse frontal boundary is situated to the north of the Coastal Counties this morning. This boundary has served as the focus for scattered convection already this morning and its proximity to the Coast will affect our weather as well. However, the rain chances for the early part of the week are not great, only nearing 50% for today and decreasing from there through Thursday, then down to 20%. With lower precip chances and less cloud cover, expect late-week temperatures to rise nicely to above-normal levels with Heat Index values approaching 100 degrees or warmer by the weekend.
The tropics are also quite active. First, there’s Tropical Depression Fiona, which has decreased in intensity and organization since the weekend and is expected to become a remnant low by Tuesday night.
Next up, there’s Invest 99-L, located about 850 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. This system is going to be slow to organize and, given its current location and speed, will affect Puerto Rico and Hispanola as well as the southeastern Bahamas perhaps as early as this weekend.
Finally, there’s Invest 90-L, which will become a Tropical Depression later today. This system is forecast to begin moving northwest tonight or tomorrow and move into the open waters of the central Atlantic. As of now, the forecast models don’t predict interaction with the U.S.
- August 22, 2006 – North Myrtle Beach, SC received 3.26’’ of rain, and Wilmington, NC recorded 2.87’’ of rain. Roadway flooding forced road closures in Wilmington, and flooding was also reported in Leland, NC.
Tonight (08/22-23), or more precisely, early Tuesday morning, about an hour before sunrise, you should be able to catch some of the last stragglers of the Perseids Meteor Shower, which is waning in activity. The moon will be about halfway between East and South with the Perseids radiant high in the due east.
Supercell Thunderstorm
It is defined as a thunderstorm consisting of one quasi-steady to rotating updraft which may exist for several hours. Supercells usually move to the right of the mean wind. These are called “Right Movers” and they are favored with veering winds. Occasionally, these thunderstorms will move to the left of the mean wind. These thunderstorms are called “Left Movers”. These supercells typically don’t last as long as their “Right Mover” cousins and they usually only produce large hail (greater than 3/4 inch in diameter) and severe wind gusts in the excess of 58 miles an hour.
Radar will observe essentially one long-lived cell, but small perturbations to the cell structure may be evident. The stronger the updraft, the better the chance that the supercell will produce severe (hail greater than 3/4 inch in diameter, wind gusts greater than 58 miles an hour, and possibly a tornado) weather.
Severe supercell development is most likely in an environment possessing great buoyancy (CAPE) and large vertical wind shear.
Quite often, you’ll find this section of my blog devoted to goings-on at Stennis Space Center in Hancock County or the Michoud Assembly Plant outside of New Orleans.
Late last week, NASA-Stennis tested an RS-25 engine – four of which, combined with a pair of solid-rocket boosters, will help power the upcoming Space Launch System (SLS). It is this extremely powerful rocket stack that will propel we humans to Mars. So powerful, in fact, that it out-performs even the mighty Saturn V rocket of the Apollo Era. That is saying something.
Here’s a video of the test from Friday afternoon:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN3zy4tP3EE&w=560&h=315]
August 21, 2017 is, as of this writing, one day less than a year away. Already, though, the hype is building about the first total solar eclipse over the United States since 1979 and the first since 1918 that will carry the path of that total eclipse across the United States from coast-to-coast.
Go ahead and get your primer on the event by clicking HERE.
Considering the ground path of the eclipse, we in southern Mississippi won’t have a total occlusion of the sun. However, within the story link, there are many locations in the U.S. that you can see what it called ‘totality’.
For many people, this will be the only total solar eclipse they’ll see in their lifetime. For other avid eclipse chasers, it’s another chance to see the magic happen again.
Prior to the event, we’ll show you some simple and inexpensive ways for you to view this eclipse yourself and share with your friends.
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