Good morning bloggers,
It's Friday! The weather is once again nearly perfect today with nearly 100% sunshine and light winds in the forecast.
There is activity in the tropics near Cuba this morning. The Caribbean Sea is south of Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico is north of Cuba. You can see the system developing here:
The system is not organized at all yet this morning. The white to pink colors show the intense convection developing. Convection is rising motion creating thunderstorms, and when the thunderstorms form over the center of the developing storm, the storm will intensify. Most of these thunderstorms are east of the center.
When air condenses, heat is released, and tremendous heat is released in these thunderstorms. When you see a bubbling cumulus cloud growing into a thunderstorm, that is showing the latent heat being released. This process causes tropical systems to drop their pressure and intensify.
This system has some shear to deal with which will push most of the latent heat release to happen east of the center. This means that it will intensify slowly. While it likely will form into our first named storm of the season, it is also likely to stay weak and zip over Florida very fast, limiting effects.
If it does get named today or tonight, it will be named Tropical Storm Alex. Here is a list of this year's names:
While potential Tropical Storm Alex moves across Florida, Kansas City has a chance of a few showers and thunderstorms Saturday:
By Saturday night, what may be Tropical Storm Alex is already far east of Florida. While this system zips out over the Gulf Stream off the east coast, Kansas City has a chance of showers and thunderstorms. There will be a weak front stalling near the Nebraska/Kansas border, and this will be the focusing area for thunderstorms in our region.
Kansas City weather timeline:
- Today: Nearly 100% sunshine and near-perfect weather. A light south breeze around 10 mph will return. High: 80°
- Friday Night In The Big Town: Clear & mild. South winds 5-15 mph. Low: 62°
- Saturday: A few periods of clouds with a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms, especially later in the day or on Saturday night. High: 80°
- Sunday: Partly cloudy with a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms. High: 82°
Thank you for sharing in this weather experience and spending a few minutes of your day reading the weather blog.
Have a great weekend,
Gary
