Good Tuesday bloggers,
We have 4 main topics to cover; Hurricane Milton, summer in October, a strong cold front and the next chance of rain.
HURRICANE MILTON:
Milton became a category 5 hurricane again at 4 PM today. You can now see a well defined eye which indicates a powerful and intensifying hurricane.
Milton will make landfall around Tampa Wednesday night as a category 3 or 4. This could be quite devastating not only because it is a category 3 or 4, but the trajectory of Milton along with how Tampa bay is aligned could create quite a storm surge issue.
Milton will emerge back in to the Atlantic Ocean Thursday as a category 1.
10"-20" of rain will accompany Milton's path. That plus a major storm surge could be quite a problem on the west coast of Florida. The one silver lining is that Milton will not bring any rain to the Carolinas which were devastated by Helene.
So, in summary, Milton is now a category 5 hurricane north of the Yucatan peninsula. It will make landfall around Tampa, FL Wednesday night as a category 3 or 4. It exits east central Florida as a category 1 Thursday.
SUMMER IN OCTOBER:
A warming trend began today as highs reached the mid 70s. The warming trend will end Saturday where we may break a record high as summer makes a comeback.
WEDNESDAY:
Highs will be in the low 80s with a south-southeast wind at just 5-10 mph. It will be great for game 3 of the ALDS. Temperatures will be in the 70s for the first pitch (6:08 PM) and low to mid 60s by the end of the game. The wind will be light.
THURSDAY:
Highs will warm closer to 85°. A small disturbance dropping south across central Nebraska to central Kansas may bring a few showers and thunderstorms as close as Topeka. But, we will stay dry and even in locations in the path of the disturbance will not see much rain. The wind will be south-southeast at 5-15 mph
So, the weather will be great for game 4 of the ALDS. Temperatures will be in the 70s for the first pitch (7:08 PM) and low to mid 60s by the end of the game. The wind will be light.
FRIDAY:
Highs will climb to the mid and upper 80s with the chance to see a few 90° readings. The wind will be south-southwest at 10-15 mph. The front to the north will stall and head back north, not coming through or area.
SATURDAY:
Since the front does not make it, we stay in the hot airmass. So, Saturday we will likely reach 90°, if not a bit higher. The record is 91° set in 1899. A southwest breeze at 5-15 mph will bring in the hot/dry air.
STRONG COLD FRONT:
SUNDAY:
The cold front tracking across Nebraska Saturday will move through Saturday night-Sunday. So, highs Sunday will be around 70° on north winds at 10-20 mph.
MONDAY:
Highs will be in the low 60s under a sunny sky after lows in the low 40s.
TUESDAY MORNING:
This is quite a change from Saturday's 90° weather. Lows will drop to the 30s with the freeze line possibly into northern Missouri. Now, this is right on schedule. The average date for the first freeze in northern Missouri is October 1-10. The average date of the first freeze along I-70 in our area is October 11-21.
We see a new big warm up at the end of next week.
THE NEXT CHANCE OF RAIN:
We may see a few showers/T-Storms Saturday night with the front, but the chance is less than 20%. Other than that, there is no rain in the forecast until further notice. It really is amazing that we have seen no rain, despite the numerous frontal passages we have had and are about to have. We are now almost 6.50" of rain below average for the year.
One thing we will see the next few days is a smoky haze from wildfires in the central and northern Rockies. This was the smoky sunset Monday.
Have a great rest of your week.
Stay healthy
LET'S GO ROYALS!
