Good morning bloggers,
The National Weather Service will be issuing severe thunderstorm warnings a bit differently. Before now we would issue a Severe Thundertorm Warning when we believe that one of two main criteria are met: 1) Wind gusts of 50 knots (58 mph) or stronger are expected, and 2) when hail the size of a quarter, or 1" in diameter or larger is expected.
From this point forward there will be three levels of warnings issued, beginning with the basic Severe Thunderstorm Warning as shown below:
A Destructive Thunderstorm Warning will be issued when baseball sized hail or winds of 80 mph or stronger are expected. Only around 10% of all warnings have reached this level. When a Destructive Thunderstorm Warning is issued, you should almost treat it like a tornado warning, staying indoors and away from windows.
Let's see how this system is applied in the next year. I think it is a good idea, and it will help us explain immediately a level up if a severe thunderstorm is stronger.
Did you see last night's sunset? I took this picture from Kansas City North:
The smoke from the western wild fires continues to impact our weather. The impacts are subtle, and most noticeable when we see the red sunset like this one. The pattern is still favorable for bringing more smoke into our sky. Most of this is high up and having little impact near the ground.
The great weather will continue with a warm up beginning slowly today. A high pressure system is near the Mississippi River this morning and we will again have light winds. The E.O.I. will be nearly a 10 for breakfast, lunch, and dinner today:
The high pressure area will move off to the east. One of our models is showing thunderstorms approaching late Thursday. This model did have them falling apart before reaching KC. There is a slight chance they will make it into our area so we will discuss this tonight.
A better chance of thunderstorms is showing up for Saturday night. The Garth Brooks concert is outside at Arrowhead and I hope to be able to forecast the chance of rain for after the concert. It is something we will also discuss on today's newscasts on KSHB-41.
Expect a high of 84° this afternoon with just a light breeze.
Thank you for sharing in this weather experience. Have a great Wednesday!
Gary
