Good Tuesday bloggers,
We are tracking nice weather, then a total lunar eclipse, then a big storm system.
Let's go through this.
WEDNESDAY:
We will see nice weather even with a weak front sitting here. We will also see periods of high and mid level clouds as a small storm system tracks across Oklahoma and Arkansas. Scattered showers and thunderstorms may clip southeast Kansas into southern and southeast Missouri later Wednesday into Thursday.
All locations will see highs in the 70s without much wind.
THURSDAY (5 AM):
You can see the scattered showers and thunderstorms from southeast Missouri to Alabama and Mississippi. We will see a clear sky and light wind with lows in the 40s.
THURSDAY AFTERNOON:
It will be as warm as it was Monday minus the wind. So, it will be extremely nice as highs climb to 75°-80° with abundant sunshine & a light southeast breeze.
THURSDAY NIGHT:
It should be clear, so that we can see the total lunar eclipse that starts at 10:57 PM, peaks at 1:58 AM and ends at 5:00 AM Friday. The moon will have a reddish hue as the Earth passes between the moon and sun. The longest, red wavelengths will be the only ones to make it to the moon. Hence, the reddish hue.
THE BIG STORM FRIDAY-SATURDAY:
This storm is as strong as the one last week, except it is tracking to our north. So, we are in the warm sector which opens the door to severe thunderstorms. The blizzard will be found from northern Nebraska to the Dakotas and Minnesota, perhaps western Iowa.
FRIDAY (7 AM):
The surface low will be moving into southwest Nebraska with a pressure around 28.91" which is equivalent to a low end category 2 hurricane. The wind is not 100 mph because the friction of the land slows the wind as opposed to the smooth ocean surface. There is no precipitation with the storm at this time as it is still pulling up Gulf moisture.
FRIDAY (3 PM):
We will be seeing the very first thunderstorms form on the state line. It will take an hour for them to become severe as they track northeast at 55-65 mph.
Our wind will be south at 25-35 mph gusting 40-50 mph regardless of thunderstorms.
FRIDAY (7 PM):
There is a significant line of severe thunderstorms from eastern Iowa to eastern Missouri. So, right now, it looks like we will avoid major severe weather. We will have to watch our eastern viewing area from Chillicothe, MO to Warrensburg, MO and east.
We will be watching the timing like a hawk. Because, if the storm is 1-2 hours slower, we will have severe weather issues across the entire viewing area.
Otherwise, we will see winds gusting to 50+ mph Friday night into Saturday morning with perhaps a rain shower.
SATURDAY MORNING:
The storm will be racing to the north. We will still see wind and clouds with perhaps a rain shower. The south edge of the snow will be swinging across Iowa. Lows here will be around 40°.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON:
The storm will be racing into Canada, so we will see some sun and a decreasing wind with highs around 50°.
The severe threat shifts to the southeast USA as new energy rotates in from the southwest around the big storm.
STORM SUMMARY:
SEVERE THREAT:
The severe outlook for Friday from the Storm Prediction Center matches our current thinking. The western edge of the severe threat clips our eastern viewing area.
RAINFALL:
There will be a lot of rain east of the Mississippi river. There will be decent rain before it changes to snow from the eastern Dakotas to Minnesota. We will see a trace to .25", if any at all.
SNOWFALL:
The 1"-6" of snow like we had with the last storm gets shifted north by 1-2 states due to the farther north track of this storm system. A few snowflakes could clip the Iowa/Missouri border.
Have a great week
Stay healthy.
