You may or may not have heard us talk about displaying weather information on twitter.  If you are not familiar, twitter is media network where one can post thoughts and news headlines and have “friends” that follow the individual’s posts and vice versa.  Our Weather Team has a page and we post really interesting weather information and headlines.  It can be very helpful for you if a storm is headed your way and you need a quick update.  We are also now inserting direct images from our radar and its tools that you won’t find anywhere else.  Street level weather information, as well as advanced Hurricane technological tools.  If you haven’t checked it out please do so and feel free to give us your feedback.  First go to www.twitter.com  You can follow us under the name “Midsouthweather.”  Click on the image below for one of our examples of weather information we insert on twitter.com.

It’s back to the 90s later this work week.  In the meantime, we’ve got one more day of afternoon highs in the 80s.

There is a slight chance of showers later today under otherwise mostly cloudy skies.  Most folks won’t get rain…those who do will most likely get less than .25″.

Rain chances diminish tonight, and we’ll have a low in the lower 70s.

Then come the 90s.  Check out the 7 DAY FORECAST to see how hot it will become.

Hurricane Earl is churning in the open waters of the Atlantic.  It is currently a minimal hurricane but is forecast to become a major hurricane in the coming days.  The consensus seems to be a direct hit on the United States remains unlikely.  The storm is still developing and could change paths however as a large fan of uncertainty exists so it will be prudent for all parties involved along the East coast to take careful watch.  I have inserted an Infrared image of the storm taken a few moments ago.  Notice the deep red.  Those colors indicate intense activity near the center of Earl. We’ll track it carefully for you in the coming days.

This has to be the best morning of the summer season thus far.  It felt wonderful with cool temperatures and extremely low humidity.  Morning lows fell into the low to mid sixties in many locations.   The morning low in Blytheville Arkansas fell to 56 degrees!  The low in Memphis was 69 degrees.  We haven’t had a morning temperature that low since July 2nd, however, that was still a very muggy morning.  That was certainly not the case this morning as dry air is firmly entrenched across the area. 

A very large ridge of high pressure is responsible for the nice break from the excessive heat and humidity.  A northeasterly flow wrapping around a high pressure system centered over the upper Mississippi River Valley is drawing a cooler amd much drier airmass into the region.  This pattern will continue though the weekend which means a few more days of nice weather.  The high will move to the east by the beginning of next week which in turn will gradually return a southerly flow.  This will bring an increase in temperatures and humidity.  Fortunately, at this time it doesn’t look like we’ll have to endure excessive heat next week but it certainly won’t feel as good as it does today. 

Activity in the tropic is on the rise.  Hurricane Danielle is still churning away in the open waters of the Atlantic.  Sustained wind were at in the category 2 range at 105 mph as of this writing.  The storm is expected to strengthen to category 3 strength by Friday.  The center of the storm is still expected to remain over water but the island of Bermuda could get a glancing blow from the outer bands as the eye passes east of the island this weekend. 

And then there’s Earl, Tropical Storm Earl is plugging way in the Atlantic well to the southwest of Danielle.  This storm could reach hurricane strength by Saturday but it to looks to pose no threat to land at this point.  The latest projected path tracks the center of the storm north of the Lesser Antillies.   We’ll continue to track both storms and keep you updated on their progress. 

In the meantime, enjoy the beautiful weather coming your way today.

What was Hurricane Danielle is now a Tropical storm but is forecast to become a hurricane once again.  Here’s the good news with this system.  Strong Surface High pressure off the Atlantic seaboard will curve Danielle away from land as it continues its forward March Westward.  I’m posting a link to the National Hurricane Center’s web site.  This will show you the expected track in the coming days.  Notice the disturbance on its heels.  That will be something to watch in the coming days.  Have a great evening.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

The break in the excessive heat has brought some much needed relief to the Mid-South and none too soon.  The high pressure ridge that kept its grip on the southeast finally broke down and allowed a northerly flow to move in at the surface.  This has taken a huge bite out of the humidity which was the primary factor to our streak of extreme heat.  High temperatures Monday reached the mid nineties in many communities but with dew points in the low to mid sixties and humidty in the thrity percent range, the result was a pleasant and much more tolerable late summer day.  Even better news is that this trend will continue for the rest of the week.   A cold front will move through the Mississippi River Valley overnight allowing this great streak of weather to remain in place and even cooler temperatures to prevail.  No rain is expected with the frontal passage as dry air in advance of the front will limit cloud development.  Behind the front a few clouds may linger but the northerly flow will remain and a slightly cooler Canadian airmass will cause overnight lows to fall into the upper fifties in the outlying areas and mid to upper sixties for Memphis.  Afternoon highs will also take a slight dip, only reaching the upper eighties Thursday.  Enjoy this break while it’s here because temps will return to the lower  nineties and humidy will increase over the weekend. 

While it may be cooling down here the tropics are starting to heat up.  Afer a somewhat lack luster start to what was believed to be an active season more activity is beginning to take shape in the Atlantic.  Hurricane Danielle is churing through the open waters of the Atlantic as a catagory 2 storm with winds of 100 mph.  NHC forecast the storm to reach catagory 3 strength by Wednesday with maximum sustained winds as high as 120 mph.  Landfall is not expected with this storm; although, the island of Bermuda could be clipped by this storm later in the week.  Another tropical wave has rolled off the African coast and has a 90% probability of becoming our next tropical storm.  Warm water and favorable atmospheric conditions will likely allow this system to become the fifth named storm of the season, Earl. 

September is typically the most active month of hurricane season which extends from June 1 to November 30.  NOAA is recently issued its updated forecast for the 2010 hurricane season and despite the slow start  were still forecasting a 90% probability of above average activity for the remainder of the season.  This forecast also called for 14-20 named storms, 8-12 hurricanes with 4-6 of those storms reaching major proportions.   

We’ll continue to track the activity in the tropics and keep you posted on any new storm development.  In the meantime, let’s just focus on this great weather in the Mid-South.

Yesterday I posted rain estimates from Saturday night’s thunderstorms.  Click on the image below for Memphis Metro totals.  Speaking of rain, it appears the area will not see any for quite some time.

There were a handful of storm reports from last night’s thunderstorms.  Click on the link below if you are interested.  And don’t forget to check out the Rainfall estimates posted below if you not already have.

http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=meg&product=LSR&issuedby=MEG

Intense thunderstorms rolled through the Mid-South last night.  Some locations received really heavy rain and a few spots saw narry a drop.  One of the many tools we have for severe weather is a product called “Rainfall Estimates” and I have posted the image below.  Keep in mind often times they can be exaggerated but the technology has really improved in the last several years and the estimations are usually rather reasonable as I believe this picture is.  These amounts occured over the last 24 hours.  Notice that areas Northwest of Covington received over three inches.  The darker green illustrates the highest amounts and the light blue shade indicates the low end of amounts.  If your area on the map doesn’t have any color, other than the background green, showers likely missed you.  Click on the Image for more.

A Tropical Low, which is currently well to our South but closer than yesterday is slowly pinwheeling toward the Mid-South.  This has initiated a few showers and thundershowers but for the most part it’s been a dry afternoon for many.  If it is not raining where you are right now, there is still a possibility before the evening is over.  In fact, there is one band right now that is about to move into part of Shelby county and while it does have a flash or two of lightning it’s signature is rather benign at this moment.

I posted a link below to the National Hurricane Center’s web site which shows a new feature developing in the Caribbean Sea.  You may want to bookmark their site as Hurricane Season 2010 rolls along.  Have a great evening and thank you for reading our blog.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/