The system that will affect the Mid-South over the next 24 hours or so is one deemed a Vertically Stacked Low.  The atmosphere has many different levels and sometimes there can be a surface low while an Upper-level low overhead cannot be seen.  It can also be the opposite.  There can be an Upper-level low present and not a surface low underneath.  This low in Missouri, however, has low pressure at every level.  There is snow associated with it to the North.  Rain is falling on the Southern tier of the system.  We will see clouds and a few showers tomorrow and possibily even a flurry tomorrow night across the North.

At least, that’s what my mother has always told me.

Many folks were greeted with wet ground in the northern half of the ACTION NEWS 5 coverage area.  While rainfall hasn’t been significant, it is an early indicator of the kind of weekend that awaits us.

Today should turn out to be the warmest day until Tuesday.

Here’s the breakdown, aka

Today & tonight will feature lots of cloud cover and some scattered rainfall, primarily confined to areas north of the Tennessee/Mississippi state line.

Tomorrow will see us receive a colder pool of air at the surface and significant punch of colder air aloft by tomorrow afternoon.  Basically this means that it will be colder tomorrow compared to today, and any moisture remaining in evening hours could change over to frozen precipitation, especially near and north of Memphis.  Surface temperatures (at this time) look to remain above freezing, so large accumulation is not anticipated in Memphis.

As computer models update and the upper level disturbance in question progresses, I highly suggest you stay updated with wmctv.com & Meteorologist John Bryant on ACTION NEWS 5 @ 5, 6 & 10pm.

The Tigers football team wrap up the regular season at the Liberty Bowl today @ 2:30pm.  A win gets them a Bowl game.  Go TIGERS!

Ron Childers is live from the Memphis Zoo tonight for the annual lighting of a Zoo Extravaganza during the Holidays.  It is really a neat thing our city has to offer.  I really believe we have one of the best Zoo’s in the country.  If you haven’t been, it is certainly worth the trip.  Here’s a sneak peak of what you will see…

If you want to know more, click on the link here…

http://www.memphiszoo.org/zoolights

Parts of the Southwest states have been literally blown with snow this Thanksgiving Holiday.  If you like nice weather, how could our Thanksgiving day weather been better? 

I find what I’m posting below rather interesting…This is the forecast for Taos, New Mexico for the next several days or so…THIS IS NOT THE FORECAST FOR MEMPHIS!

Rest Of Tonight…Snow showers. Patchy fog. Snow accumulation 1 or 2 inches…except 2 to 4 inches above 7500 feet. Lows in the mid teens to lower 30s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.

Sunday…Partly cloudy with a slight chance of snow showers. Not as cool. Highs in the upper 30s to lower 50

One more note I do want to add…The Shopper’s, which I’m not, should be greeted with good weather tomorrow.  While a sprinkle or two is possible, steady rain should not spoil your day and temperatures will rise to near 60, not bad for this time of year in Memphis.

Many people will travel today to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.  For people driving or flying into or out of the Mid-South weather will not create a problem.  We’ll have dry weather today with temperatures in the low to mid sixties.  There will be a few clouds but nothing worse than a partly cloudy sky.  Great weather will be found across much of the nation today.  Temperatures will be in the seventies to near eighty in the Southern Plains as well as central and southern Florida.  The Gulf Coast will be mostly cloudy with temperatures in the upper sixties to near seventy.  Sunshine and temperatures in the forties and fifties will be found in the Midwest, Northern Plains, and Pacific Northwest.  The East Coast will be sunny and mild as well with temperatures near seventy in southern Georgia to the sixties from the Carolinas to Virginia. 

The two trouble spots will be to the north east and the southwest.  Snow showers will be found east of the Great Lakes over much of Pennsylvania, New York State, and into New England.  Flight delays will be possible in Philadelphia, Syracuse, Albany, as well as Vermont and Connecticut.  A Pacific storm will move into Southern California and extend into Arizona, southern Nevada and Utah today bringing heavy rain to those areas.  Expect flight delays at LAX, San Diego, and Phoenix.   

Here’s a list of forecasts for cities across the nation:

  CITY                     WEA HI/LO WEA HI/LO
ALBANY NY            CLOUDY 39/29 MOCLDY 39/28
ANCHORAGE          SUNNY 20/07 MOCLDY 21/19
ATLANTA               SUNNY 59/39 SUNNY 64/49
BILLINGS                MOCLDY 48/24 SUNNY 40/26
BOISE                     PTCLDY 48/30 PTCLDY 47/30
BOSTON                 PTCLDY 46/35 PTCLDY 45/36
CHICAGO              SUNNY 43/28 PTCLDY 46/29
COLUMBUS OH      PTCLDY 41/27 SUNNY 44/31
DALLAS                 PTCLDY 77/48 PTCLDY 72/44
DENVER                 PTCLDY 59/25 MOCLDY 39/23
DETROIT                MOCLDY 39/30 PTCLDY 43/30
HONOLULU            SUNNY 84/71 SUNNY 83/70
KANSAS CITY         SUNNY 53/27 PTCLDY 50/31
LAS VEGAS             RAIN 63/50 MOCLDY 61/47
LOS ANGELES         SHWRS 64/52 PTCLDY 65/51
LOUISVILLE            SUNNY 49/32 SUNNY 50/31
MEMPHIS                PTCLDY 64/44 PTCLDY 62/45
MIAMI BEACH         SUNNY 76/59 SUNNY 76/58
MPLS ST PAUL        SUNNY 39/23 MOCLDY 38/22
NEW ORLEANS       SUNNY 70/52 PTCLDY 72/63
NEW YORK CITY     PTCLDY 45/34 SUNNY 47/38
OKLAHOMA CITY   SUNNY 62/36 PTCLDY 61/37
PHOENIX               TSTRMS 73/58 TSTRMS 68/53
RALEIGH NC         SUNNY 52/27 SUNNY 59/34
RAPID CITY           PTCLDY 56/25 PTCLDY 42/19
SAN ANTONIO      MOCLDY 75/57 MOCLDY 80/59
SAN FRANCISCO   MOCLDY 59/49 PTCLDY 61/48
SEATTLE               PTCLDY 49/38 MOCLDY 50/41
TAMPA                  SUNNY 67/43 SUNNY 68/52
WASHINGTON DC PTCLDY 47/33 SUNNY 51/35

I found this on msnbc’s website…

It’s worth a click!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27848645/?GT1=43001

The Action News Five Weather team, lead by of course by our Chief Dave Brown, was all born and raised in the Mid-South.  We take great pride in providing the best possible forecast for our viewers.  Our experience forecasting Mid-South weather is second to none.  Weather for virtually every region is highly localized.  It takes years to recognize specific patterns in specific situations.  While no Weatherman on the Globe can always without error perfectly “nail” a forecast, our experience provides us with a superior grasp of Mid-South weather.  I take great pride in being part of the best Weather Team in the Country.  Obviously I am biased but there is no way we could do what we do without you the viewer.  Just know this…”We do the best we can to bring you what you need to know during severe weather and how to plan your day”.  We wish you a great Thanksgiving week.

- The Action News Five Storm Team

We certainly got a dousing this morning as about an inch of rain fell in many locations across the Mid-South.  The heaviest rain in Memphis began around 4 AM and came in waves through the morning rush hour.  Most of the precipitation should move east of the area by the lunch hour or shortly thereafter.  We’ll likely even get a glimpse of sunshine by the late afternoon as the sky will clear from west to east late in the day.  Temperatures will reach the mid to upper fifties today and then take a dip into the thirties tonight.  We’ll enjoy a full day of sunshine Tuesday and Wednesday with highs in the fifties.   Anyone traveling into or out of the Mid-South those two days will have good weather.  Thanksgiving day will be a bit cloudy with a chance for rain moving in that night.  Temperatures should be near sixty for the holiday.  I expect the week to end on a rainy note Friday so, if you have travel plans that day you’ll want to be prepared for what could lead to minor flight delays and some slipperly roadways.  The rain should be gone for the weekend but temperatures will be a bit cooler as afternoon highs will only reach the upper forties to lower fifties.  

John Bryant will have more details on the rainy start to the week today on Action News 5 at noon and Dave Brown will have a more detailed look at the rest of the week and your Thanksgiving Holiday forecast on Action News 5 at 5, 6, and 10. 

It has been an interesting night across the Mid-South with respect to temperatures.  Our Northern reaches have been much cooler than the Southern parts.  In fact, here’s a stat that doesn’t occur frequently.  Memphis International Airport has been at either 42 or 43 degrees for 12 hours straight.  (It’s almost midnight as I write this blog)  Dyersburg has been almost 20 degrees colder than Memphis tonight at certain times and it has nothing to do with a cold front.  It has everything to do with clouds.  While Dyersburg has been clear, Memphis has been cloudy.  Here’s some information on the subject from one of my professors in college. (Jeff Haby)

The phrase “clouds act like a blanket” is used to describe warmer temperatures at night when clouds are present as opposed to cooler temperatures on a clear night. Clouds absorb longwave radiation while also radiating longwave radiation to the surface. Thus, this extra longwave energy keeps cloudy nights warmer. Keep in mind this blanket trick is only good for the night. Clouds act more like a “heat shield” during the day. Although clouds continue to trap longwave radiation during the day, they also reflect visible and shortwave energy from the sun to space. Visible and shortwave wavelengths have more energy than longwave radiation. Cooling due to a reduction of visible and shortwave energy at the surface will more than outweigh the warming due to an increase of longwave energy during the day. Thus, cloudy days tend to be cooler than clear days, all else being equal. The amount of cloud cover will be a big influence to the forecast.

This is exactly what has transpired in the Mid-South tonight.  I should also note that the clouds did compromise the amount of solar energy that reached the surface earlier this afternoon, and that’s why we remained in the lower 40s.  Class Dismissed!

- John Bryant

The reason the Mid-South has seasons is simple.  It’s all about the angle of the sun.  In the summertime if you look at the sky around noon it seems as though the sun is directly overhead, especially in late June.  However, in the winter at the same time, the sun is lower in the sky and significantly lower South, or so it appears.  The atmosphere is not directly heated by the sun.  It’s actually heated by the Earth that re-radiates energy absorbed from the fireball which lights our Earth.  In the wintertime, the low sun angle compromises the energy that reaches the Earth.  It is different in other parts of the world but we’ll save that for another blog at some point.  The minimum sun angle for the Mid-South occurs right before Christmas.  The next time we have a sunny day, which by the way happens to be tomorrow, notice where the sun is in the sky relative to where it is in the Summer.  It’s a clear difference.  One more thing…If anyone ever asks you why the weather is doing what it’s doing you can answer by one phrase that noone can dispute.  Tell them the reason is differential heating, which is a result of Sun angle and specific geographic features.  There are other dynamics but you can’t go wrong with that differential heating phrase.  We hope you have a great weekend and we really appreciate you checking out our blog!