Low pressure along the Gulf Coast is riding along a cold front to our South.  There is a little bit of activity not only along and ahead of but behind the boundary as well.  A few thundershowers are embedded but nothing severe.  Some of the rain showers could sneak into extreme Southern parts of our area but even then rain would be light.  Drier and cooler air will be punching in over the next several days and it should be a very nice start to September.  Doesn’t seem like September should be here yet does it?  Anyway, here is the latest image of the front.

As we wrap up a nice Friday afternoon, it looks like a few folks to the north & northwest of Memphis will catch a bit of rain. Very little lightning amongst the clouds so far. As we lose the heating of the day, it looks like things will settle quickly.

A cold front should push through, delivering high temps in the 80s over the weekend!

NOTE: ACTION NEWS 5 tomorrow morning will air from 8-9 a.m. with special programming beginning at 9 a.m.

We’re in for another warm day in the Action News 5 coverage area.  I’m not sure about you, but I really enjoyed that little taste of fall this past weekend.  All indications are that we’ll get to sample that again in the next few days. 

High pressure over east Tennessee and northern Georgia will keep a  southerly flow and plenty of sunshine in place today to push temperatures into the upper eighties to low nineties.  The high will move out tonight and allow a cold front to our west to move into the are late Friday.  This will bring a few showers and maybe a thunderstorm or two to the Mid-South.  Another cold front currently situated along the U.S./Canadian border will rapidly move south behind the first front and usher in a dry and much cooler airmass.  As a result, clouds will linger over the area Saturday with highs only in the mid eighties.  The coolest air will arrive Sunday and Monday.  It should be partly cloudy to mostly sunny both days with highs in the low to mid eighties.  It’s quite possible that some communities just north of Memphis will only reach the upper seventies Monday.   The mild temperatures will hold for much of next week along. 

So, if the summer heat isn’t your thing then just hold on because another taste of fall is on the way.  By the way, fall officially begins at 5:21 PM September 22.

The Mid-South got a nice break from the typical heat and humidity of a late August in the south.  A ridge of high pressure just to our north ushered in a cool dry airmass for this past weekend.  High temperatures were only near eighty both Saturday and Sunday and overnight lows fell into the mid fifties in some areas.  Jackson Tennessee set a new record low temperature for August 23rd when the temperature fell to 54 degress breaking the old record of 55 set in 1956.  On the same day Tupelo tied a record low maximum temperature of 78.  The previous record for the date wasn’t that long ago occurring just last year.  No records were broken or tied in Memphis but we still enjoyed a somewhat cool weekend as did the rest of the area. 

The record in Tupelo made me think back to last year.  You may recall that a good part of the month of August 2008 was not so typical.  The month started with temperatures in the mid to upper nineties even reaching 99 on August 2, 2008 which tied a previous record high.  Then a noticable cool change took place on the 7th.  Rain and thunderstorms that day produced record rainfall for Memphis and many other areas and high temperatures fell into the eighties where they remained for most of the month.  They did rebound into the low nineties for the last for days of the month.  We ended up finishing that month with an average temperature of 80.4 which was about a degree below normal and total rainfall that was almost 4.5 inches above normal. 

So far, this month has been much more typical with average rainfall and temperatures closer to normal limits.  Although, we’ve barely made it into the mid nineties thus far.  In Memphis the warmest it’s been is 94 and that has only occurred twice on the 4th and the 15th.  We still have eight days left in the month so it’s not over yet.  But, today will be no where near the mid nineties as high temperatures are only expected to reach the mid eighties today.  So enjoy this break form the summer heat while it’s here because this is certainly not your average August.

What was once a very, very powerful hurricane, Bill is now pulling away from the Northeastern United States.  While the tropics have been relatively quiet so far this year, that doesn’t mean we are out of the woods yet.  Technically the peak of hurricane season is still a couple of weeks away believe it or not.  Right now there are no other storms threatening but the Hurricane Center is watching one disturbance.  Click on the link below for details…

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

If you enjoyed the mild weather on Saturday, I think you’ll be a fan of today’s conditions as well.

High temps today will peak in the lower 80s, almost 10 degrees below normal as high pressure to our north continues to supply us with dry & cooler air at the surface.

It’s going to get warmer, but it will be a gradual warm up, Even the hottest days this week will only send temps upward to near normal levels.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and be sure to check out John’s forecast at 5 & 10pm.

Warmest Global Ocean Surface Temperatures on Record for July

The planet’s ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record for July, breaking the previous high mark established in 1998 according to an analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for July 2009 ranked fifth-warmest since world-wide records began in 1880.

 Global Climate Statistics

• The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for July 2009 was the fifth warmest on record, at 1.03 degrees F (0.57 degree C) above the 20^th century average of 60.4 degrees F (15.8 degrees C).
• The global ocean surface temperature for July 2009 was the warmest on record, 1.06 degrees F (0.59 degree C) above the 20^th century average of 61.5 degrees F (16.4 degrees C). This broke the previous July record set in 1998. The July ocean surface temperature departure of 1.06 degrees F from the long-term average equals last month’s value, which was also a record.
• The global land surface temperature for July 2009 was 0.92 degree F (0.51 degree C) above the 20^th century average of 57.8 degrees F (14.3 degree C), and tied with 2003 as the ninth-warmest July on record.

 Notable Developments and Events

• El Niño persisted across the equatorial Pacific Ocean during July 2009. Related sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies increased for the sixth consecutive month. 
• Large portions of many continents had substantially warmer-than-average temperatures during July 2009. The greatest departures from the long-term average were evident in Europe, northern Africa, and much of western North America. Broadly, across these regions, temperatures were about 4-7 degrees F (2-4 degrees C) above average.
• Cooler-than-average conditions prevailed across southern South America, central Canada, the eastern United States, and parts of western and eastern Asia. The most notably cool conditions occurred across the eastern U.S., central Canada, and southern South America where region-wide temperatures were nearly 4-7 degrees F (2-4 degrees C) below average.
• Arctic sea ice covered an average of 3.4 million square miles during July.  This is 12.7 percent below the 1979-2000 average extent and the third lowest July sea ice extent on record, behind 2007 and 2006.  Antarctic sea ice extent in July was 1.5 percent above the 1979-2000 average.  July Arctic sea ice extent has decreased by 6.1 percent per decade since 1979, while July Antarctic sea ice extent has increased by 0.8 percent per decade over the same period.

A forecast fit for a king no doubt!

It looks like the weather we’ve enjoyed for the last couple of days will last into the weekend.

In addition to the usual goings on at Graceland, there will be an Elvis-themed fireworks show following Friday night’s baseball game.

We’re looking at a high in the lower 90s on Friday with fairly light winds Friday night.  And just as importantly…it will be dry!

Saturday & Sunday will also feature high temps in the lower 90s, just a smidge below normal.  Rain chances ramp up next week.

Enjoy the weather in the meantime!

One of my blogs from over the weekend was titled “Asleep”.  The title was referring to the Tropics and the lack of storm activity.  Things are not incredibly active but there are a few disturbances floating around now.  One of these is now classified as a Tropical Depression.  At this point it is forecast to strengthen into a Tropical Storm.  The system is days and days away from threatening any landmass.  Click on the link below to find out where the storm is going. 

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at2.shtml?5-daynl#contents

source: The National Hurricane Center

NOAA: July Temperature Below-Average for the U.S.

The July 2009 temperature for the contiguous United States was below the long-term average, based on records going back to 1895, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

The average July temperature of 73.5 degrees F was 0.8 degrees F below the 20th century average. Precipitation across the contiguous United States in July averaged 2.90 inches, which is 0.14 inches above the 1901-2000 average.

U.S. Temperature Highlights

• An abnormally strong, persistent upper-level pattern produced more than 400 record low minimum temperatures and 1,300 record low maximum temperatures (lowest high temperature) across the nine-state area that make up the Central region.
• Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania experienced their coolest July on record. Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Michigan each had their second coolest July on record, while Minnesota and Tennessee had their third coolest July on record.
• Death Valley, Calif., set a new monthly average maximum temperature at 121.3 degrees F. Temperatures in Death Valley reached 120 degrees F or higher for 22 days, beating the old record of 19 days.
• Several western locations recorded their all-time warmest July. Seattle-Tacoma Airport had an average July temperature of 69.5 degrees F, which was 4.2 degrees F above average. Seattle’s high temperature of 103 degrees F on July 29 is an all-time record. Alaska posted its second warmest July, Arizona had its third warmest, while New Mexico and Washington had their ninth warmest.
• Based on NOAA’s Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index, the contiguous U.S. temperature-related energy demand was 13.3 percent below average in July. Much of this can be attributed to cooler-than-average conditions in the heavily-populated Northeast.

U.S. Precipitation Highlights

• Precipitation was near normal for the contiguous U.S. as a whole. The Northeast saw its ninth-wettest July on record. Above-normal averages in the Northeast, Central and South were counter-balanced by below-normal averages in the Southeast, Southwest, the Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Iowa regions.
• Massachusetts and Rhode Island each recorded their second-wettest July on record, and Louisiana its third. Several states were much-above-normal, including Maine (fifth-wettest), and Vermont, New Hampshire, and Connecticut (each sixth-wettest).
• Moderate-to-exceptional drought covered 14 percent of the contiguous U.S., based on the U.S. Drought Monitor. This is one percentage point more than the end of June. Drought conditions worsened in southern Texas and northern Wisconsin, but remained largely unchanged in the West and along the western Canadian border.
• About 19 percent of the contiguous U.S. had moderate-to-extreme wet conditions at the end of July according to the Palmer Index, which measures both drought intensity and wet spell intensity.

Another Key Highlight

• July wildfire activity was below average, although the year-to-date number of wildfires remains above the 2000-2009 average. Last month, 8,515 new wildfires were reported and a total of about 1.7 million acres were burned, primarily in the West and Alaska, according to the National Interagency Coordination Center.

 NCDC’s preliminary reports, which assess the current state of the climate, are released soon after the end of each month. These analyses are based on preliminary data which are subject to revision. Additional quality control is applied to the data when late reports are received several weeks after the end of the month and as increased scientific methods improve NCDC’s processing algorithms.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources. Visit: http://www.noaa.gov.