Warm Weekend Ahead
* We need your photos! We are going to be featuring YOUR weather photos in the next few months...Fall colors, rainbows, sunsets, snow, storms, you name it - we are looking for it. Simply e-mail your digital photo to...
josh.johnson@wtok.com...
and we'll feature some of your photography on television and on our website!
* Had a great time videotaping high school football tonight at Northeast Lauderdale. I really enjoy getting out and seeing our local players play the great game of football. Tonight was a bit warm, but the weather was nicer than some November evenings have been around here in the past. Good luck to all or our local athletes this year as we move towards the playoffs!
* Warm weather will rule the roost this weekend - highs will likely eclipse 80 degrees in most communities. It will feel much more like spring practice than the latter part of football season. There will probably be a few isolated showers and/or thunderstorms tomorrow and Sunday. Not everyone will see the rain - the chance of your house getting wet is around 1 in 5.
* Next week will feature more warm weather. Low 80's are a good bet for Monday-Wednesday. By midweek, a front will approach and bring a small chance of rain. At this time, it doesn't appear that this will be the big drought-breaking rain that we really need. But, we'll watch things develop. Long range indications are that we could see a change to cooler and stormier weather around the middle of the month.
Great Sunroof Weather
* One of my favorite hobbies is to drive down roads I've never traveled. The smaller the road, the more enjoyable the experience - interstates are great if you're in a hurry, but I want to see the small towns and communities that are "off the beaten path." Today I did just that; my travels took me across much of northern Lauderdale County. I am fortunate enough to own a vehicle with a sunroof - what a fine invention! I don't ever want a car without one; days like today show their worth.
* I was pleasantly surprised at the colors beginning to show in the trees. With the very dry month of October, I feared that most leaves would simply turn brown and fall off. While some are certainly doing this, there is ample color in the treeline. Three cheers for fall foliage!
* Important note...We want your pictures! Sunsets, fall foliage, storms, snow, rainbows - you name it, we want it. We will publish them in a photo page to be featured here and on the www.wtok.com weather website. E-mail your photos to:
josh.johnson@wtok.com
Cold Night Ahead
* Near-perfect radiational cooling conditions will allow temperatures to fall like a rock tonight. Radiational cooling occurs when there are no clouds. This allows the energy that the earth's surface absorbs from sunshine during the daylight hours to radiate off into space. Clouds serve to hold some of that energy in, keeping us warmer than we would be otherwise. Temperatures across much of our area will fall into the middle 30's. There could be a patch of frost or two out in a low-lying area, but widespread frost does not appear likely.
* Warm tomorrow; highs will reach the middle to upper 70's in most locations. But, the radiational cooling effect will kick in again tomorrow night, and we'll see temperatures on the chilly side again.
* Warm weather will last through the weekend. Highs Saturday and Sunday could reach 80 degrees, with mostly sunny skies. There could be a few showers or thunderstorms late Saturday and into Sunday. There is growing evidence, however, that our rain chances this weekend are going to be rather small. We'll keep our fingers crossed but our hopes low for some rain.
* I went for my afternoon walk around downtown Meridian today and couldn't help but notice some of the fall color showing in the leaves. This is my favorite time of year in the world of weather, but I do hope that we can get some rain in here before too long.
Still Some Sprinkles...
* I should have known better than to say our rain chances have ended for the day. A lobe of energy on the back side of the upper trough is kicking off a few areas of drizzle across parts of E MS. Not enough to do much more than wet the windshield, but still keeping us from being totally dry. Clouds continue to hang tough - it's mostly cloudy across much of Mississippi along and east of Interstate 55, and clouds are also hanging in there across many locales in Alabama. We will see clearing from west to east through the next several hours...
Rain Moves Out...
* Sure looks like our forecast for today will need some adjusting. The rain shield has swept quickly into Alabama and Georgia, and is racing out of here. The sun briefly peaked out at my home a few moments ago. We'll continue to see a mixture of clouds and sun through the afternoon hours, but our rain chances have ended for today.
* The rain that we did receive was rather light. Most places ended up with under 0.25" of rain...Far less than what we NEED to help out with the fire situation.
