Warm & Dry Weekend:
* The weekend will continue to remain warm with highs reaching into the middle 80s and overnight lows into the 50s. The ridge will begin to move eastward over the weekend which will allow a system across Texas to slowly move Northeast and drag a weak front across the Twin States come Tuesday and Wednesday which may squeeze out a few showers Tuesday and Wednesday.
* Down the road the GFS continues to indicate a wet pattern setting up for the first week of April. Models show a system moving across Mississippi late Thursday and early Friday of next week. The long range models still show some activity around April 3rd and 6th as the Southeast transitions into a more zonal pattern.
* Burn bans remain in effect for Lauderdale, Clarke, Wayne and Jones County here in Mississippi and in West Alabama Choctaw and Clarke County. The city of Meridian and town of Marion also have burn bans as well.
* I'll have more on your forecast at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 and Ashley will have updates on the forecast over the weekend.
* Have a great weekend!
Labels: Forecast Discussion
Warming Up This Weekend:
* Another quiet weather day in store for East Mississippi and West Alabama. The high continues to dominate our weather keeping up warm and dry. With southerly winds today, daytime highs will slide into the middle 80s.
* Burn bans continue for Lauderdale, Clarke, Wayne and Jones County here in Mississippi and in West Alabama Choctaw and Clarke County. The city of Meridian and town of Marion also have burn bans as well.
* We are now over 10 inches of rain below normal for 2007 with no decent chance the next seven days except some showers next week.
* The weekend will continue to remain warm with highs reaching into the middle 80s and overnight lows into the 50s. The ridge will begin to move eastward over the weekend which will allow a system across Texas to slowly move Northeast and drag a weak front across the Twin States come Tuesday and Wednesday which may squeeze out a few showers Tuesday and Wednesday.
* Down the road the GFS continues to indicate a wet pattern setting up for the first week of April. Models show a system moving across Mississippi on Saturday March 31st which will indiciates rain chances across a good part of the Twin States. Rain chances also show up in the long range models around April 3rd and 6th as the Southeast transitions into a more zonal pattern.
* I'll have more on your forecast at 6:00 AM on Good Morning Meridian and later tonight on the evening newscasts.
* Have a great weekend!
Labels: Forecast Discussion
* The ridge continues to hold tough across the Southeast and is keeping the storm track away from Mississippi and Alabama. In fact it will get a tad warmer as we end the week and head into the weekend with Southwest winds across the area.
* We are still forecasting a slight chance of showers and an isolated storm come Monday as the ridge breaks down and a system moving out of the Southwest will lift into the Great Plains bringing a weak front into the area
* Down the road the pattern looks dry til the end of March. The long range GFS models still show a more zonal (west to east) pattern developing by the first week of April. Models are painting rain and thunderstorm chances around the 2nd and 7th of April. Again I will caution this is a good ways out and the models do change.
* Burn bans continue for Lauderdale, Clarke, Wayne and Jones counties in Mississippi. Choctaw and Clarke counties in West Alabama are now under burn bans (scan to the blog below for more on these counties) by the Alabama Forestry Commission. The city of Meridian and town of Marion also continue under burn bans.
* I'll have more on the forecast on Good Morning Meridian at 6:00 AM. Ashley McDonald is going to fill in for me tonight on the evening newscasts so I can catch up on sleep and other things. I'll be back with you Friday morning and Friday evening on Newscenter 11.
Labels: Forecast Discussion
West and Southwest Alabama Fire Alert:
* Quick note from the Alabama Forestry Commission concerning Choctaw and Clarke County in our West and Southwest Alabama viewing area:
Linda S. Casey, State Forester of Alabama, herby place the following counties
in the State of Alabama under a Fire Alert: Choctaw, Washington, Mobile,
Clarke, Baldwin, Escambia, Fayette, Lamar, Marion, Winston, Tuscaloosa,
Jefferson, Walker, and Shelby
This Fire Alert is to begin at 9:00 am on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 and continue
until lifted by the State Forester. As approved by law, burning permits for the designated counties will be issued only
at my discretion as long as this Fire Alert shall continue in effect.
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No Pattern Change:
* I feel like I am writing the same thing everyday and the point is I have been since the weather pattern has not changed in quite a while. This is usually an active time period for weather in East Mississippi and West Alabama. The high continues to dominate our weather keeping us warm and dry. You may have noticed a few more clouds in the sky today and with the increased cloud cover, our highs should stay in the upper 7os the rest of the afternoon.
* Temperatures will be a tad bit warmer as we end the week as southwesterly flow will take place over the weekend as the high moves off the east. Southwest winds as we know are warming winds for the Twin States. Highs will thus climb into the middle 80s on Saturday.
* Still looks like we may be able to see a few showers and perhaps an isolated storm come Monday of next week but the remainder of March looks dry. The long range models still show the Southeast getting back into a zonal pattern by early April which shows a better chance of showers and thunderstorms for the area. Again I will stress that is a good ways out and models can and usually do change between now and then.
* See you at 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00 on Newscenter 11...
Welcome To Spring...Officially:
* The vernal equinox officially arrived in the Twin States a few minutes ago... but spring has for the most part been with us for the past few weeks. The ridge continues to hold over the Southeast and is keeping the storm track well up to our north.
* Rain Chances: As a system lifts out of the Southwest over the weekend, we may see a few showers with a weak frontal boundary on Monday. The remainder of the month looks dry. I will mention the long range GFS models are hinting that we go to more of a zonal flow (west to east) which usually helps a wet pattern set for the Southeast. Models out in that time frame (April 3rd-5th) show several systems coming through. If this pattern holds true, the first week of April could bring some badly needed rain to East Mississippi and West Alabama.
* We now sit at -9.61 inches of rain for 2007 according to official record at Key Field. A reminder that burn bans continue to Lauderdale, Clarke, Wayne, and Jones counties and the city of Meridian and the town of Marion.
* Again odd timing but this is Flood Safety Awareness Week in the Twin States. You can learn more about flood safety at
http://www.floodsafety.noaa.gov/* I'll have more on the forecast tonight on Newscenter 11 at 10:00 and again at 6:00 AM Wednesday morning on Good Morning Meridian.
Labels: Forecast Discussion
Dry Weather Signs...
* Our videographer Christian Monsour brought this to my attention and thought I would share. I got use to this in West Texas but strange to see them mentioned in Mississippi. Just a sign of how dry the entire state is right now, not just here in our area.
...NUMEROUS DUST DEVILS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE
DELTA THIS AFTERNOON...
DUE TO THE VERY DRY AND WARM WEATHER WE HAVE
EXPERIENCED COMBINING WITH NUMEROUS FARMERS
PLOWING THERE FIELDS DUST DEVILS HAVE BEEN
PROMINENT ACROSS THE DELTA TODAY. THE PLOWING
OF FIELDS AND LACK OF RAIN HAVE MADE FOR VERY
DRY AND LOOSE SOIL. AS PARCELS GET WARMER THAN
THE SURROUNDING AIR IT BEGINS TO RISE. AS THESE
AIR PARCELS RISE THEY BEGIN TO ROTATE THUS PICKING
UP SOME OF THIS LOOSE SOIL...AND BAM YOU HAVE A
DUST DEVIL. THIS COULD BE THE CASE OVER THE NEXT
FEW DAYS AS WE EXPECTING TO GET EVEN WARMER WITH NO
RAIN EXPECTED UNTIL LATE THIS WEEKEND OR EVEN NEXT
WEEK.
THERE ARE NO SERIOUS CONCERNS WITH THESE AS THE
WINDS ARE LIKELY LESS THAN 25 MPH. THE ONLY PROBLEM
COULD BE TO MOTORISTS WHERE THEY MIGHT CROSS ROADS
AND VERY BRIEFLY LOWER VISIBILITIES.
Warm Weather Continues:
* No change in the currently weather pattern as a ridge continues to keep the storm track off to our north. Cold air is bottled up along the US/Canadian border. Highs in our part of the country will remain the lower 80s and overnight lows in the 50s
* The only rain chances the next two weeks are the slight chance of showers over the later half of the weekend and first of next week as a system lifts out of the Southwest and longer range computer models hinting a chance of precipitation around the 30th of the month.
* Burn bans are now in effect for Lauderdale, Clarke, Wayne and Jones County here in Mississippi. The city of Meridian and town of Marion are also under a burn ban.
* Spring offically arrives tonight at 7:07 PM CDT (00:07 GMT)... but spring has basically been here the past few weeks.
* I'll have more on your forecast tonight at 5:00 and 6:00 on Newscenter 11...
Labels: Forecast Discussion
In Need of Rain...
* Crunching the numbers on the precipitation for the month of March and for 2007 and as you can see above... numbers are not good.
* The weather story continues to sound like a broken record with dry and warm weather continuing to dominate the weather in Mississippi and Alabama. High pressure will continue to dominate this week keeping the storm track to the north of our area. A weak front will move into the area Tuesday but will arrive in dry fashion.
* Looking down the road, we have a slight chance of rain over the later half of the weekend and into early next week as a storm system will pass across Missouri, Arkansas and Kentucky bringing a front down into the area. Moisture will pick up this week thanks to southerly winds, which should be enough for a few showers with that this front and perhaps a thunderstorm. Its not much to break the dry trend but every little drop helps. After this rain chance, the computer models look dry for our area into early April.
* Burn Bans... The Lauderdale County Supervisors are meeting this evening to discuss a burn ban for the county. Wayne and Jones counties are under burn bans currently, as it the city of Meridian and the town of Marion.
* Although it feels like spring already the vernal equinox (spring) officially arrives here Tuesday night at 7:07 PM CDT (00:07 GMT). Right now the cold air is bottled up across the northern half of the US and looks to stay north for the time being.
* More on your forecast tonight on Newscenter 11 at 6:00 and 10:00.
Labels: Forecast Discussion
No Pattern Change This Week:
* Quiet weather pattern continues across the Twin States. High pressure will remain in control of the weather over the region continuing the dry pattern Warm temperatures are ahead this week with upper 70s/lower 80s this week and overnight lows in the 50s.
* Rain Chances: A cold front will move across the Southeast over the upcoming weekend that may squeeze out a few stray showers. Models next week are showing some possible rain chances next week but the models out that far can and will change as we get closer to that time frame.
* Spring offically arrives Tuesday evening at 7:07 PM CDT (00:07 GMT)... but spring like weather will continue as we end the last few days of winter here in the Southeast.
Warm Weather Ahead This Week & Still Dry:
* Temperatures are back on the rise this week thanks to a surface high that will be moving east into the Southeast and will hold our area under warm and dry weather this week. Daytime highs will rise back into the upper 70s/lower 80s and overnight lows back into the 50s. Models show a strong trough digging across the west coast by Tuesday with lows developing over the Southwest US and along the US/Canada border. The high will block these features from affecting our weather. Two fronts are forecast this week on Tuesday and toward the end of the work week, but these fronts look to come in relatively dry. We may see a few stray showers toward next weekend with the front.
* Next week the weather pattern looks interesting. Long range models (the GFS for those who are into weather) has been consistent with a decent storm system moving toward the Southeast around end of the month (28th-29th). We'll watch the models as we need a decent system into the area for some rain badly. We could do without the severe weather. It's a trade off this time of year as we are in the prime of severe weather season. I will note that this is almost 9 days out and as I have learned in the science of meteorology, anything past three days is up in the air (so to speak).
* Big swing in temperatures: The low this morning was 36 and we warmed up quickly into the low 70s with the official high reaching 72.
* Still dry: As of Sunday afternoon, we are now running -3.65 inches of rain below normal for the month of March. For the year we now sit at -9.16 inches below normal for the year. The US Drought Monitor, as we mentioned Friday on our newscast, now places all out of viewing area in a Stage 1 Hydrological and Agricultural Moderate Drought. You can see the drought monitor at
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html* Fire threat: we'll pick up some moisture during the week which will raise the relative humidities and dewpoint temperatures. Fire threat still remains high with the dry weather in place and officials ask you to please avoid outdoor burning. Reminders that Meridian and Marion have burn bans in place. To our south Jones County is under a county wide burn ban until March 21 and Wayne County is under county wide ban until April 9th
* Odd to be talking about flooding, but this week kicks off Flood Safety Awareness Week in the Twin States. Scan down the blog for more in on flood safety week.
* Ashley McDonald will have more on your forecast tonight at 10:00 on Sunday edition of Newscenter 11. I will be with you at 6:00 AM Monday on Good Morning Meridian and tomorrow night on Newscenter 11 at 5:00, 6:00, 10:00.
Labels: Forecast Discussion
