May 14th-15th: Calm - drought will worsen

May 14th-15th - 2012

Monday night and Tuesday update
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Here are my current personal forecast thoughts for far southern Illinois and western Kentucky...
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Monday night:  Small chance for an evening shower.  Then any left over clouds will depart off to the east - it will be cool the rest of the night.
Near normal temperatures
Lows: in the lower 50s  |  Normal lows for this time of the year are around 55 degrees.
Wind:  Northerly winds at 5-10 mph.  
Precipitation probability - 10%   | Rainfall totals:  0"
Confidence in this forecast is very high
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Tuesday:  A few morning clouds possible - then mostly sunny and pleasant.
Above normal temperatures
Highs:  around 75-80 degrees.  | Normal highs for this time of the year are around 77 degrees.
Wind: Northerly winds at 10-15 mph
Precipitation probability - 0%  Rainfall totals:   0"
Confidence in this forecast is very high

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Tuesday night:  Mostly clear and pleasant.
Near normal temperatures
Lows: in the lower 50s |  Normal lows for this time of the year are around 55 degrees.
Wind:  Northerly at 5 mph
Precipitation probability - 0%  Rainfall totals: 0"
Confidence in this forecast is high
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Wednesday:  Mostly sunny and pleasant.  Warmer.
Above normal temperatures
Highs:  around 80 degrees | Normal highs for this time of the year are around 77 degrees.
Wind: Northerly at 5-15 mph  
Precipitation probability - 0%  Rainfall totals:  0" 
Confidence in this forecast is high 
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No major concerns

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No major concerns.

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No significant wild cards in this forecast!
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No major changes in this update!

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Forecast for your local town/city - Click Here
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The forecast for severe or extreme weather

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The McCracken County Office of Emergency Management reminds you that owning a NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio is the best way to receive notifications of severe weather watches and warnings.
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Remember that the National Weather Service defines a severe thunderstorm as one that produces 58 mph winds or higher, hail 1" in size or larger, and/or a tornado.  More information with some slides concerning reporting severe weather - click here

For the most up to date severe weather outlooks - click here.
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Visit the Storm Prediction Center's web-site - click here 
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Monday night:  Severe weather is not anticipated.  No snow or ice.
Monday night: 
Will there be a chance for non-severe thunderstorms? No
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Tuesday:  Severe weather is not anticipated.  No snow or ice.
Tuesday:  Will there be a chance for non-severe thunderstorms?  No
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Tuesday night :
 
Severe weather is not anticipated.  No snow or ice.
Tuesday night:  Will there be a chance for non-severe thunderstorms? No
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Wednesday: Severe weather is not anticipated.  No snow or ice.
Wednesday: 
Will there be a risk for non-severe thunderstorms?  No

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To view storm reports from today and yesterday - click here
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Will the Storm Prediction Center issue a tornado or severe thunderstorm watch for southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, or western Kentucky?  
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Tonight - No
Tuesday - No  
Wednesday - No
Thursday - No 
Friday - No 
Saturday - No
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To view the official Storm Prediction Center's web-site - click here  Alternative link - click here
 


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To view all watches and warnings in IL -  Click Here
To view all watches and warnings in KY - Click Here
To view all watches and warnings in MO - Click Here
To view all watches and warnings in TN - Click Here
All other states- Click Here

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The links above are interactive and you can move around the United States by simply clicking on the national map - or from the pull down menu where it says regions and US States.
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To view the interactive warning  map - click here.

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The Weather Observatory is a strong partner with the National Weather Service - click here to visit your local NWS web-site.  For the most up to date warnings/advisories hit refresh on their page.

 
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This forecast analysis covers far southern Illinois, southeast Missouri, southwest Indiana, western Kentucky, and northwest Tennessee
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HEADLINES:  
Shhhhhhhhhhh - you hear that noise?  That is the sound of no severe weather!  Quite amazing for April and May - very little in the way of severe weather in our region.  One of the more quiet April and May's in some time.  A welcome break after what happened earlier this year and after what we went through in 2011.  Well earned break!


The calm and tranquil weather will continue into the coming week and weekend!


Portions of the area received 0.50-1.00"+ of rainfall over the weekend.  Other areas are wondering WHAT RAIN?  Unfortunately, for those who did not receive rainfall, the drought will grow worse.

See drought information at the bottom of this post update. 


A weak front may approach the region on Thursday - but the thinking is that it may only bring a few clouds.  I will update tomorrow if any changes are needed.


Dry conditions for the rest of the week - we will watch the approach of a system towards the beginning of next week - right now it does not appear to be a major event.


Here are the high and low temperatures forecasts for the next 48 hours - enjoy the nice temperatures.



We have a TON of new weather maps on the Weather Observatory web-site - these include temperatures, wind speed, dew points, heat index, barometric pressure, predicted rainfall, climate forecast, medium and long range maps, forecasts and more!  Click here 
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We have a number of new radars available on our Weather Observatory web-site!
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We now offer St Louis, Mt Vernon, Evansville, Poplar Bluff, Cape Girardeau, Marion, Paducah, Hopkinsville, and Dyersburg Interactive City Radars.  We also have the two regional radars and now offer you three GR Earth radars.

Click here for our radar page - WEATHER RADARS---
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We also have a new interactive radar - you can view that radar by clicking here.

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Want to learn more about how to use our radars?  I made a how to video with more information
Click here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfLa0hI3adU
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Let's check out the how much rain is forecast to fall over the next 48 hours.  This map gives you a general broad brushed idea of what can be expected.  Remember the scale is at the top of the map.
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If you would like to view the most up to date 24, 48, 72, and 120 hour precipitation forecast maps then click here.


NO RAIN IN THE FORECAST - DRY - DROUGHT CONDITIONS FOR SOME COUNTIES 
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You can also now view the probability of X amount of rain (you pick the value on the web-site) in a six hour period of time.  Those maps can be viewed here.  
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You can view drought maps on the Weather Observatory web-site by clicking here.



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Current conditions - including temperatures, apparent temperatures, heat index, wind chill, wind, pressure, humidity, dew points, and more - click here
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You can view the upcoming days high temperature and low temperature forecasts by clicking here - choose the day - click on your state to zoom in 

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To view recent records that have been broken - click here
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Date Range:  May 24th-June 2nd
Event: A larger scale system to impact the central United States
Severe Risk:  Yes - possible event. 
Details: Unsettled weather.
Confidence in my forecast.  Low  

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Remember that as a general policy, in the long range outlook, I try not to mention severe thunderstorms more than 72 hours in advance (unless the signal is so overwhelmingly convincing that it warrants a mention).  I will mention thunderstorm risks and I will give as many details as possible.  Also remember you can view the long range severe weather outlooks by visiting the Storm Prediction Center's web-site - click here

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1.  The dry weather will continue all week - drought conditions will grow worse.  Temperatures will be near normal to above normal most of the week - we will see temperatures start to warm up as we move through the week.  

I am going to start updating on the drought statistics - probably will keep that information at the bottom of the page - here below

Our region is in a drought - some counties are now considered "severe: drought by the National Weather Service and NOAA - the maps below will be updated from time to time - normally drought maps are issued once a week - I will try to keep them updated as much as possible.

The long range forecast does not look good for drought relief - however, keep in mind that the long range forecast was also for a wet spring - I take long range forecasts for what they are - low confidence with little reliability.  

I have a series of maps on the Weather Observatory Web-Site - you can view them at anytime - click here for the full suite of maps 

US Drought Monitor Map from NOAA - click here

The US Drought Monitor map shows a rather extensive area of dry conditions - although there has been some improvement over the last week or so across portions of the Tennessee and Ohio Valley - some areas picked up over an inch of rain.   




Zooming in to Illinois - above - you can see portions of the state are abnormally dry and far southern counties are in moderate drought - portions of Kentucky (see below) are in severe drought.


Soil moisture anomalies are fairly high - this yellow and orange areas are dry to very dry.  This is the region in need of rain.

Rainfall to end the drought - the map above - shows portions of the area need between 5 and 9 inches of rain.  Those are some big numbers.  As we move into summer this becomes a bigger concern - we typically see quite a bit of rain during April and May - for some of us that has not been the case so far this season.

The latest 6-10 day temperature and precipitation forecast below - above normal temperatures will be the rule and below normal precipitation.  Not that news you wanted to hear.




Now let's take a look at the 8-14 day temperature and precipitation outlook - below


Unfortunately these maps do not look like the maps we want to see in order to end the drought.  The drought will worsen in some of our counties.

Seasonal outlooks can be viewed on the web-site - click here

Now is a GREAT time to buy a NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio.  Better to have one before storms strike than to be without one during an event.  I recommend the Midland Model 300 NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio - that is what I use here at my house!
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Meteorologist Beau Dodson
McCracken County Office of Emergency Management
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Beau Dodson Weather - Facebook
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To view all watches and warnings in Illinois - Click Here
To view all watches and warnings in Kentucky - Click Here
To view all watches and warnings in Missouri - Click Here
To view all watches and warnings in Tennessee - Click Here
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All other states- Click Here
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For the latest watches and warnings please visit your local National Weather Service Office web-site
http://www.weather.gov/organization.php
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Remember most of the maps on the blog can be viewed on Weather Observatory Web-Site
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