Our average high the past 4 days (since our big cool down) has been 66.7°…that’s over 5° below normal (normal high: 72°). Our average low (49.2°) is about 3° shy of normal.  Look for this continued trend of below-normal weather through the rest of the weekend into next week. As we’re transitioning into fall, any cloud cover that we see during the day will have a dramatic effect on temperatures, especially with this cool airmass sitting over us. I’ve forecasted 57° for our upcoming Monday – that’s under thick cloud cover and some rain chances! We have some scattered shower chances on Sunday that will work to keep those temperatures cool under cloud cover.

Things are active out east. Tropical Storm Hannah made landfall this morning along the eastern seaboard and is a heavy rain headache for New England. It’s moving pretty rapidly and will be out of the picture by the end of the weekend.

Then there’s Ike: a Category 4 monster over the Caribbean right now. It’s eyeing up the Bahamas tonight and Cuba on Sunday/Monday. It’s forecasted to lose some steam as it crosses Cuba, but models take it straight northwest into the Gulf of Mexico. We’re staring at a repeat of Gustav, but this is short of a week out yet. It’s a situation that will bear some serious watching.

Posted under climate, KTTC, Tropical weather, weather

Fay has still not made landfall on the western Florida coast. It’s moving very slowly to the north, around 10 mph, and is battering the southern part of the Florida with rain and gusty winds. Fay’s still a Tropical Storm – winds are around 60 mph – and there’s some uncertainty with whether or not it will reach Category 1 Hurricane strength before making landfall.

Even after it makes landfall, one of the computer models is thinking it’s going to be doing a loop-de-loop and heading back westward into the Gulf of Mexico. It’s uncommon, but it has happened before. Randy managed to dig up two examples (see below): Florence (1960) and Gordon (1994). Will it happen with Fay? We will wait and see…

Posted under KTTC, Natural Disaster, Tropical weather, weather

We’re about to hit the one year anniversary of a tough event for many in Southeast Minnesota. Tonight and the next couple of days, our reporters will be featuring stories on the floods and where cities affected stand a year later. You can find the stories on the KTTC website.

We’ve kept an extensive collection of the photos viewers had sent in from the August ’07 floods. You can find those by clicking here. It is incredible what the wrath of water can do, and hard to look at some of the pictures.

Our weather the next several days will be the exact opposite of what happened this time last year. High pressure will keep the area warm (in the 80s for highs), but the humidity in check. Monday looks to be the warmest day of the week, where some of us could top out around 90°. A weak cool front to our north will try to spark some showers tomorrow afternoon as it passes through the area, but they will be hit or miss and will fade shortly after sunset. The air’s not much cooler behind this front, either.

On another “tough weather” note, all eyes are still on Fay, which is still a tropical storm (winds are around 50 mph with higher gusts as of the 8 p.m. EDT report). It is currently passing over western Cuba. Fay is expected to slowly continue to strengthen as it hits the Florida Keys later Monday, where Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect. Hurricane Watches are posted along the western coast of Florida, and landfall is expected near the panhandle sometime late Tuesday or early Wednesday, as a Category 1 Hurricane.  It is looking more and more likely that we will see our next landfalling storm by the time Wednesday rolls around.

Posted under KTTC, Natural Disaster, Tropical weather, weather

Tropical Storm Fay is still forecasted to become a Category 1 Hurricane before it makes landfall somewhere along the western Florida coastline on Tuesday. Fay has weakened today, with winds (from the 5 p.m. EDT report) around 40 mph (a weak tropical storm), but is expected to reorganize and continue to strengthen as it passes through Cuba by Sunday night. We’ll continue to watch it and pass along information here! Hurricane watches are out for western Cuba, and Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for eastern Cuba.

Keep an eye on Tropical Storm Fay here.

A little closer to home, expect summer-y conditions for the next several days. A strong ridge of high pressure will settle in, and will keep temps in the 80s, and rain chances at bay until next weekend.

Posted under KTTC, Tropical weather, weather