Spring/Summer Weather Discussion Thread

[WeatherWitness]

With an upper-level high in the West causing a tremendous heat wave and an upper-level low in the East causing cool temperatures and relentless rain, we have been stuck right in the "middle" with northerly flow, resulting in well-below average temperatures.  Whereas daytime highs have only been a few degrees below average, morning lows have been close to records.

Yesterday (July 2), DFW was only one degree shy from tying a record low of 65 degrees, set in 1924 and 1924.
Today (July 3), DFW was two degrees shy from tying the record low of 63 degrees, set in 1924.

Waco, TX (about an hour south of here) saw a different story.  As they are away from the city and are not subject to urban heating, they set not only a record low of 58 degrees this morning, breaking the old record of 64 degrees in 1924, but also an all-time record low for July, which was formerly 60 degrees.

I find it incredible how many record lows parts of the Southern Plains have experienced so far this year.  And to think that only two years ago we were dealing with the hottest summer on record!

[Mr. Rainman]

With an upper-level high in the West causing a tremendous heat wave and an upper-level low in the East causing cool temperatures and relentless rain, we have been stuck right in the "middle" with northerly flow, resulting in well-below average temperatures.  Whereas daytime highs have only been a few degrees below average, morning lows have been close to records.

Yesterday (July 2), DFW was only one degree shy from tying a record low of 65 degrees, set in 1924 and 1924.
Today (July 3), DFW was two degrees shy from tying the record low of 63 degrees, set in 1924.

Waco, TX (about an hour south of here) saw a different story.  As they are away from the city and are not subject to urban heating, they set not only a record low of 58 degrees this morning, breaking the old record of 64 degrees in 1924, but also an all-time record low for July, which was formerly 60 degrees.

I find it incredible how many record lows parts of the Southern Plains have experienced so far this year.  And to think that only two years ago we were dealing with the hottest summer on record!

The Northern Plains has warmed up quite a bit and gotten significantly drier thanks to this rather...stagnant...upper level pattern. Thankfully, we got enough rainfall beforehand that drought conditions have not yet developed across our area. We've been in the 80s with lows in the 60s - still very nice weather. We've yet to have a 90 degree day here.

Models are all showing that the ridge will begin to break down in a few days, allowing for zonal flow to take over for the next couple of days. Periodic bouts of showers and thunderstorms will be possible during this time, with the potential for a few isolated strong storms early next week across the North Central States.

[TWCCraig]

I think places in Canada along the south western side of the Hudson Bay are having some of their hottest temps ever. Some places are in the mid 90's right now. Ft. Severn had a low of 38F this morning and is currently at 93. The Hudson Bay itself has be in the 30's with some patches of ice on it, yet just inland it's in the 90's. Crazy.

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/CYER/2013/7/3/DailyHistory.html

[Metarvo]

It's only 90 °F for me (in Texas) right now.  Of course, 90° shouldn't be preceded by "only," but it's technically below normal here.  Something's wrong when it's cooler in Texas than it is in parts of Canada.  We haven't been anywhere near the 30°'s for lows, though, so you still have us beat.  They say it's the "dog days of summer" now, though, so I don't think the heat's over.

[phw115wvwx]

I have yet to experience 90°F this year.  The warmest it has been in my area is 84°F.

[TWCCraig]

We have been in an unrelenting warm & humid pattern since 6/24, but I love these kinds of patterns, especially if they last long. Latest guidance keeps ridging in place and we look to go yet another 6-10 days of temps near 90°F and dew points 70°F+. The Bermuda High keeps pumping moisture up from the tropics, and it won't stop. This also bad news if a hurricane was to form because it would come this way. We have yet to drop below 70°F so far this month, we might do it Saturday morning with a min of about 69°F. Avg. Dew point is 71°F so far this month and avg. temp is 80°F. It's not rare to get high dews for several days, but this has been lasting weeks, and looks to continue. Very Florida like pattern. Also despite high humidity, rain has been scarce and every storm dies before reaching us.

[toxictwister00]

The Seattle-Type pattern continues down here. I'm under yet another Flash Flood Watch for today. The Flood Watch we were under last week was extended not once, or twice, not even three times, but four times it was extended. First issued on Wednesday last week then extended all the way to this past Monday.

I don't see much of any change on the horizon, there's virtually a chance of rain (and flooding) every day for about the next 10 days. The pro in all of this, it hasn't hit 90 or higher in a couple of weeks so I'm VERY happy about that. Weirdly enough the mornings as of late have been cool and comfortable even though DPs have been relatively high.

Sidenote: For anyone who was following that Derecho from yesterday, does anyone know if the storms that came through AL/GA early this morning from that same Derecho? I saw it across TN last night before I went to bed, but I don't know where the line of storms originated from.

[WeatherWitness]

OK, so it looks like yesterday we had our third derecho of the year.  I thought I remember reading in an article recently where a derecho only happens once a year to once every-other-year.  And here, we've already had three!  I mean, last year when there was the derecho in the Ohio Valley/Northeast, it seemed to be big news.  Now, it almost seems like the "norm" - well, sort of.  Perhaps I misread the article, or perhaps it was blatantly wrong but this is weird.

For this matter, I guess I could also wonder how two EF5 tornadoes hit the Oklahoma City metro area within two-weeks time.

[WeatherWitness]

It looks like the weather "gods" have been listening, as an upper-level low has retrograded from the Ohio Valley towards the southwest, bringing drought-stricken areas some much-needed rainfall.  Cooler temperatures are also in store.  Right now, it is 30 degrees cooler than yesterday's high!

[Metarvo]

This has been a strange year for that kind of weather.  I've heard the term "retrograde" on TWC more times this year than I ever remember hearing it before.  A while back, it seems like I heard it twice in one segment referring to two different systems.

[TWCCraig]

Mid 90's everyday this week with dew points in the 70's. Gotta love it. 

[Metarvo]

Ugh, that sounds like imitation-Texas-weather or something. 

[toxictwister00]

I wonder if we can go this entire month of July w/o reaching 90 degrees.  It'll be close tomorrow and Wednesday. Atlanta has only had 4 90+ degree days so far this Summer and all 4 occurred in the month of June alone! There were 0 in May and 0 so far for July which is the hottest month (on average) here.The warmest temperature observed at the airport was 92°F back in June and that was only for a few minutes as thunderstorms moved in shortly after.

Yesterday, we were under a Flash Flood Watch (no surprise there) and it poured down pretty heavily with strong gusty winds. (I would estimate close to T.S. force gusts) Last week one of our local news stations did a report from our NWS office about the persistent flooding this Spring/Summer and the growing concerns about land/mudslides. They said worse case scenario is that this wet and stormy pattern could last through Winter 2014. That would be an interesting change of pace considering we have seen more long lived droughts than floods over the past 15 years.

[TWCCraig]

4km NAM for today 

[toxictwister00]

Here's something you don't here often in mid August: Cold Air Damming. That's exactly what's setting up to happen later this week into the weekend. We may struggle to reach 70 during this CAD event.

Oh and of course we can't forget there's going to be more flooding along with possibly a tropical system to add insult to injury.