Run With Rachel!

Run With ME!  Just Don't run in these shoes.

Please run with me! I don't even like running (because I'm bad at it).  But I'm going to push myself and run the 5K for a good cause on Labor Day!  I would love to meet a lot of my viewers there! If you're interested, sign up and meet me at the blue United Way blue tent at 8:15 AM. OR you can look for me at the finish line...I'll be the one with the bright red face!

I'll be running the 5K. I'm told it's a relatively flat, moderate run that can be finished easily by walking (if you're not used to running). There is also a 20K if you're a legit runner!

If you can't make it, sign up as a fundraiser!  The goal is for runners to raise $250 each by reaching out through e-mail and social media. 

Your $250 contribution will:

•  Support our efforts to help New Haven students get the support they need to succeed in school
•  Provide early childhood education to kids in need
•  Help fund job training programs and income stability coaching
•  Deliver food and nutritional support to struggling families
  

If you need help with the registration, Cara Baruzzi in our office can walk you through the online process.
For race details, check the United Way web site.

From 40s to 90s. Late Summer Roller Coaster Ride!

Fall will be in the air Thursday morning! Temperatures will start in the upper 40s and 50s! But sunshine will help temperatures rebound nicely in the afternoon, returning to the 80s.   Hot, sweaty summer heat and humidity returns Friday with temperatures soaring into the upper 80s to low 90s.  The holiday weekend looks a bit cooler but dry.  Sunshine on Saturday will mix with clouds for Sunday and Labor Day. Remnant moisture from Isaac could bring some showers to the area Late Monday into Tuesday. 

Taste Of Fall

Wednesday will bring a taste of fall with cooler, less humid air moving in.  High temperatures will get stuck in the 70s despite abundant sunshine.  If you plan on opening the windows Wednesday night, make sure you have a heavy blanket as temperatures tumble into the upper 40s to mid 50s. But the fall fling is short lived. A warming trend begins Thursday with summer heat and humidity in full effect by Friday!  The weekend looks good for now with Isaac’s remnants moving into the Midwest Saturday and Sunday.

Run With Me!

Please run with me! I don't even like running (because I'm bad at it).  But I'm going to push myself for a good cause on Labor Day!  Please join me to benefit the United Way.  I would love to meet a lot of my viewers there! Let me know if you can make it and I'll keep an eye out for you.  I'll be the one with the bright red face at the finish line! 
Here is the link for more information and pre-registration:   There is a kids race too!

50/50 Tuesday: Soggy, Humid Start, Comfy Dry Finish

The humidity will spike Tuesday morning, giving the air a soupy consistency to start off the day.    The moisture will be accompanied by scattered showers and storms, ahead of an approaching cold front.  Once the front moves through, clearing will take place in the afternoon.  The humidity will also begin to drop, paving the way for a comfortable evening.  The air will have a fall feel Wednesday with sunshine, dry air and temperatures stuck in the 70s. Hot summer weather returns later this week!

Some Showers To Start The Week

The past eight days have been bone dry!  Bradley International Airport has not reported a single drop of rain since August 18^th! But some relief is on the way.  Clouds will thicken up on Monday and the humidity will rise as a cold front approaches. A few showers could pop up during the afternoon ahead of the front.  But scattered showers are more likely Monday night into Tuesday morning. Tuesday starts of soggy with clearing in the afternoon.   The humidity will drop throughout the day.  Wednesday looks sunny but cooler, feeling like fall just in time for some kids to start school.

But don’t take out the air conditioning units just yet! Summer heat stages a revival Friday and Saturday!  Some towns could approach the 90 degree mark. This is of course, just in time for Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end to summer.

A Bit Warmer Friday, More Clouds Over The Weekend

Friday’s weather is almost a carbon copy of today (and the rest of the week) with a mix of sun and clouds and an isolated shower.  High temperatures will top out in the mid to upper 80s!  Beach, anyone? A sea breeze is expected to kick in during the afternoon keeping the shoreline cooler than inland areas.  The moisture in the air gets a boost Saturday through Monday.  In response, you will notice an increase in cloud cover.  Although an isolated shower could pop up this weekend, the best chance for widespread showers will not be until Monday or Tuesday of next week!

Isaac still looks pathetic on IR satellite with very little strengthening during the 11 PM advisory. The first half of the forecast has shifted slightly to the east.  With a long passage over land, Isaac is expected to remain a tropical storm until he emerges in the Florida straights.  Although the center of the forecast track takes the storm over the Alabama/Mississippi border on Tuesday, there is still a lot of disagreement among the models. The GFS computer model is very similar to the NHC track. The European model is forecasting a landfall near the Louisiana/Texas border.  BIG DIFFERENCE!!

The differences are caused by confusion over the strength of the subtropical ridge located north of the storm.  The ridge is steering the storm west.  But a weaker ridge means an earlier turn to the northwest.  Luck for us, hurricane hunters flew into the ridge tonight taking much needed upper air data!  That data will then go back into the computer models and hopefully help iron out some of the differences.

By the way, tropical storm Joyce is now a depression.  She might impact Bermuda Tuesday of next week as a tropical storm.  But there's no chance of an east coast landfall with that one. 

See you tomorrow!  Geoff Fox is still off and I'm filling in. At least in this locally boring weather pattern I have something to talk about.

Ragweed Allergy Alert!

High pressure remains anchored across New England providing mainly dry and seasonable weather right through the weekend!  The next two days will feature low humidity with warm days and comfortably cool nights.  Normally, you want to open the windows on cool nights.  But those who suffer from allergies may want to rethink that with high levels of ragweed pollen. While the weather around here remains quiet, the tropics are heating up.  Florida needs to keep an eye on Isaac for early next week!

Waterbury Hospital's daily recording of the pollen and mold count can be heard by calling 203-573-6116

Another "I" Storm

Tropical storm Isaac has formed in the Atlantic.  Of course we remember the last “I” storm very well.  On this day last year, Irene was upgraded to a hurricane after making landfall in Puerto Rico. Isaac is approaching the lesser Antilles and is located south of high pressure.  That ridge will help steer Isaac west over the next 72 hours, keeping the storm from following Irene’s track.  Around here, the weather is quiet with sunshine, low humidity and dry weather continuing through this weekend! High temperatures will be in the low to mid 80s tomorrow, and the mid to upper 80s late week.

Here is an interactive link to view/compare Irene's track! Just select storm name.  Then enter "Irene" and choose the year 2012.

As Good As It Gets

When it comes to late summer weather, this week is as good as it gets! Today morning clouds will break for sunshine.  After a chilly fall-like start to the day, summer will return this afternoon with temperatures rebounding into the 80s.  An isolated shower is possible but most towns will stay dry.  After today, the rest of the week looks the same.  A high pressure ridge will provide partly to mostly sunny skies and low humidity.  Temperatures will top out in the low to mid 80s.  Enjoy!

I Told You It Would Feel Like Fall!

More great sleeping weather in store for tonight with low temperatures dropping down between 55 and 60 degrees and low humidity!

A storm passing southeast of Nantucket will provide partly to mostly cloudy skies tomorrow.  Cape Cod and southern Rhode Island will get most of the rain from this storm.  But an isolated shower could sneak into Connecticut.  Once again, the air will feel like fall tomorrow with low humidity and temperatures staying in the 70s!  Tuesday will be milder with more sunshine.  A spotty afternoon shower is possible both Tuesday and Wednesday, with partly cloudy skies.  The end of the week looks sunny, dry and pleasant!

Fall Feel Late Week!

Warmth sticks around for now... But in the long range look for cooler temperatures! The trough in the eastern US digs deeper as the week progresses. Cooler air from Canada invades the Midwest first. Daytime highs on Friday/Saturday from Chicago to Pittsburgh will only be in the low 70s! Low temperatures will tumble into the 40s for some cities hugging the Canadian border. Look at the NAM/GFS temperature change behind the front for the midwest by Friday morning!

For us, the cooler air will take hold Saturday night.  Low temperatures will be in the 50s this weekend.  With daytime highs near 80 going into next week.  Refreshing!

Ernesto IS Hector!

You don't look at storms in the Pacific very often.  Neither do I and I'm a meteorologist!

A first glance, Hector doesn't look like much. His 40 mph winds don't impress me.  But his birthplace in the ATLANTIC OCEAN does!  Hector used to go by the name Ernesto.  In the graphic I made you can follow Ernesto's track.  The once category 1 hurricane made two landfalls, including a trip over Mexico's mountains and still managed to make it to the Pacific.  Ernesto lost his name after being downgraded to a tropical rainstorm (look for the blue dot on my graphic).  If Ernesto remained a tropical depression or better while crossing the Mexican mountains, he could have kept his name.

Why does this impress me?  When storms make landfall they are taken away from their primary source of energy, warm water!  The circulation is also torn apart by friction.  So for a storm to have a persistent area of circulation after two landfalls is incredible!

This got me wondering how many storms have crossed over in the past...it's certainly rare!  Only a handful of storms have made the journey.

Taken from NOAA website: 

Northeast Pacific Tropical Storm Alma (May 2008) became a remnent low in the Atlantic where it merged with another tropical wave which generated Atlantic Tropical Storm Arthur.

Atlantic Hurricane Iris (October 2001) become a remnant low over Central America and regenerated in the Northeast Pacific as Tropical Storm Manuel.

Atlantic Hurricane Cesar (July 1996) became Northeast Pacific Hurricane Douglas.

Atlantic Tropical Storm Bret (August 1993) became Hurricane Greg in the Northeast Pacific.

Northeast Pacific Hurricane Cosme became Atlantic Tropical Storm Allison (June 1989).

Atlantic Hurricane Joan (October 1988) became Northeast Pacific Hurricane Miriam.

Atlantic Hurricane Greta (September 1978) became Northeast Pacific Hurricane Olivia.

Atlantic Hurricane Fifi (September 1974) became Northeast Pacific Tropical Storm Orlene.

Atlantic Hurricane Irene (September 1971) became Northeast Pacific Tropical Storm Olivia.

Atlantic Hurricane Hattie (October-November 1961) after dissipating over Guatemala contributed to the formation of Northeast Pacific Tropical Storm Simone which crossed the isthmus of Teuhantepec and merged with other disturbed weather which later formed Atlantic Tropical Storm Inga.

A Northeast Pacific Tropical Storm (September-October 1949) became an Atlantic Hurricane (Storm #10) and made landfall in TX.

A Northeast Pacific Tropical Storm (October 1923) became an Atlantic Hurricane (Storm #6) and made landfall in LA.

Not A Tornado In Glastonbury!

The National Weather Service investigated Friday’s storm damage in eastern Glastonbury and determined it was caused by a microburst (straight line winds) and not a tornado. Winds were estimated at speeds from 85-100 mph in the hardest hit area at around 4:30 PM.

A microburst is a fast moving column of sinking air that comes down from a cloud. When that air hits the ground, it spreads out in all directions. Microbursts can cause extensive damage and can sometimes look like tornado damage. 

The damage area in question was from Homestead Drive, Paddock Street and Wassuc Road to just north of Hebron Avenue. In this area numerous trees were uprooted or snapped off near the tree base.  In the Butler Drive/Needletree Lane area, 30-40 trees were uprooted with damage to three homes.

Here's what the velocities looked like around the time of the microburst.  You can clearly tell this is a mesocyclone or rotating storm.  The red color is rain/wind moving away from the radar. The green shows wind moving towards the radar. The rotation was over such a broad area!  But the NWS in Taunton issued a tornado warning anyway, just to be safe.  

A Break From The Humidity, Stormy Mid-Late Week

Tonight and tomorrow we get a break from the humidity!  Well, this isn’t exactly a refreshing air mass.  But at least the real soupy tropical moisture is gone, for now.  High pressure brings tranquil weather on Monday with partly to mostly sunny skies and high temperatures in the mid to upper 80s.

Tuesday will start off sunny with clouds increasing during the afternoon.  A late day shower or storm is possible as a warm front approaches.  But storms are more likely Tuesday night into Wednesday, some could be strong. The humidity will also return during that time frame.

This week looks like it could be very active with another round of strong storms possible sometime Friday into Saturday.

LESS HUMID! Glorious Monday & Tuesday

Some parts of the state (a path from Woodbury through Avon and Tolland) got 3” of rain from the storms that moved through this afternoon and evening. Other than a lingering shower or storm in spots, most areas will remain quiet overnight.

The cold front that triggered the storms today will wash the moisture out of the air tomorrow. You will feel noticeably more comfortable outside on Monday with a less humid air mass in place. Any leftover sprinkles or clouds will give way to sunshine as temperatures soar through the 80s.  Tuesday looks just as nice with sunny skies and low humidity.  Beach anyone? Clouds will increase on Wednesday.  While the first half of the week looks great, the end of the week could be active with scattered storms possible Thursday through the weekend.

Naugatuck Flash Flooding

 

Here are doppler estimated rainfall totals from Wednesday's slow moving storms. The red shading is 3.5"-4.0". 5.0" in the pink shading right over Naugatuck!  When that much rain falls from the sky in a matter of 1-3 hours, the liquid has no where to go.  The rain overloads small streams, rivers, the ground, storm drains.  The result was a nasty flash flooding situation that prompted evacuations and turned roads into rivers. Wishing everyone in Naugatuck the best as they clean up the mess.

This pic was taken by Karen Seeger, Naugatuck.  Thanks for sharing!