Billings, Montana

Ryan Henning 1 Comment

I’m really doing it! here is a look at the weather in Billings. It’s usually a challenging endeavor, forecasting in Billings, but will the weather be even more uncooperative than usual?

At 1153AM, MT, Billings was reporting cloudy skies with a temperature of 19 degrees. High pressure had filtered into the high Plains and was smushing a bunch of clouds and moisture into the Front Range. There were a few flurries southeast of town headed towards Wyoming, but a weak lee perturbation would ensure the chance for some light snow through the early morning hours tomorrow. There is a winter weather advisory for the region.
A vast area of low pressure, as opposed the the wave n the region right now, will shift from the Pacific Northwest, where it will do considerable damage as a snowmaker, however it will not make as much hay on the other side of the Rockies. Models indicate that Billings will be in a rain — or snow — shadow through most of the day on Saturday, even as low pressure rematerializes as the upper trough makes it’s way through the Rockies. The low will redevelop over Wyoming and colorado, however, which means Billings will be getting colder, whether or not it gets any snow.
Tomorrow – Mostly cloudy with an early flurry, High 25, low 8
Saturday – Increasing clouds, warmer with a chance for an early flake, High 40, Low 18

TWC: Tomorrow – A few passing clouds, otherwise generally sunny. (Early snow High 33, Low 13
Saturday – A few passing clouds, otherwise generally sunny. High 40, Low 22

AW: Tomorrow – A couple of snow showers in the morning; otherwise, cold with partial sunshine High 31, low 9
Saturday – Mainly cloudy with snow showers, accumulating a coating to an inch High 28, Low 22

NWS: Tomorrow – A 20 percent chance of snow before 8am. Mostly sunny High 26, Low 6
Saturday – A 20 percent chance of snow before 11am. Mostly cloudy High 36, Low 20

WB: Tomorrow – Mostly sunny, High 29, Low 11
Saturday – Mostly cloudy, high 37, Low 22

WN: Tomorrow – Partly cloudy with a slight chance of snow, High 26, Low 6
Saturday – Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of light snow, High 36, Low 20

FIO: Tomorrow – Clear throughout the day High 32, low 11
Saturday – Mostly cloudy throughout the day. High 39, low 22

Take a look at local affiliate KTVQ’s forecast for the city. I’m surprised how similar the national affiliates were. What do the locals say?

Deltona, Florida

Ryan Henning 1 Comment

All right, guys! My sabbatical is over, and the new year is beginning in the same state we left off in — Florida!

At 253PM, ET, Deltona was reporting a temperature of 78 degrees and sunny skies. An area of low pressure in the Tennessee Valley was producing a vast cloud field in the southeastern US, sparing most of the Florida Peninsula but drawing a warm flow across the region. Deltona, as noted, was in the upper 70s, but the 80s were seen widely around the area as well.
The storm is going to advance to the northeast, along the exit arm of the parent jet trough. The center of the system will get distended as it tracks through the Appalachians, but the associated cold front will arrive early on Saturday morning. This will be good news, as cold fronts tend to be fairly active and dangerous for Florida in the day time, where there is often a great deal of available instability. The showers and storms that move through will be through by the early afternoon, which will ensure a fairly pleasant afternoon, and the avoidance of any truly nasty weather this weekend.
Tomorrow – Mostly sunny, increasing clouds, High 84, Low 63
Saturday – Early rain with isolated thunderstorms, then sunny and cooler, High 75, Low 58

TWC: Tomorrow – Partly cloudy skies. High 84, Low 65
Saturday – A steady rain in the morning. Showers continuing in the afternoon High 76, Low 62

AW: Tomorrow – A steady rain in the morning. Showers continuing in the afternoon – High 84, Low 66
Saturday – Mostly cloudy and not as warm with a couple of showers and a thunderstorm; breezy in the afternoon High 75, Low 58

NWS: Tomorrow – Partly sunny, High 84, Low 63
Saturday – Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 1pm, then a slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, High 75, Low 57

WB: Tomorrow – Partly sunny, patchy fog, High 83, Low 68
Saturday – Mostly cloudy. A chance of showers with a slight chance of thunderstorms in the morning then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon, High 77, Low 60

WN: Tomorrow – PArtly cloudy, High 83, Low 65
Saturday – Mostly cloudy with showers likely, High 75, Low 65

FIO: Tomorrow – Mostly cloudy throughout the day. High 86, Low 65
Saturday – Light rain in the morning and afternoon. High 74, Low 54

Here is the satellite imagery, giving you a sense for the scale of the feature in the southeastern US. IT’s going to look markedly weaker by the time it arrives in central Florida.

Finishing strong

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I know you’ve been waiting a long time for this verification, as the forecast was issued in December 9th, but that’s just the type of thing the holidays do to you. I’m happy to report good news from Punta Gorda, though. Victoria-Weather ended up getting the top forecast in southwest Florida, which will go down as a victory in my last forecast of the year. Hooray!
Actuals: December 10th – High 83, low 60
December 11th – Trace of rain, High 85, low 65

Grade: B-C

A busy weather week before a quiet Christmas week

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There were two remarkable weather stories this week, one for the raw statistics, and one for the incredible imagery.

Last weekend, a strong late season storm swept through the Lower Mississippi Valley, unleashing a tornado outbreak from Louisiana to Alabama that was unusual for mid-December, but not altogether unheard of.

Mississippi was struck by nearly a dozen twisters, while two people were killed in northern Alabama. The most eye-popping number from the outbreak was the 64 mile tornado track in central Louisiana. The largest town clipped by this tornado was Alexandria, where there was extensive damage, but no deaths. There was one storm related fatality in Louisiana, however.

Take a look at the map the Jackson WFO put out, showing the tornado coverage there (unfortunately, there isn’t a good map that I’ve seen from Louisiana or Alabama with the tornado tracks), and find more details from NPR on the storm.

Also in the last week, a virulent but quick moving system brought a profundity of snow squall warnings through the mid-Atlantic and southern New England. Snow squall warnings are equivalent to severe thunderstorms, inasmuch as they move quickly, and bring about strong if short lived winds, even if they don’t bring a lot of accumulation.

Check out this clip of the storm consuming Manhattan

This all lead to very good news for Christmas travelers, however. The holiday week was fairly benign, unless you were trying to traverse the northern Rockies, where snow was falling. Throughout the Upper Midwest, temperatures climbed well above normal, and melted away the white Christmas millions of people were expecting.

The year looks to conclude with a bang, however, as a significant system will bring snow to the northern High Plains this weekend, as well s another chance for severe weather in the Lower Mississippi Valley.

November Forecaster of the Month

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November was a busy month, replete with forecasts from across the country, and one outlet had a thumb on the scales. With 8 forecasts in the month, Weatherbug won half of them, and ultimately won the month rather easily.

OutletMonth wins
Weatherbug4
Victoria-Weather1.5
Forecast.io1
The Weather Channel0.5
WeatherNation0.5
National Weather Service0.5
Accuweather

OutletMonth winsyear wins
Victoria-Weather1.516.98
Weatherbug416.41
The Weather Channel0.513.03
Forecast.io19.45
WeatherNation0.58.64
Accuweather8.64
National Weather Service0.58.31

Punta Gorda, Florida

Ryan Henning 1 Comment

We’re crossing the Sunshine State today, from the southeastern coast to the west coast. Of course, everyone calls it the Gulf Coast, but we’re not here for a geography lesson. (unless you are, and then I’m sorry for the confusion)

At 453PM, ET, Punta Gorda was reporting a temperature of 78 degrees with fair skies. Nearby spots, like Fort Myers were popping up into the low 80s as the region was encompassed by high pressure ahead of a cold front advancing through the southeastern US.
As the boundary moves closer to the coast, moisture will become entrained across the Florida Peninsula. The boundary itself won’t ever arrive in Punta Gorda, but the more aggressive breezes across the area, from southwest to northeast, will be conducive to a few isolated showers and storms. The activity will largely be in the middle of the state, but it’s never a bad idea to include thunderstorms in a Floridian forecast.
Tomorrow – Mostly sunny, warm, High 86, Low 63
Wednesday – Isolated thunderstorms, High 85, Low 65

TWC: Tomorrow – Partly cloudy skies. High 85, Low 62
Wednesday – Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 84, Low 66

AW: Tomorrow – Sunny to partly cloudy and pleasant High 81, Low 66
Wednesday – Partly sunny, very warm and more humid with a shower in places in the afternoon High 86, Low 61

NWS: Tomorrow – Partly sunny, High 80, Low 66
Wednesday – A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after 1pm. Mostly sunny, High 80, Low 69

WB: Tomorrow – Mostly cloudy High 84, Low 63
Wednesday – Partly cloudy. A slight chance of showers in the afternoon. High 83, Low 66

WN: Tomorrow – Partly cloudy High 82, Low 65
Wednesday – Partly cloudy with scattered showers, High 82, Low 68

FIO: Tomorrow – Clear throughout the day. High 84, Low 63
Wednesday – Partly cloudy throughout the day. High 83. Low 67

Here is a look at the forecast for the next few days from Fox 4 in Fort Myers, just down the road from Punta Gorda.

Surprisingly dry

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I think a lot of people would look at the recent weather in Miami and would easily note the temperatures, which were cooler than one would stereotypically expect from Miami. The thing that struck me, however, was how low the dew points were. Residents accustomed to Miami’s climate probably needed to bust out the moisturizer as dew points dipped all the way into the low 40s. Accuweather had the best temperature forecast, and for our purposes, had the best forecast of the day.
Actuals: Tbursday, High 72, Low 59
Friday – High 78, Low 61

Grade: B-C

Miami, Florida to Hattiesburg, Mississippi

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It seems like these two towns should be nearer to one another, but in fact, it’s a day and a half drive between Miami, way at the south end of Florida, and Hattiesburg. To give you an idea of how big Florida is, our drive covers 817 miles in total, and probably 3/4ths of it are in the Sunshine State. We will do 2/3rds of the driving on day one, which will account for 542 miles at the Floridian pace of 67.8mph, It’s a long ways from Miami to any other state, so be patient.

DAY ONE (Saturday)

Miami, Florida

A long, dangling front extends from a low over Newfoundland. If that gives you any idea, by the time the front has reached north Florida, it is quite weak, and as we drive north, it may only bring a few clouds over Orlando. North and west from the Ocala and Gainesville area, however, we will probably note a change in the air. Somewhat cooler air is possible, but more significantly, it will feel drier than Miami. We’ll make it to Grand Ridge in the Panhandle to call our day complete.

DAY TWO (Sunday)
High pressure is developing over the East Coast this weekend, and guidance is suggesting that the return flow will be strongest in the Mobile area. There might be some light rain showers as a result, but more likely, it will just be some puffy cumulus clouds. Hattiesburg won’t have to deal with any of that, but the afternoon will be getting warmer and soupier after we arrive.

Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Not so bad

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I am impressed. The forecast for Jackson was locked and loaded to be very difficult. A massive blob of uncomfortable low pressure moving through the Great Lakes was going to manipulate precipitation types and drive temperatures steadily downward… except for when there was an intrusion of warm air as the low passed by on Saturday. It was a recipe for a difficult forecast, and by jove, this forecast was knocked out of the park. Weatherbug, in fact, only had 1 degree of error in their entire forecast. the only real loser was the city of Jackson, who had to deal with the rain, thunderstorm and snow chaser.
Actuals: Sunday – .64 inches of rain, High 42, Low 34
Monday – Snow reported, not measured, High 34, Low 28

Grade: A – B