The Weather Blog » Forecast

Yakima doesn’t fit in

Ryan — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:01:58 +0000

There are two ways to say that Yakima stood out from the crowd yesterday. First, the fact that it rained on Sunday meant that it was different from what almost anyone had in their forecast. Second, the fact that they only got a little splash of rain, rather than a constant, steady rain meant that they separated themselves from the rest of western Washington. Isn't this place supposed to be rainy? The NWS had the top forecast.
Actuals: Sunday - .01 inches of rain, High 75, Low 51
Monday - Trace of rain, High 68, Low 54

Grade: B

Calm and toasty

Ryan — Mon, 21 May 2012 04:23:16 +0000

Battle Creek sounds like it should be a pretty rough and tumble metropolis, but it turns out that it's pretty tranquil. Well, at the very least, it was pretty calm the last couple of days, with sunny skies and increasingly summerlike temperatures. The Weather Channel had the top forecast, narrowly.
Actuals: Friday - High 79, Low 49
Saturday - High 85, Low 53

Grade: A

Yakima, Washington

Ryan — Sat, 19 May 2012 18:23:22 +0000

We are spending a lot of time out west this month, aren't we? But this time we are in Washington, on the east side of the Cascades.

At 1053AM, PT, Yakima was already reporting a temperature of 68 degrees with clear skies. Low dew points and sunny skies seemed to suggest a warm day in Yakima today. A few clouds caused by the topography of the Cascades would be the only issue today.
Satellite shows a moister flow for Oregon, and that will filter north into Washington over the next two days as an area of low pressure develops off the Pacific Coast. The Cascades and the prevailing south-southwest flow will allay the rain fall moving into the Yakima Valley tomorrow, however as the cold front moves ashore, rain becomes much more likely on Monday.
Tomorrow - Partly cloudy, High 74, Low 45
Monday - Mostly cloudy, with rain late. High 70, Low 54

TWC: Tomorrow - Cloudy, High 76, Low 49
Monday - Showers, High 60, Low 55

AW: Tomorrow - More clouds than sun High 76, Low 43
Monday - Considerable cloudiness with a shower in the area High 72, Low 48

NWS: Tomorrow - A 20 percent chance of showers after 11am. Mostly cloudy, High 75, Low 45
Monday - A 40 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, High 69, Low 53

WB: Tomorrow - Mostly cloudy (late rain). high 65, Low 42
Monday - Cloudy. A chance of rain in the morning...then a chance of showers in the afternoon High 64, Low 55

Wow, chilly according to Weatherbug. It's a cool looking satellite image for Yakima, with the mountains and associated clouds easily picked out.

So what happened in Tennessee?

Ryan — Sat, 19 May 2012 17:59:00 +0000

The forecast in Cleveland won't count against anyone's scores, because they don't have a reporting station in town, but we can still talk about the weather in Tennessee for the past couple of days. Looking at what they had to say in Chattanooga, I can assure you that it was quite warm, with temperatures reaching the mid 80s both if the last two days. There were a few showers and thunderstorms around the area, but on Thursday, they stayed on the east side of the Smokey Mountains. On Friday, they seemed to bubble up south of Chattanooga. These past two days have been good for hiking in the Smokey Mountains.

Hard to argue with weather like this.

Ryan — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:13:02 +0000

If there was a problem with the weather in Corvallis lately, it was that the winds really picked up Thursday evening. Additionally, clear skies probably were a problem for residents of western Oregon unaccustomed to seeing the sun. Sun burn! Victoria-Weather notched the top forecast, by a hair.
Actual: Wednesday - High 78, Low 48
Thursday - High 66, Low 42

Grade: B

On the Warm Side

Anthony — Fri, 18 May 2012 05:48:32 +0000

Most of the forecasts for Charlottesville had them getting warmer on Wednesday than it was on Tuesday, but the main issue were the low temperatures being significantly warmer than expected. Also, over an inch of rain fell on Tuesday, which everybody had forecasted, but probably not to that degree. The sites were pretty split on whether or not they would see precip on Wednesday and they did wind up reporting 0.01" in the early morning, most likely due to dense fog at the time as opposed to a rain shower. The Weather Channel took home the top spot on the strength of their warmer low temperature forecast.

Tuesday: 1.02" of rain. High 83, Low 67.
Wednesday: 0.01" of rain, mostly in dense fog. High 85, Low 63.

Battle Creek, Michigan

Anthony — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:25:27 +0000

We're well into spring now and temperatures are rising over the Northern US! Will Michigan be a lucky recipient of these pleasant temperatures?

At 1253pm EDT, the temperature at Battle Creek, MI was 65 degrees under fair skies. An area of high pressure sitting over the Great Lakes region the last couple of days is being pushed off to the east, but will continue to keep the weather very nice for the rest of today and tonight. A bit of a warm front is lifting through the Upper Midwest and has already kicked off a few showers over MN and WI. Luckily, this activity should remain over Upper Michigan and northern parts of Lower Michigan during the morning Friday as it lifts through, keeping the Battle Creek area dry. This will usher in some warmer temperatures into Saturday as well, along with some possible gusty winds Saturday afternoon/evening. Overall, should be a pretty nice weekend in Lower Michigan!

Friday: Mostly sunny. High 77, Low 45.
Saturday: Sunny. High 85, Low 54.

TWC: Friday: Sunny. High 78, Low 47.
Saturday: Continued sunny. High 84, Low 53.

AW: Friday: Mostly sunny. High 78, Low 48.
Saturday: Mostly sunny and warmer. High 84, Low 55.

NWS: Friday: Mostly sunny. High 80, Low 47.
Saturday: Sunny. High 83, Low 54.

WB: Friday: Mostly sunny. High 77, Low 46.
Saturday: Sunny. High 83, Low 54.

Here we see fairly clear skies over Lower Michigan at this time. The shower activity over central MN and northern WI should stay off to the north Friday and remain a nice weekend!

Cleveland, Tennessee

Ryan — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:49:52 +0000

Southeastern Tennessee can be active this time of year, and rather difficult to forecast for.

At 1100pm, Cleveland was seeing temperatures in the mid-60s with clear skies. General instability was leading to the importation of moisture through the Carolinas, but it was well staunched by the Smokey Mountains, keeping Cleveland dry.
The upper level pattern features a weak trough, though a jet over the Gulf will lift north into the southeastern United States. The moist flow now coming off the Gulf, as well as some warm temperatures over eastern Tennessee may provide enough instability for afternoon thunderstorms in Cleveland each of the next two days.
Tomorrow - Mostly sunny, a few afternoon storms, High 85, Low 60
Friday - Carbon copy of tomorrow, mostly sunny, with some isolated storms late, High 85, Low 60

TWC: Tomorrow - Isolated T-Storms high 85, Low 57
Friday - Isolated T-Storms, High 82, Low 58

AW: Tomorrow - Partly sunny and pleasantly warm High 84, Low 54
Friday - Intervals of clouds and sun with an afternoon and evening shower or thunderstorm high 82, Low 57

NWS: Tomorrow - Mostly sunny, high 85, Low 56
Friday - A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Mostly sunny, High 85, Low 58

WB: tomorrow - Mostly sunny. high 85, Low 56
Friday - Sunny in the morning...then partly sunny with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon High 85, Low 59

Unfortunately, there is no recording station at Cleveland, but we will still be sure to check the weather when the forecast is expired. Here is an overnight fog satellite that doesn't tell us about Cleveland, but it's sort of cool and I have never used it before.

A mystery

Ryan — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:08:30 +0000

In Decatur, Alabama, there weren't many surprised on Monday, with some thunderstorms through the afternoon, keeping temperatures down. Tuesday morning is where the mystery arises. There was .01 inches of accumulation recorded, however there were no reports of rain, and skies were clear at the time. I'm baffled! I won't punish anyone for not having it in, because it's so suspicious. Even more suspicious, this leads to a Victoria-Weather victory. Shenanigans!
Actuals: Monday - .47 inches of rain, High 73, Low 62
Tuesday - .01 inches of rain?!?!?!?! High 79, Low 61

Grade: C

Breaking free

Ryan — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:31:27 +0000

You couldn't have asked for two more different days in Atlanta than Sunday and Monday. Sunday didn't get out of the 60s, and they were inundated with more than an inch of rain. Temperatures exploded, however, on Monday, when Atlanta cleared out after a little bit of rain in the morning. They hit 80 with the sun, after not even touching 70 the day before. The outlet that was able to handle the bipolarity of the Atlanta weather was, in fact, Victoria-Weather.
Actuals: Sunday - 1.28 inches of rain, High 69, Low 60
Monday - .01 inches of rain, High 80, Low 64

Grade: B