Indiana awash
Posted by Ryan
Columbus, Indiana doesn't report observations through the nighttime hours, so we can't do an official forecast verification for the city southeast of Indianapolis. The consensus was, however, that here would be plenty of rain in town, and as it turned out they had plenty. The Indianapolis weather service has a map with the 2 day rain accumulations (seen below), putting Columbus at an inch and a half. The problem is that there will be more rain, leading to some flooding for the Hoosier state over the next several days.
Omaha, Nebraska to Columbus, Indiana
Posted by Anthony
Today we embark on a 654-mile trip through every state in the US that starts with an I that doesn't touch another country! I know, that's a bit of a stretch, but hey, going through 3 "I" states in one day is still impressive! I wonder if Sesame Street would like to sponsor today's road trip... Oh well, off we go! Let's try and get this done in one day, shall we?
As stated in our my forecast for Columbus, a cold front will be making its way through Illinois and Indiana throughout the day today, kicking up some rather heady winds in its' wake. Luckily, the wind will be coming from the northwest as we travel east from Omaha to the Quad Cities, so that will help us along some. Also, outside of some light scattered showers on the backside of the system, it should be dry as we make our way into Illinois. Shortly after we pass the Quad Cities, however, we'll finally catch up to the rain and it will slow us down a bit. While the rain could be briefly heavy at times, the total width of the rainfall shouldn't be too terribly wide, and should only take us a couple hours to make it through the heaviest of the activity. As we emerge into Eastern Illinois by mid-afternoon, we should be out of the woods and while it will remain cloudy, it will at least be dry. Southwesterly winds will be found ahead of the front and be a good 20 degrees warmer than when we were in Iowa, so that will be slightly more pleasant. The rest of our jaunt past Indianapolis into Columbus will be rather uneventful.
Columbus, Indiana
Posted by Anthony
Off we go to the Hoosier State, which is probably loving the fact that college basketball has started up to take people's minds off the Colts dismal season. Will the weather be nice for some holiday weekend pick-up games of roundball?
At 9:58pm EST, the temperature at Columbus was 50 degrees under fair skies. High pressure over the region has keep the area dry recently, although southeasterly flow has lead to some low clouds and fog the last couple of days. This high pressure will be giving way tomorrow as a cold front over the Central US will make its push eastward. Most of the early part of the day Saturday will be cloudy but on the dry side. Rain showers are expected to start pushing over the area by late afternoon Saturday, then continue to increase throughout the evening and overnight hours as the front presses eastward into the Ohio Valley. Rain will last well into Sunday as the front starts to break into two actually. The northern part will continue shifting eastward through the Great Lakes while the southern half cuts off into its' own low pressure system, bringing the threat of rain well into the start of the next workweek. There is an outside chance of some snow showers mixed in there as well, but I don't think it will cool off QUITE that much before Sunday is over. Either way, hopefully they enjoy some morning activities tomorrow, because the temperatures will cool off significantly on Sunday.
Saturday: Heavy rain possible by late evening. High 62, Low 43.
Sunday: Rain tapers off by afternoon. High 50, Low 38.
TWC: Saturday: PM showers increasing into evening. High 59, Low 47.
Sunday: Light rain continuing through day, possible snow shower late. High 48, Low 35.
AW: Saturday: Showers by late morning, persisting through day. High 56, Low 44.
Sunday: Windy and cooler with rain continuing. High 48, Low 35.
NWS: Saturday: Increasing chances of rain. High 62, Low 47.
Sunday: Rain expected, snow showers possible after 7pm. High 48, Low 37.
WB: Saturday: Rain increasing during day. High 62, Low 44.
Sunday: Rain through most of day, isolated snow shower late. High 48, Low 35.
Here we see mostly high clouds traversing the region ahead of the front pushing into the Central Plains. We can expect the clouds to thicken and be a rather dreary weekend for the folks of Columbus.
Missed by a Nose
Posted by Anthony
The system that dumped historic amounts of October snow from the Mid-Atlantic through New England just grazed Columbus as it trekked on by. A couple sprinkles moved through Saturday afternoon, but that was about it for the area. Accuweather suprised everybody by taking home the top spot, edging VW here by a single point.
Friday: High 48, Low 33.
Saturday: Trace of precip in a light rain shower. High 52, Low 29.
Forecast Grade: B
Columbus, Ohio
Posted by Ryan
Apologies for the late forecast. Anthony taught me how to do it.
At 251AM, ET, Columbus was reporting a temperature of 35 degrees with clear skies. After the rain the area has seen for the past several days, it's now wonder that there is a little bit of ground fog for the area to contend with. The culprit, an elongated, nearly stationary front finally had a wave move through and carry the inclement weather off to sea.
A strong upper trough will only get stronger as it deepens. A surface low will explode over the southeast and move along the east coast. The back edge of the low will graze central Ohio. There is a chance that Columbus will contend with some mixed precipitation, especially with the light activity on Friday.
Tomorrow - Mostly sunny, High 50, Low 32
Saturday - Mostly cloudy, with scattered showers and flurries late, High 52, Low 33
TWC: Tomorrow - Partly to mostly cloudy High 55, Low 36
Saturday - A shower or two possible early with partly cloudy skies in the afternoon. High 55, Low 36
AW: Tomorrow - Partly sunny High 48, Low 34
Saturday - A morning shower in places; otherwise, mostly cloudy High 51, Low 33
NWS: Tomorrow - Patchy frost before 10am. Otherwise, mostly sunny High 52, Low 36
Saturday - A slight chance of showers before 1pm. Mostly sunny High 53, Low 34
WB: Tomorrow - Areas of frost in the morning, Partly Cloudy, High 51, Low 34
Saturday - Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain showers. High 52, Low 34
I agree that it's mostly going to be rain in Columbus, but I think a wet flake could certainly find it's way into town by days end.
Fall in the southeast sounds awesome
Posted by Ryan
Columbus, Georgia, had a cold front move through town just before this forecast's valid time. We in St. Paul also had a cold front move through recently. We are presently in the 40s, and were in the 50s and 60s the past couple of days. Columbus never dropped lower than 60. Highs in the mid-80s. I want that. The Weather Service had the top forecast.
Actuals: Thursday, High 86, Low 67
Friday - High 83, Low 60
Grade: B
Columbus, Georgia to Redding, California
Posted by Ryan
This is going to be a lengthy trip, 5 days from beginning to end. It's a legitimate 5 days too, as the travel mileage is going to be 2636.5 miles. That puts us at 71.09mph (holy crap!). This then eventually will give us a whopping 568 miles a day. That's a lot of distance to cover, so let's get moving!
DAY ONE
A cold front is moving into the southern US, and will actually be through Columbus by the time we hit the road tomorrow. The cool northwesterly flow will scrub the atmosphere of any unpleasant elements. We will drive in wonderful weather all the way to Atkins, Arkansas, which is west of Conway, but not quite to Russellville.
DAY TWO
Our trip west will continue to be in wonderful weather. Oklahoma will be cool and calm as we pass into Texas. There really is no significant activity, but things will begin to heat back up in the Texas Panhandle, and the drive will end in the town of Vega.
DAY THREE
The drive through the rest of the Plains will be just as dull as the first two days. Activity will pick off when we hit the mountains near Gallup. There will be a chance for some showers and storms through the rest of the day in Arizona. Not much, but a monsoon compared to what we will have seen to this point. We will end the day in Flagstaff.
DAY FOUR
Our pattern of quiet weather will return on Monday, which will be nice, because population will increase as we take I-5 north through the Central Valley. Our day will end in Coalinga, in central California. One long day left!
DAY FIVE
A front, one of the continuous waves off the Pacific, will push some moisture into far northern California. Most of the day will be dry and sunny, but we will begin to see clouds, fog and some drizzle even after we get north of Willows. It won't be the best of days when we arrive in Redding, but it won't be too bad.
Columbus, Georgia
Posted by Ryan
Columbus.... it's not just for Ohio any more.
At 951AM, ET, Columbus was reporting a temperature of 69 degrees with a thunderstorm. The storms were almost at an end in the area for the time being, with a fairly well defined line established along a line from Macon to Andalusia, Alabama, as well as points to the west and south from Andalusia. An upper level low over the Great Lakes had established a cold pool over the heart of the country, while the still warm Gulf had established a convergence zone just inland that was triggering thunderstorms across the region, though heating of the day may actually work to cap convection this afternoon.
As the upper trough gets entrained into a greater mean trough, the cold air advection will begin to increase through the day today, and eventually turn the boundary presently triggering thunderstorms southward and off the coast, bringing in a couple days of seasonable weather with dry air in Columbus.
Tomorrow - Mostly sunny, High 85, Low 64
Friday - Sunny, High 82, Low 63
TWC: Tomorrow - A mainly sunny sky High 88, Low 66
Friday - Mix of sun and clouds High 84, Low 65
AW: Tomorrow - Mostly sunny and pleasant High 87, Low 62
Friday - Pleasant with abundant sunshine High 81, Low 61
NWS: Tomorrow - Sunny, High 87, Low 64
Friday - Sunny, High 83, Low 62
WB: Tomorrow - Sunny. High 86, Low 65
Friday - Sunny. High 84, Low 64
That's kind of nice sounding, isn't it? Radar shows some white hot thunderstorm action across the area.
Along the pipeline
Posted by Ryan
One of the components that has been contributing to the disastrous weather in the southern Plains is warm, moist Gulf air, trafficked in through the southeast. Columbus wasn't and isn't in line for the same weather that they have seen to the northwest, but the hot humid air has tracked right atop the city for the past couple days, on it's way to contribute it's part to the destruction in Joplin, Oklahoma and other places. Victoria-Weather and Weatherbug topped the other forecasters with the hot, humid prognostications.
Actuals: Monday - High 94, Low 64
Tuesday - High 94, Low 68
Grade: A
Columbus, Georgia to Killeen, Texas
Posted by Ryan
We're staying in the south for our two day road trip, where it will undoubtedly be hot, hot, hot. It's an 883 mile journey that we will cover at a pace of 62.8mph, also known as a 502 mile daily pace. If you can do the math in your head, that means day two will be a little bit shorter than day one. Let's burn up the roads that may or may not already be burned up by the 90 degree temperatures.
DAY ONE
There is some threat over Alabama and Georgia for a few showers early tomorrow as a front stalls over Tennessee and southerly flow will be strong ahead of it. The added moisture and cooling temperatures over night could bring up some drizzle. However, that drizzle will likely be north of our route and should burn off almost as soon as the sun comes up. It's going to simply be hot and sticky as we make our way west through Montgomery and Jackson, eventually on to Arcadia, Louisiana, between Ruston and Shreveport.
DAY TWO
There could be a bit of haze again as we get our morning cup of Joe (I actually don't care for coffee... I'll be having a Pepsi), but by the time we leave things will be in good shape once again. Eastern Texas will be no cooler than Alabama and Mississippi had been, and may even be a tick warmer. Another developing low over the central Plains is expected to touch off some thunderstorms northwest of Fort Worth, but that's a problem for the future. No problems as we drive into Killeen.
