A different Columbus
Posted by Ryan
Hey, this is going to be a weird day. I'll start with this Columbus verification, but Anthony, who has been on vacation, will be back this evening to take care of the forecast and road trip for the day.
Back when the site first started, we always seemed to have forecasts for Columbus, Ohio. Now, we keep featuring Columbuses, but have moved further south. Does this mean we are doing well in Columbus? Eh, not really. The Weather Channel is though. They went away from covering health care reform and actually set about creating an excellent forecast. They navigated a pretty sizable temperature swing from Monday to Tuesday and blew everyone out of the water. From here on out, I'm covering politics and forecasting as an afterthought. How about that Bull Moose party?
Actuals: Monday - No precip, High 50, Low 40
Tuesday - High 68, Low 44
Grade: B
Columbus, Georgia to Gainesville, Florida
Posted by Ryan
It's a little shorty with this shift, that will take less than 5 hours. We're headed south into Florida, a trip that will cover 279 miles. If you do the math, that means a slow pace of 59.4mph. Let's go ahead and inch our way to Florida.
Not only will the drive be brief, it will be remarkably easy. There could be a few lingering clouds over southern Georgia, but really nothing that should hinder our drive. Things will simply clear out, probably by the time we reach Albany, Georgia. Sunny and seasonably cool conditions await us in Gainesville.
Columbus, Georgia
Posted by Ryan
It's our first return trip anywhere since the site relaunch. Good for you, Columbus.
At 1151PM, ET, Columbus was reporting cloudy skies with a temperature of 44 degrees. An area of low pressure had occluded itself over the southeast, putting Columbus into what will eventually be the dry slot. Right now, the inflow behind the occlusion is trafficking in clouds and light rain to the Florida Panhandle. The system will slow it's easterly progress as it continues to occlude.
The occlusion process and a more north-south reorientation of an undercutting jet will send the system north along the Appalachians. Columbus will be the beneficiary, lying within the remaining dry slot. As the system pulls off to the northeast, a trailing trough may brush past the region on Monday night into Tuesday morning, bringing some overnight clouds. Expect clearing then through Tuesday with a warm up possible as winds die down.
Tomorrow - Mostly cloudy, increasing clouds late, High 53, Low 37
Tuesday - Cloudy early, then clearing and warmer, High 68, Low 40
TWC: Tomorrow - Cloudy skies early. A few showers developing later in the day. High 51, Low 40
Tuesday - Mix of sun and clouds. High 69, Low 42
AW: Tomorrow - Partly sunny and cool with a shower in spots High 54, Low 39
Tuesday - Warmer with clouds giving way to sun High 66, Low 41
NWS: Tomorrow - A 20 percent chance of showers before 2pm. Mostly cloudy, High 54, Low 40
Tuesday - Mostly sunny High 65, low 42
WB: Tomorrow - Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers. High 54, Low 40
Tuesday - Mostly sunny. High 65, Low 42
A look at the satellite shows us the big hairy system in the southeast.
Midday thunder
Posted by Ryan
I have been anticipating a rough forecast for somewhere for a while with the upper level low covering the eastern third of the country. There was too much room for a peek of sun to send temperatures skyrocketing, or the threat for constant rain to tamp temperatures down. For Columbus, it was a line of thunderstorms moving in on Friday before the heating of the day really got ramped up. All told, things weren't as bad as they could have been, especially since V-W netted the victory.
Actuals: Friday - .59 inches of rain in thunderstorms, High 66, Low 50
Saturday .04 inches of rain, High 54, Low 43
Grade: C
Columbus, Georgia
Posted by Ryan
Will we find ourselves in southern Georgia with today's forecast, as we try to navigate our way into a complex upper level pattern afflicting the country.
At 1251PM, ET, PM, Columbus was reporting a temperature of 68 degrees with clear skies. Just to the east, the most recent rake of rain and low clouds was continuing to drive eastward, allowing the Columbus area to see quickly rising temperatures. They found themselves 10 degrees warmer than their neighbors to the east. The overall upper pattern is still being driven by an upper low over the center of the country that extends it's reach nearly from coast to coast.
Fortunately for the Southeast, there is only one more perturbation left in the flow of this upper level low, which will mean another round of showers and thunderstorms traversing the southeast tomorrow. If the warming trend continues today as it appears it will, there will be plenty of fuel in southwestern Georgia to generate a few significant thunderstorms around midday tomorrow. Expect some clouds and light showers on Saturday as the perturbation acts to pull down the upper low south into the Carolinas.
Tomorrow - Thunderstorms, especially in the early afternoon. Some may be severe. High 70, Low 53 (non standard
Saturday - Cloudy with areas of drizzle, High 59, low 45
TWC: Tomorrow - Scattered thunderstorms, especially in the afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 66, Low 54
Saturday - Partly cloudy. High 62, low 45
AW: Tomorrow - A shower or thunderstorm; cloudy in the morning, then times of clouds and sun in the afternoon high 70, Low 54
Saturday - Variable cloudiness High 61, low 47
NWS: Tomorrow - Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, High 69, low 51
Saturday - Isolated showers. Mostly cloudy High 62, Low 46
WB: Tomorrow - Showers and thunderstorms likely High 69, Low 50
Saturday - Mostly cloudy high 62, Low 46
A look at the satellite shows some abrupt clearing for Columbus. Not bad at all.
