Our forecast in Dalton earlier this month was within a string of potentially stormy days for the southeast. Just because of how the topography works, and the inflow of moisture isn’t as robust further north, away from the Gulf. But the moisture did reach to Dalton, importantly, because not everyone expected it to, not both the 4th and the 5th, and in a couple of cases, not on either day. Rain fall was very light, but a mismanaged precipitation forecast ended up securing the victory for the Weather Service. Actuals: June 4th, .01″ of rain, High 85, Low 69 June 5th, High .02″ of rain, High 84, Low 65
Dalton is an interesting place for a forecast visit. It is so close to the commercial weather Mecca that is Atlanta, and yet so far. Dalton is in the higher terrain of northwest Georgia, which can lead to some interesting weather perturbations that are dissimilar even to the spots just down the road.
At 1053AM, ET, Dalton was reporting a temperature of 78 degrees with overcast skies. A sharp upper level ridge was tilted across New England, which was allowing for some clean radars for the moment, however the pattern aloft is quite active, including a sharp trough over the Northern Plains, and of more local concern, a weak lower level short wave over the eastern Gulf. The strength of the upper trough and the moisture attendant with the weak Gulf low will interact to bring clouds and moisture north into the Peach State. The Gulf trough is going to weaken as it drifts ashore, and while clouds are expected in Dalton both Wednesday and Thursday, the precipitation associated with those clouds will be light. Aloft, the northern jet is going to phase down and reconstitute north of the Canadian border, robbing the area of conflicting air masses, which will ultimately make the next two days fairly dull and dreary. Tomorrow – Mostly cloudy with spots of drizzle, High 83, low 66 Thursday – Light rain possible early, then mostly cloudy, High 85, Low 64
TWC: Tomorrow – Partly cloudy. High 86, Low 66 Thursday – Partly cloudy. High 87, Low 67
AW: Tomorrow – Pleasant with plenty of sun High 84, Low 65 Thursday – Humid with plenty of sun High 85, Low 67
NWS: Tomorrow – A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after 4pm. Mostly sunny High 85, Low 66 Thursday – A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Mostly sunny High 86, Low 66
WB: Tomorrow – Mostly sunny. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 83, Low 67 Thursday – Mostly sunny. A slight chance of showers in the morning then a chance of showers with a slight chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon High 86, Low 68
WN: Tomorrow – Partly cloudy with isolated storms, High 87, Low 66 Thursday – Partly cloudy with isolated showers and isolated storms, High 86, low 66
CLI: Tomorrow – Light rain showers, High 85 Low 64 Thursday – Sunny, High 84, Low 65
The satellite is pretty clean right now, and it won’t be real ugly later, but it will certainly be different.
