While it still remains to be seen whether we will be able to get any sustained long-lived severe weather this afternoon and evening, the partial sunshine we’ve seen may be adding almost enough to allow a few to get feisty in a few hours. I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if a weather watch were to be needed for parts of Wisconsin.

Temperatures are rising into the lower 80s in the region with a cold front now approaching Minneapolis and Des Moines. A few isolated thunderstorms have tried to form within the past hour across Grant County, Wisconsin and over the city of Janesville. Areal coverage will increase by 5pm with storm motion from SW to NE at around 40mph. Because of the storms’ speed, we do not expect heavy rainfall to be widespread.

The image above is a simulated radar for this evening as the cold front is moving through. Should storms materialize along the front, there will be a potential for bowing segments and wind gusts 50-60mph. As the front goes through swiftly, the storm threat will immediately end from west to east. -ES

Posted under severe weather

We are keeping our eyes on the strong low-pressure system and its cold front for this afternoon. The Storm Prediction Center has issued a slight risk for our area, as some of these storms could be severe with damaging winds and heavy rainfall being the main threats. As of now, we are seeing a layer of thick clouds over us that will limit the amount of instability for these storms. However, if any peeks of sunshine come out and our temperatures get near the 80s, our chances of severe weather will increase. What we will probably experience is a line of thunderstorms forming on the leading edge of the cold front. The timing is crucial due to all the concerts and festivities this evening. Overall, you should prepare for a rainy evening with at least continuous rainfall during the events. Just remember the more sunshine we see during the day, the better chance we will have to severe weather. We will keep you updated throughout the day!

Posted under rain, severe weather

I love the E-Mails I get every day. Seriously, they keep me abreast of different goings-on and sometimes give me a good laugh. Apparently there’s an E-Mail circulating that says NASA is basically warning that the end of the world is near.

Massive solar storm to hit Earth in 2012 with ‘force of 100m bombs’
Thu, Aug 26 12:50 PM

Melbourne, Aug 26 (ANI): Astronomers are predicting that a massive solar storm, much bigger in potential than the one that caused spectacular light shows on Earth earlier this month, is to strike our planet in 2012 with a force of 100 million hydrogen bombs.
Several US media outlets have reported that NASA was warning the massive flare this month was just a precursor to a massive solar storm building that had the potential to wipe out the entire planet’s power grid.
Despite its rebuttal, NASA’s been watching out for this storm since 2006 and reports from the US this week claim the storms could hit on that most Hollywood of disaster dates - 2012.
Similar storms back in 1859 and 1921 caused worldwide chaos, wiping out telegraph wires on a massive scale. The 2012 storm has the potential to be even more disruptive.

I doubt there’s any scientific evidence to support this claim. Secondly, there would likely be no way to forecast a solar storm that far into the future. But that’s just coming from me and I’m only in charge of forecasting the weather for seven days!

Coolest thing about this blog post? I decided on making an “end of the world” tag! -ES

Posted under end of the world

After the first round of showers and storms passed by this morning, we cannot rule out a scattered storm later this afternoon thanks to a little daytime heating. We’ll keep a mostly to partly cloudy sky for the rest of the day, but further south around I-80, has a better chance of seeing redevelopment for showers and storms. Out threat for showers and storms will slowly increase as we head into Thursday morning.

Looking into Thursday… especially Thursday afternoon and into the early evening hours, we have a chance for severe storms as a strong cold front pushes through the area. We will have to watch closely, because it all depends on how much sunshine or daytime heating we get before the front comes. If we receive plenty of daytime heating, our main threats for any of these storms will be damaging winds, heavy rainfall and frequent lightning. Look at our FutureTrack map. It’s showing a nice clear slot for plenty of daytime heating, which corresponds to what we see on our 13FutrureTrack Severe Weather Index. We will monitor the situation, as it gets closer.

Posted under rain, severe weather

We’re closely monitoring 13ExacTrack Doppler this evening as strong storms roll through Eastern Iowa. Storms are severe near Cedar Rapids at this time but are expected to weaken as they move east of the Mississippi River. Our exclusive 13FutureTrack Severe Index shows the storms between now and 7am as non-severe. Still, some torrential rainfall should be expected. A 1-2″ report wouldn’t be too surprising.

Things could get much more interesting, stormwise, on Thursday as our model is forecasting the potential for severe weather. We’ll have much more on this on Wednesday as our model resolution becomes a little better.

As always if you have a severe report, photo, or rainfall total, it’s one-click weather by email to weather@wrex.com

Posted under severe weather

A cool front will stall in the region on Wednesday which will allow numerous showers and thunderstorms to form. With cloudy skies and rainfall, will keep afternoon highs in the upper 70s, even with southerly wind. Rainfall amounts will near an inch in some spots (much below any flood thresholds).

On Thursday, an area of low pressure will develop in the Upper Midwest allowing a strong cold front to approach during the afternoon. There is now a concern of a possible severe weather outbreak in parts of Eastern Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois Thursday afternoon as mid-level winds will be strong and dry. The main threat of damaging wind will be forecast right now but later forecasts may include a chance of tornadoes and very large hail.

The front will sweep through in the evening with a gusty northwest wind. Friday will be a very different day for all of us in the Midwest. Winds will howl out of the north with temperatures only in the upper 60s. Lowering humidities will cause the temperatures to free-fall Friday night with early risers shivering in middle 40 degree temperatures!

Posted under cold blast, severe weather

At exactly 1pm, seismic sensors southwest of Chicago registered a 2.7 magnitude temblor. While a reading of 2.7 is considered very weak, the location of this shaking is a bit suspect. As pictured here, the epicenter of this event is very near a large quarry in the city of LaGrange. Although several people reported the shaking, it only lasted a couple of seconds. Most earthquakes shake the ground for much longer than this, which suggests that this may have been a man-made incident. If this afternoon’s shaking was in fact caused by quarry blasting, the amount of explosives used must have been enormous to register a 2.7 magnitude quake! Did you feel anything or know anyone that did?

Posted under earthquake/tsunami

Where do you live? Let 13 News Today know. Once a week starting Friday, we will celebrate your hometown as our city of the week. Take a picture of your town, either a nature, beauty or weather shot and show us!  
Just send an email with an attached picture to weather@wrex.com or ckahlbaum@wrex.com. Don’t forget to type down your name and of course the city. And if you want to brag about your town, do so! Help 13 News Today show everyone how beautiful our heartland is.

Posted under Uncategorized

Just wanted to give everyone an update on the heavy rainfall that will head this way overnight tonight and lasting into Thursday. This will not be a continuous rainfall, though there may be several rounds of scattered storms that will produce heavy rainfall at times. Our first cold front will work its way south later tonight before stalling out just to our North across the Wisconsin-Illinois border. Since we are stuck on the south side of the front, a very moist air mass will prime our atmosphere to develop thunderstorms that could produce heavy rainfall totals. 1-2 inches is possible over the next 48 hours, but some areas may receive closer to 2.5 inches.  Flash flooding should not be a major concern, only because we’ve had a nice dry spell for the past several days which should allow for most of the rain to be absorbed. Just be aware for water over the roadways due to clogged drains and do not forget your umbrellas.

Posted under rain, weather

Posted under tropical weather