Most Recent Blog Posts
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A Few Quick Hits
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
This Weekend
Last weekend we saw highs of 69 Sat. and 74 Sunday. For the first weekend in November those temps are just awesome, and it came during an unbelievable stretch of weather last week. Well, Ida provided a break from the nice weather and brought flooding to the area (more on that coming up). Now, the nice weather is setting back up. We hit 72 yesterday, and will do a couple degrees better than that today. Slightly warmer tomorrow. We keep talking about it, but it's worth noting: This is the October weather we missed last month with all the rain and cooler temps. Yes, the colder air will be here by late month or into next month, but not within the next 10 days or so. Enjoy it while it's here.
Wrapping Ida
There were two scenarios that we were looking at last weekend for Ida. One would have a cold front sweep through early Tuesday, picking up the storm and pushing it northeast quickly, leaving us with maybe 1-2" at most, some spots seeing less than that. The other, which played out, would have the front hold off for a day before sweeping everything out. That started around 1am or so Wednesday morning. By that point, though, we had picked up a solid 3-5" around the area (impressive that that was the rainfall mentioned in the flood watch by the weather service as early as Sunday evening. It played out just like that, so a big shout out to the weather service.) We saw several rivers go into minor and moderate flood stage, but a far cry from what we saw in September. The good news for North GA - the worst of the storm happened well to our east through parts of the Carolinas and up the Mid-Atlantic, leading to 6 fatalaties and close to a foot of rain in spots along the Atlantic Coast. The good news for us here is that even though we had 3-5" of rain, it happened very slowly over a longer period of time. This allowed most of the rain to soak into the ground before running off, helping to lower the flash flooding and river flooding threat.
The Next Rain
Our next chance of rain may not roll in until late week. A very slow moving system looked to be rolling in by mid-week when Ken and I looked at everything yesterday. But this morning I'm not sold yet, so I really think the chance of rain won't work in until Friday. So, 2 pieces of good news. After all the rain on Tuesday, we'll have at least 6 more days to dry out. Secondly, the rain that we'll see should be very light as the system should be falling apart and pulling north as it works it. We'll see how it plays out. Have a good weekend.
Steve Milone / FOX 5 Weather Authority
- Blog post
- 1 week ago
- Views: 49
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Halloween Spectacular
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
Alright, maybe it won't quite be spectacular, but we're starting to make plans for our Saturday morning show next week. We're trying to compile a list of some of the best halloween songs and we're going to try playing them through the show next Saturday morning. We have the usual suspects: Thriller & Ghostbusters are the two standards. But, we need some more. We've added such classics as Bad Moon Rising by CCR, Oingo Boingo's Dead Man's Party (Made more famous by its appearance in Rodney Dangerfield's Back to School. Classic movie, maybe I'll blog about that later) and Fresh Prince's Nightmare on My Street. So, I toss to the masses out there. Have any ideas. If you have one leave your name and I'll give you a shout out if we use it.
Steve Milone / FOX 5 Weather Authority
- Blog post
- 4 weeks ago
- Views: 90
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Lights Out Danny
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
Danny WeakensTropical storms Danny was downgraded to a TD this morning. This storm has never been very well organized, as most of the convection has been wel displaced from the "center" of the storm for the last couple of days. This storm may have been stronger a couple days ago before attaining tropical storm status as some of the observations had the storm having 50-60 mph sustained winds but lacking a closed center of circulation. Nevertheless, the storm will kick off increased surf once again along the east coast and coastal New England. This is the second weekend in a row for the region, as Bill did the same last weekend. The good news is that this storm pales in comparison to Bill, so shouldn't cause as many issues.
Here Comes Football Weather
The Falcons host their first preseason football game this evening. The reintroduction of football into the southeast starts giving you the itch for fall. Well, looks like we'll have a pretty good taste of fall coming as we head into midweek. Once a slow moving front finally clears the area (probably Tuesday), the winds will swing out of the northwest and usher in some much cooler and drier air. Afternoon highs will still be comfortable, in the low 80's. But overnight you'll notice the change, as some areas will fall well into the mid 50's. Hopefully this means that we've put the worst of summer behind us. Enjoy the football!
Steve Milone / FOX 5 Weather Authority
- Blog post
- 3 months ago
- Views: 122
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It's STILL quiet!!
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
Still WaitingIt's now August 9th, but we're still waiting for our first named storm of the season. The last four years have seen storms develop in May or June. Not even close to that this year. As a matter of fact, the last time we went this deep into the year without a named storm was 1992 and Hurricane Andrew. Andrew first became a tropical storm at 8am August 17. However, an interesting nugget about that. That year we had a subtropical storm in April. That didn't count in the year of 1992 as a storm that could be named. However, the rules changed earlier this decade to include subtropical storms when naming storms. So, if those rules were in place in 92, that would mean Hurricane Andrew would have been Hurricane Bonnie, and we'd have to go back even farther to find a year that started out so quiet. As it stands right now there is a weak wave that's come off the African coast the Hurricane Center is monitoring. I'm not even going to elaborate on it yet. We'll see how it all plays out.
Hoping The Computers Are Right
The computers are hinting that an upper level low is going to cut off from the main flow and stall to our northwest. This would put us in the preferable slot for showers and t-showers heading into the middle part of the week. Let's hope it plays out as we're heading into the dry season and with a tropical season that could end up being tamer than average. That could mean a very dry Septemeber and October across the region. So, let's hope for every drop of rain we can get between now and then. I'll update on twitter through the week on our rain chances. Have a good one.
Steve Milone / FOX 5 Weather Authority
- Blog post
- 3 months ago
- Views: 197
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That Was Weird
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
Strange on ThursdayWe often joke or hear people upset that we here in GA are in some kind of mystical void in the southeast. It is quite interesting to see unbelievably strong storms stampede through Alabama and fall apart as they hit the Georgia state line. Sometimes there's a logical explanation for it. Sometimes there's not a logical explanation, but sometimes things just happen. These instances tend to show their face more often when in a drought and when looking for rain (especially when the weather guy put out fertilizer on his lawn in the morning and he's just keeping his finger's crossed - don't get me started). But what happened on Thursday was one of the craziest instances of this phenomenon I've witnessed in 9 years here at FOX 5. I've attached a picture to show what was going on. These storms were all aligned along a boundary pushing southeast. But, throughout most of the afternoon the storms in Alabama pushed right up to the AL/GA line, stopped through GA, and then picked up again on the other side of the GA/SC border. Nothing in North GA. I've never seen storms push up to one side of the state line, stop, pick up on the other. Absolutely bizarre. I'm sure there must be some sort of meteorological explanation that makes sense. But, this one still does have us scratching our heads. And my fertilizer waits. Oh well.
Peak of Summer?
Looking up average highs and doing some math it looks like the statistical peak heating of summer happens on July 20 and 21. That's Monday/Tuesday. We're currently looking at low humidities and much lower than average temperatures through that period. The trend starts this weekend with highs both days around 84 and lows well below average. Tonight may actually hit 63 at the airport, which would tie a record low in town. We're also watching a couple waves in the Atlantic right now. May not materialize, but I'll blog if worth watching. Have a good weekend.
Steve Milone / FOX 5 Weather
- Blog post
- 4 months ago
- Views: 197
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Heat Returns / Tropics check
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
The Tropics ... QuietWe're still sitting (as of July 11) on no tropical storms, no hurricanes for the season. We typically don't see the fun and games begin until we get into August and September. However, we at least see a little bit by this point in the season. The picture on the left shows that over the last 5 years we've only seen one of 5 years that started this slow. That was '04, a year that started very slow but really exploded once we hit August. That explosion may not happen this year, as all signs point to an El Nino setting up, which could hinder storm development this season. So a slow start plus what looks to potentially be a quieter peak equals what could be a quiet season altogether. As of this moment there really isn't anything going on. As I said when showing some maps this morning, the ocean looks blue. That was really the only thing to describe on the map. We'll be watching.
Heat Returning
Thursday July 2 we hit 90 degrees for a high, bringing our streak of 90 to 17 days. It ended the next day on the third. Since then, it's been a very nice break. Assuming we miss 90 again today (we're going for 88) that will mean that in the 9 days since the heat wave broke, we've only hit 90 once and not a single day checked in with temps above average. That will change starting tomorrow. Highs will be in the 90's probably through the end of the week, with more heat building in by late week. Each day will probably give way to afternoon pop up thunderstorms as well. Not a very good chance of storms this week, just your average summer time pattern. I'll check in again next week with another scan of the tropics. Have a good weekend.
Steve Milone / FOX 5 Weather
Follow me for a daily blurb about the weather: twitter.com/stevemilone
- Blog post
- 4 months ago
- Views: 192
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Checking the Tropics
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
Tropics Still QuietWe talk all the time about how quiet the beginning of the tropical weather season is. You could probably make the argument that the hurricane season really shouldn't start until July (and shouldn't run all the way through November either, but that's another blog for another day). This year has held true to that theory. Only one tropical depression thus far. And since that depression in late May, it's been very quiet. The Hurricane Center really has only had a couple "areas of concern" to monitor since then. Right now things are quiet, with nothing going on in the Atlantic basin. Now the question becomes; Will El Nino set up later this season and will that have an effect on the hurricane season? Well, the climate prediction center has sent out a release this month saying that we'll be turning over from a neutral flow into an El Nino flow through August. In theory this would create more east moving waves, leading to more wind shear. This could keep down the number and intensity of storms in the Atlantic. This is why some of the "experts", such as Dr. Gray from Colorado, are downplaying this season from the original forecasts (most of those original forecasts were for an average season anyway). Nevertheless, the first two storms that we will see will be Ana and Bill, and I've attached a few notes on the history of each storm. I'll try and blog at least once a week about what's going on in the Atlantic.
Happy Father's Day
Be sure that your plans for this Father's Day Weekend include some air conditioning or the pool. This weekend's heat will be pretty intense. We're talking about highs 95-100 today, heat indix values of 100-110. Very hot conditions here, even worse down to our south in Central Georgia. Next couple days should be pretty hot, so if you have to be outside take it easy. Light colored clothing, light fitting clothing. Drink plenty of water. Take it easy. It's the weekend, the yard work will be waiting for you when things improve. In the meantime, a happy father's day to all the dads out there, especially my dad down in Florida, who is one of the coolest 50+ year olds I know. To show you how cool he is, a quick story. My sister was getting married several years ago when the "Hey ya" song by Outkast was out. As you may or may not know, one of the lines from the song is, "What's cooler than being cool?" The response was supposed to be "Ice Cold". But, my father, in his deadpan Marine style didn't miss a beat when he looked us in the eyes and said, "me". Straight faced. You're the man, dad. Happy Father's Day to all out there, and looking forward to hanging with my kids this weekend as well. Have a good one.
Steve Milone
- Blog post
- 5 months ago
- Views: 220
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Hurricane Season Starting...
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
Hurricane Season 09
June 1 marks the first official day of the hurricane season. We sometimes do see storms this early in the season, as you can see in the graphic. Typically these storms aren't very strong, and the early onset of a season is not a reliable indicator as to the severity of the season. Take 2004 for example. The first named storm occurred on August 1, two months into the season. However, things stayed active for the entire season. Six of the hurricanes that season were major hurricanes, including the bigger storms of Charlie and Ivan. You compare that to 2007, which started very early. After a storm several weeks before the official start of the season, we only saw 2 major hurricanes the rest of the season, both of which missed the US mainland. As far as what to expect, everybody seems to be leaning towards an average year. Everybody seems to be expecting an El Nino pattern to develop by late season, which could hinder the storm development by introducing more shear into the Atlantic basin. This year has seen one depression which was well out to sea this past week, and nothing going on right now.
We'll be following the season and I'll try blogging at least once a week or more if needs be. In the meantime, if you're a tropics nut like me, you need to read Dr. Masters' blog from weatherunderground. I read this every day and he goes very in depth into each storm and the history of storms. A must read.
Steve on Twitter
I used to blog a lot more, trying to blog once a day. In all honesty, it's just far too busy now to do that. However, I figure I'd drop a line or two on twitter a day about the forecast. I may drop in random thoughts as well. If you want to follow me and get a line or two about the forecast every day, I'm at twitter.com/stevemilone. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Steve Milone / FOX 5 Weather Authority
- Blog post
- 6 months ago
- Views: 261
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Memorial Day Nuggets
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
Forecast:
With that gulf pseudo-sub-not-quite tropical low pushing on shore, it's effects will still be felt here in town. We'll see showers off and on all weekend. Looks like the system will be breaking down by Monday, meaning a few less clouds. That will bring us warmer weather Monday, but also increase the likelihood of thundershowers in the afternoon on Memorial Day. As far as your outdoor plans, it's not the perfect weather you'd want as we'll see off and on showers. But, get out and play and be ready to run. We're not expecting any of the next three days to be a complete washouts. Once the rain sets in, it should only last 30 minutes to an hour, and the showers should move on. That's the plan anyway.
The Lakes:
Lake levels are much better this year than they were last. Lanier is only 5 and half below full, and that's nearly 8 feet above where we were this time last year. Hartwell is also up several feet this year from where they were last year. In addition Allatoona, West Point, Oconee and Sinclair as well as smaller area lakes are all in very good shape. Get out and enjoy if you're headed that way this weekend.
The Gulf Low:
As it stands right now the low is about an hour or so from landfall. Intensification has begun with this storm, and the hurricane center thinks it may be designated a depression before landfall. More than likely there's not enough time to intensify to a depression before landfall, but stranger things have happened. Nevertheless, whatever you call it, this storm will bring areas around the southeast 2-3" additional rain, locally heavier, especially in parts of Miss. and Ark. where the storm will be moving through the next 24-36 hours. The storm will then break down and become enveloped in a stalled front to our northwest. This will mean we'll see less clouds here, leading to more thundershowers. We should say in the "soup" through the middle to end of the week, so t-showers for us every day are likely.
Memorial Day:
Enjoy your holiday, stay safe, and a big thank you to all of our servicemen and women and all our veterans for their service. Enjoy your weekend as well, you all earned it. Thank you.
Steve Milone / FOX 5 Weather Authority
twitter.com/stevemilone
- Blog post
- 6 months ago
- Views: 205
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Vortex2 - Tornado Chase
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
Vortex 2
Here's the description of the venture from the NOAA:
A collaborative nationwide project exploring the origins, structure and evolution of tornadoes will occur from May 10 through June 13 in the central United States. The project, Verification of Rotation in Tornadoes EXperiment 2 (VORTEX2 or V2), is the largest and most ambitious attempt to study tornadoes in history and will involve more than 50 scientists and 40 research vehicles, including 10 mobile radars.
“Data collected from V2 will help researchers understand how tornadoes form and how the large-scale environment of thunderstorms is related to tornado formation,” according to Louis Wicker, research meteorologist with NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory and V2 co-principal investigator.
Scientists will sample the environment of supercell thunderstorms—violent thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds, large hail, and tornadoes—that form over more than 900 miles of the central Great Plains. Areas of focus include southern South Dakota, western Iowa, eastern Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, the Texas panhandle and western Oklahoma. The V2 Operations Center will be at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla.
Preliminary results from V2 are scheduled for presentation at Penn State University during fall 2009. At that time, organizers will begin planning details of the second phase of V2 scheduled for May 1-June 15, 2010.
V2 is a $10.5 million program funded by NOAA and the National Science Foundation (NSF), 10 universities, and three non-profit organizations.
The original VORTEX program, operated in the central Great Plains during 1994 and 1995, documented the entire life cycle of a tornado for the first time in history. Recent improvements in National Weather Service severe weather warning statistics may be partly due to the application of VORTEX findings. V2 will build on the progress made during VORTEX and further improve tornado warnings and short-term severe weather forecasts.
“An important finding from the original VORTEX experiment was that the factors responsible for causing tornadoes happen on smaller time and space scales than scientists had thought,” said Stephan Nelson, NSF program director for physical and dynamic meteorology. “New advances will allow for a more detailed sampling of a storm’s wind, temperature and moisture environment and lead to a better understanding of why tornadoes form – and how they can be more accurately predicted.”
Scientists and students throughout the United States, Canada and Australia that will work with the V2 program include the Center for Severe Weather Research, Rasmussen Systems, NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, OU/NOAA Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies, NSF-sponsored National Centers for Atmospheric Research, Penn State University, University of Oklahoma, Texas Tech University, Lyndon State College, University of Colorado, Purdue University, North Carolina State University, University of Illinois, University of Massachusetts, University of Nebraska, Environment Canada and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
You can follow the chase or learn more at the official site for Vortex2. I'll update next week with the latest.
Happy Mother's Day
Scattered showers and storms both days this weekend, with the worst of the weather happening today. The most severe weather should slip to our south Sunday. So, hopefully a somewhat quieter mother's day. So, go take care of mom. She deserves it. And a Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful wife (who'll never read this since she doesn't do blogs, but maybe her buddy will let her know. You know who you are, huck) and to my mother as well. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. And to steal a line from Bill Cosby, "I'm not the boss of my house. I don't when I lost it. I don't where I lost it. I don't know how I lost it. I don't know if I ever had it. But I've seen the boss' job, and I don't want it." Amen.
Steve Milone / FOX 5 Weather Authority
twitter.com/stevemilone
- Blog post
- 6 months ago
- Views: 453
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The Lanier Challenge
- From: kencook
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Description:
Lake Lanier as of this writing is at 1064.80'. This is 6.2' below full pool, but still over 7 feet above where we were this time last year. We're starting to wonder when Lanier will hit it's high mark and what it will be. The last two years have seen the high mark set on May 24 and May 6, so we're in that season. So, I propose a challenge to you the viewer. Guess the date and actual height that Lanier will top out at this season. Leave your guess right here on my blog by commenting. The winner will win ... potentially a shout out on the air and an autographed picture of me. So good luck. If you're looking for a couple of websites to help you out in your studies, here they are.
Good Luck. We'll figure that the level should top off by mid June. Results then.
Ken Cook
- Blog post
- 6 months ago
- Views: 6765
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The Seasons Are A-Changin
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
Moving Into The Next Phase
Looking at the weather map and looking at what will happen over the next 5-10 days, it got me to wondering.... are we approaching the end of the winter/spring wet season? Typically May and early June are dry. The fronts don't come through quite as often, and they become increasingly poor producers of rain. We see the high pressure ridge build in and we see the rain ratchet back until late June, when we see the summer thunderstorms begin. So looking at the weather maps, as we move into next week we'll see the big ridge move in across the southeast, fronts and storms setting up through the plains and parts of the mid-west. The system is set to move through here late next week, but by then probably pulling well north. In the meantime, you can't ask for better weather than this. Low 80's during the day, upper 50's or so at night. May have to turn on the AC, unless you open your windows in the morning hours to let some cooler air in. It's typically better to do it then, since the pollen flying around is worse in the afternoon and evening since the winds gradually pick up during the day. The winds are calmer in the morning, and there's less pollen being stirred up. There's my green idea for earth day.
Random Thoughts of the Day
Ok, two completely random thoughts. Nothing to do with weather and not even sure they're all that entertaining, but it's my blog so here we go.
- So somebody sees a bathrobe, thinks to themselves, "Hmm, maybe I'll wear it backwards and see what happens." They do, they stay warm like a blanket but their arms are free to go about their business. They think, "Hmm. I think I've found something." They package it as a blanket with arms, wear it to football games and such in the commercials. Despite it sounding like somewhat of a hokie product, millions are sold, they're worn all over the country, even in pub crawls. The Snuggie is born. Backwards bathrobe to fortune. Only in America. Wish I had though of that.
- You know how you have to type in the word in the box when logging into some websites (to prove you're not a computer). It started as a word slightly tilted, then maybe a little bent. Now you as a human can't read the word anymore. And then what word am I typing? You used to type in a word like "snuggie" or "bathrobe". Now it's a strange word like "circumspectness" or "happenchance". You can't read those words when they do a loop like the mindbender and then there's a line through it and a ligthning bolt and some letters are different colors and one's uppercase and then there are random numbers thrown in and then random symbols from the periodic table are thrown in for good measure. I don't know if there's a solution to the problem, but I know there has to be an easier way than picking up your laptop right up to your face and spinning it around three times before figuring out the word.
Like I said, just random thoughts. Feel free to share yours. Have a good one.
Steve Milone / FOX 5 Weather Authority
- Blog post
- 7 months ago
- Views: 241
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The Economy isn't the only thi
- From: geocaw57
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Description:
In August of last year I lost my job, later that same year I lost my eldest Son to suicide, My wife,and I have a complicated marriage, it's for a lack of a better word ,Loveless, Oh we're still pretty much on friendly terms I have to be I still live with her. As a matter of fact she's my only support mechanism at this point. If it'd weren't for her I'd be homeless (counting Blessings) and pretty much up s**T creek. Well about near the first of this year, I was starting to show sign's of a sinister and hidden Disease, it hits one in six people every minute, It's very tricky in it's concealment. But you know something wrong when you, become at first apprehensive, then really fearful, your appetite starts to wane, you go from nervous to jumpy to lethargic, rabid mood swings start running amok, your head become your worse enemy. Then you start laying around sleeping a lot, anything that should be funny or humorous isn't so much. You have major panic attacks (me), and get easily confused on making simple decisions, and your stress level becomes off the chart, any little tick or ache your body puts out is hyper sensitive, which makes you prone to over reaction, again (me). To give example. My wife was preparing to leave to see our Granddaughter in Tenn., no big thing to a normal person right, I freaked to the point that I worked my self into a panic attack over my sudden chest pains , I started getting sick, worried my self so much I hopped in a Cab and went to a local ER., three hours later I walked out with two scrips One for an inhaler the, other for High blood pressure, I didn't tell the Doc about my panic attack I stated that I had numbness in my left hand (still do). long story short. The Scrips came to forty dollars which cut into my wife's travel money, and since I was on meds from hospital ( a mild sedative ) I couldn't take her to the Bus station, so another dent in getaway cash, ( you get a sense of the real victim here?) so now not only did I have to worry about her and the trip, it was now compounded by overwhelming guilt. Long and the short of it folks, I'm a Manic Depressive, or so my Sister says ( she outta know she's one), and that I need immediate & crucial care. So where does someone in my position go to to get help (preferably free) Choices, a free clinic, Grady outpatient (not) or develop a close circle of friends to help chill you down, when your feeling the symptoms, and give crash therapy. Folks I have no circle of friends, my extended family prefers to stay that way, all I have is my love to write, and read, and of course Blog. So guess what folks your my cheap therapy for now, you up for it?, if your are reading this Blog and if you decide to respond ( hopefully positively) then Tag your it for now. that is till I find a free Shrink...or some close friends.
If you suffer from Depression or think you are get help quickly, the symptoms I described above compound themselves tenfold the longer you wait, A slogan comes to mind when fighting this, {'Conquer your Fears, Heal your Pain. be whole again'}, thanks for the friendly ear.. GeoCaw
- Blog post
- 7 months ago
- Views: 237
- Not yet rated
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The Vick Verdict Blogs
- From: geocaw57
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Description:
Eleven or so blogs I counted on here pertaining to the Micheal Vick ruling, and I commented on everyone of them, all good points were stated and some very good blog commentary was given, Tom Hayne's Blog question started it all, and altho those whom had the right to blog their thoughts, it could've all been placed in Tom's Comment box, but the fact that said persons felt they had to say what was on their minds and put it down in their own blogs, shows what an important & useful outlet Foxatlanta Blogs are. I'm proud of my fellow Blogger's, and Thankful to Fox5 Atlanta for giving us this platform to aire our fustrations, meaningful thoughts, and useful commentary, This is a perfect example of the Right to Free Speech at work. Great works by even greater minds, keep it up Atlanta Bloggers thanks so very much ....GeoCaw
- Blog post
- 7 months ago
- Views: 160
- Not yet rated
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Here Comes The Cold!!!
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
I've worked here at FOX 5 for nearly 9 years. And, I've learned something that Ken told me about 9 years ago, but I've now seen it for myself. And, I've seen it for 9 years running. No matter what happens in March, there is always a very cold outbreak that pushes in as we head into April. It never fails. Some are colder than others, but it's at least cold enough to bring freezing temps to most of us. Sometimes the airport officially misses out of the freeze or some spots south of the city. But you can still support a frost with temps around 34 or 35. So, when it's 80 degrees in early March and people want to plant things that will die when frozen, we always say wait. In two days, you'll find out why we always say wait. Late season freeze '09 is on the way.
A very strong cold front pushes in Sunday night into Monday. Throughout the day we'll see temps steadily falling through the 40's. We may establish our high of 50 around 9 or 10 am, and then temps will fall all day. It will set us up with overnight lows in the mid 20's Monday night into Tuesday morning. Another chilly night Tuesday. We'll be 32 in town, but well in the 20's outside the perimeter, with some spots potentially in the low 20's Wednesday morning. Temps should quickly rebound into the end of the week, but quite the "hiccup" in many spring break plans around the metro.
The other thing we have to worry about is strong wind Monday. Winds will be on the order of 20-30 mph sustained, with gusts to 40. Normally we'd shrug and issue a "trash can advisory" for windy conditions. However, we've seen a lot of rain lately and many trees coming down due to the saturated ground. The hope is that we don't see a lot of rain tomorrow night and we can dry out a little bit over the next 48 hours before Monday. (Yeah, can you believe we're actually hoping to not see a lot of rain. Big change from just a couple weeks ago.) Nevertheless, keep in mind that with the very gusty winds Monday, we may see more trees coming down around the metro.
But, all that's still 48 hours away. In the meantime, get out and enjoy this weekend. 73 today, 74 tomorrow. Some showers late tomorrow, but outside of that no excuse to not get outside and enjoy this spring weekend. Especially since there's a wintry start to the week on the way. Have a good one.
Steve Milone / FOX 5 Weather Authority
- Blog post
- 7 months ago
- Views: 256
- Not yet rated
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Spring in the air
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
We heard the unmistakable sound this past weekend that surely means spring is here. Gentlemen, start your engines. (Ok, maybe there have been a few before this past weekend, but at my house I dropped the green flag Sunday.) That's right, mow the lawn time. Denise always gives me a hard time on the weekends about getting excited about yard work, but I can't help it. There's no battle quite like doing battle vs. the elements in your yard.
So, time for that age old battle of do you scalp the Bermuda vs. do you mow it when it pops up. You have to scalp the Bermuda to get the dead stuff out of the way. Dead Bermuda isn't coming back. It's dead. Get it out of the way so the new stuff can come up clean. I also did this in anticipation of all the rain we'd get this week. Not sure there will be enough rain to necessitate that flood watch we're under, but we'll see. Anyway, while mowing the lawn I also came into contact with the other sign spring is here.
I couldn't breathe!! Pollen!!
So, if you're like me, throw that mask on until about Mid-May and it will definitely help out. I'll blog more about my disdain for pollen in the coming weeks. In the meantime if you did mow this past weekend, enjoy this upcoming weekend off. Saturday looks to be stormy, but quieter on Sunday and pretty pleasant. Have a good one.
Steve Milone / FOX 5 Weather Authority
- Blog post
- 8 months ago
- Views: 252
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Six Flags Memories
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
The good old days. My family moved here in the late 80's, so I've basically grown up here in town. And, as a kid in town, there was only one place to go when the temps started warming up. You had to get to Six Flags. I don't know if the kids of today feel that same way, but back in the day that was the place. My first time ever going was a night in the late 80's when it was raining. Most if not all the coasters were closed, but Thunder River was open and that's one of the first memories of the park. From that point I'd end up at the park at least once a year. I remember my best friend Eric and I running (Shouts out to the McClanahans) to the Mindbender when the park first opened. (I think it's now called the Riddler since it's in Batman Land or Gotham or whatever it's called. Nevertheless, it's still the best roller coaster in the park.) Anyway, with no lines we'd run to the front of the line, ride, run back and ride again. After going about 4 times in 15 minutes we'd be ready to roll. Amazing what your head can go through when you're that young. Can't do that anymore.
It's a shame to see some of the classics have been removed. The Looping Starship was removed a couple years ago. While that would spin my head like a top, man it was cool. But, the Free Fall is no longer. The Free Fall. Seriously!?!? The best 3 seconds in the park. I mean, no sugar coating, no holding your hand. No cutesy parachute like the great gasp. It lifted you up, moved you out, dropped you. Awesome!
Nice to see some of the other classics still there, especially the Scream Machine (you remember when they actually ran the scream machine's cars backwards as a new twist. Boo! That's a classic, leave it alone) and the Mindbender. I guess you can still stand on the bridge and get completely drenched on Splash Waterfall, and Thunder River is still up and running. Nice to know if I need a taste of some old school nostalgia that there's a place to go. And then between rides when I need a couple minutes to chill I can hit the Monster Plantation. What!?!? Oh the humanity. Let me know some of your best memories of the park. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Steve
- Blog post
- 8 months ago
- Views: 319
- Not yet rated
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Snow Last Weekend, Perfect Thi
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
Sunday's SnowfallThe center of the low was expected to push due east across central GA on Sunday. However, the low did take a turn to the northeast, and as you can see in the snowfall totals map, it brought extremely heavy snow to parts of the viewing area. I thought 1-2" Sunday morning, but I knew that if all things came together we could get areas near 5". We ended up with spots of at least 7" around Athens and 5-6" near Columbus. Luckily I got about 3" at my house, so I came through for my 3 year old who wanted some snow to play in. If you missed out I apologize, and I don't know if we have enough weather magic to squeeze out another snowstorm this season. In the meantime, a big thank you to all the viewers who submitted pictures and emailed pictures. We ended up with a total of about 1000 between Ken's gallery and the emails we've all received. We've shown a lot of them this week, but obviously can't get to all of them. I also couldn't personally thank all the emails I got from viewers with snowfall totals. So, I'll issue a lump thank you for everybody and hopefully that will suffice. If you want to view more pictures, check here for Ken's Photo Gallery. For more on the storm from the weather service, click here.
Far Cry From That This Weekend
Nascar in town, Six Flags opening, plenty to do in and around town. I don't think we can do any better than this. We both literally and figuratively spring forward this weekend as our highs will be in the mid 70's both days. We'll stay in the 70's through mid-week as well, with both lows and highs well above our seasonal average. For me it's still a little too early to scalp the bermuda or plant the tender veg., but plenty of stuff to get done around the yard this weekend anyway. If you're like me you'll probably put it off until tomorrow so you can chase the kids around or play today. And then you'll probably put it off again tomorrow so you can do more of the same, but that's life. And why not? As crazy as things have been in the world and the economy, nice to have a weekend like this to take your mind off it. Have a good one. I'll talk to you tomorrow morning with a blog without weather. With Six Flags opening this weekend, I think I'll take a trip down memory lane tomorrow morning of some of my favorite memories from growing up going to Six Flags. Oh the heartbreak - Free Fall, Looping Starship, Z-Force ... GONE!! At least we still have the Mindbender. Right? More tomorrow morning. Have a good one.
Steve Milone / FOX 5 Weather
- Blog post
- 8 months ago
- Views: 205
- Not yet rated
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snow Sunday March 1, 09?
- From: freelo9
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Description:
Will Atlanta see accumulating snow Sunday March 1, 09?
- Blog post
- 9 months ago
- Views: 224
- Not yet rated
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Tornado Wrap Up
- From: fox5wxsteve
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Description:
Wednesday Evening Tornadoes
Here's the final report from the weather service on the tornadoes
from Wednesday evening. You can read their full report here.
...TORNADO REPORTS FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA FOR THE EVENING OF
FEB 18 2008...
...FINALIZED PATH LENGTHS AND END POINTS...
TORNADO NO: 1 - TAYLOR COUNTY:
0545 PM EST/EF0/LENGTH:3-4 MILES/WIDTH:100 FEET/MAX WINDS:70 MPH
BEGAN NEAR TOMMY PURVIS JR. ROAD AND EUBANKS DRIVE WITH
INTERMITTENT TOUCHDOWNS ALONG A 3-4 MILE EASTWARD PATH
FROM THIS POINT. ONE HOME DAMAGED...ONE MOBILE HOME MOVED
OFF ITS FOUNDATION...AND TREES DOWN ACROSS A ROAD.
TORNADO NO: 2 - HOUSTON COUNTY:
0625 PM EST/EF0/LENGTH: 50 FEET/WIDTH:50 FEET/MAX WINDS:70 MPH
BRIEF TORNADO OBSERVED BY WARNER ROBINS AFB WEATHER OBSERVER OFF THE
END OF ONE OF THE RUNWAYS INTO THE ADJACENT WOODS. NO DAMAGE
REPORTED.
TORNADO NO: 3 - OCONEE COUNTY:
0657 PM EST/EF1/LENGTH: 5 MILES/WIDTH: 300 YARDS/MAX WINDS: 90 MPH.
TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ON U.S. 441 AT MILE MARKER 2-3 AT TAPPIN SPUR
ROAD. DAMAGE CONTINUED EAST TO HALE ROAD AND COLHAM ROAD. TREES
DOWN AND A VEHICLE OVERTURNED. U.S. 441 WAS COMPLETELY CLOSED
BECAUSE OF DOWNED TREES AND POWER LINES. SEVERAL HOMES SUSTAINED
MINOR ROOF DAMAGE. ONE MOBILE HOME MOVED FROM ITS FOUNDATION.
GEORGIA NATURE CENTER REPORTS HUNDREDS OF TREES DOWN...TWO TENT
AREAS DESTROYED...DAMAGE TO SOLAR PANELS.
TORNADO NO: 4 - WILKES/MCDUFFIE COUNTIES:
0710 PM EST/EF3/LENGTH: 18.6 MILES/WIDTH:0.5 MILE/MAX WINDS:160 MPH
BEGAN IN THE TYRONE COMMUNITY IN FAR SOUTHWEST WILKES
COUNTY...TRACKED ACROSS THE FAR SOUTHERN PART OF THE COUNTY AND
CONTINUED INTO EXTREME NORTHEAST MCDUFFIE COUNTY. A CINDER BLOCK
HOME WAS COMPLETELY DEMOLISHED AND THE CINDER BLOCK DEBRIS WAS BLOWN
1/2 MILE DOWNSTREAM. FIFTEEN OTHER HOMES SUSTAINED MODERATE TO MAJOR
DAMAGE. NINETEEN OUTBUILDINGS DESTROYED. A COMMERCIAL CHICKEN HOUSE
WAS DESTROYED...A STEEPLE WAS BLOWN OFF A CHURCH...AND A 2-TON TRUCK
WAS MOVED 60 FEET.
TORNADO NO: 5 - PUTNAM COUNTY (***1 INJURY***):
0715 PM EST/EF1/LENGTH: 7.5 MILES/WIDTH:0.75 MILE/MAX WINDS:110 MPH
SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE ALONG A PATH FROM WILLARD TO EATONTON...VERY
CLOSE TO GEORGIA HIGHWAY 16. ONE RESTAURANT COMPLETELY DESTROYED ON
THE SOUTHWEST SIDE OF EATONTON...AND TWO OTHER BUILDINGS DESTROYED.
NUMEROUS TREES UPROOTED. AT LEAST ONE PERSON INJURED FROM DEBRIS.
PEOPLE WERE TRAPPED IN CARS AND HOMES FOR A BRIEF PERIOD AFTER THE
EVENT. U.S. HIGHWAY 129 SOUTH OF EATONTON WAS CLOSED FOR A PERIOD
BECAUSE OF DOWNED POWER LINES.
TORNADO NO: 6 - JASPER COUNTY:
0720 PM EST/EF1/LENGTH: 3 MILES/WIDTH:0.25 MILES/MAX WINDS:100 MPH
DAMAGE TO SEVERAL HOMES ALONG GEORGIA HIGHWAY 16...BEGINNING IN THE
SMITHBORO COMMUNITY...ONE WHICH SUSTAINED MAJOR DAMAGE. A SAW MILL
WAREHOUSE WAS DESTROYED. A NUMBER OF POWER LINES AND TREES WERE DOWN
IN THE AREA.
TORNADO NO: 7 - NEWTON COUNTY:
0800 PM EST/EF1/LENGTH: 3.1 MILES/WIDTH:200 YARDS/MAX WINDS:100 MPH
DAMAGE BEGINS AT THE INTERSECTION OF KING BOSTWICK ROAD TRACKING TO
ABOUT 1/2 MILE SOUTHEAST OF THE INTERSECTION OF HENDERSON MILL ROAD
AND TAYLOR ROAD. EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO 20-30 HOMES IN A HEAVILY WOODED
PINE SUBDIVISION. DAMAGE TO HOMES WAS NEARLY 100 PERCENT A RESULT OF
DOWNED TREES.
TORNADO NO: 8 - JASPER COUNTY:
0800 PM EST/EF1/LENGTH: 6.6 MILES/WIDTH:0.25 MILE/MAX WINDS:100 MPH
DAMAGE BEGAN 9 WNW SHADY DALE NEAR SHEPARD ROAD CONTINUING TO
APPROXIMATELY 2 MILES NW OF SHADY DALE NEAR TUCKER TOWN ROAD. MINOR
DAMAGE TO FIVE HOMES AND MAJOR DAMAGE TO A SMALL COTTAGE IN THE
NORTHEAST PART OF THE COUNTY. MORE THAN 100 TREES DOWN ALONG THE
PATH OF THE TORNADO.
TORNADO NO: 9 - MERIWETHER/COWETA/SPALDING COUNTIES:
0830 PM EST/EF2/LENGTH: 20 MILES/WIDTH:1 MILE/MAX WINDS:120 MPH
TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST INSIDE THE MERIWETHER COUNTY LINE AT 923
BRADBERRY ROAD...NORTH OF LUTHERSVILLE...THEN QUICKLY CROSSED INTO
COWETA COUNTY...TRAVELING EAST TO EAST-NORTHEAST ACROSS FAR SOUTHERN
COWETA COUNTY...THEN CONTINUING INTO SPALDING COUNTY BEFORE ENDING
APPROXIMATELY 9 MILES WEST-SOUTHWEST OF GRIFFIN. WITHIN COWETA
COUNTY...SEVERAL HOMES SUSTAINED MINOR TO MODERATE DAMAGE...ONE
COMPLETELY LOSING ITS ROOF. A HORSE WAS KILLED BY FLYING DEBRIS NEAR
U.S. 27A. HUNDREDS OF TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN ALONG THE PATH OF THE
TORNADO. WITHIN SPALDING COUNTY...THERE WAS INTERMITTENT STRUCTURAL
DAMAGE ALONG THE PATH OF THE TORNADO. FOUR HOMES WERE DESTROYED AND
40 SUSTAINED MINOR TO MODERATE DAMAGE. DOZENS OF TREES WERE ALSO
DOWN ALONG THE PATH OF THE TORNADO.
TORNADO NO: 10 - HANCOCK/WARREN/GLASCOCK COUNTIES:
(*** 1 DEATH/3 INJURIES ***)
1048 PM EST/EF3/LENGTH: 10.6 MILES/WIDTH:500 YARDS/MAX WINDS:140 MPH
TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT FIVE MILES ESE OF SPARTA...OR ABOUT THREE
MILES EAST OF THE INTERSECTION OF GEORGIA HIGHWAYS 15 AND 16...THEN
CONTINUED ALONG AN EIGHT MILE-LONG PATH ACROSS FAR SOUTHEAST HANCOCK
INTO FAR SOUTHWEST WARREN COUNTY. WITHIN HANCOCK COUNTY...A
CHURCH...TWO SITE-BUILT HOMES...AND FOUR MOBILE HOMES WERE DESTROYED
IN THE HICKORY GROVE COMMUNITY. ONE FATALITY AND THREE INJURIES
OCCURRED WHERE THE MOBILE HOMES WERE DESTROYED. HUNDREDS OF TREES
WERE DOWN ALONG THE PATH OF THE TORNADO FROM HANCOCK COUNTY INTO
WARREN COUNTY.
AN 11TH TORNADO IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA WAS CONFIRMED BY THE
TALLAHASSEE NWS OFFICE. ONE LONG TRACK TORNADO AFFECTED THOMAS
COUNTY WITH A SECONDARY SPIN UP ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE
COUNTY.
Snow Tonight?
A quick moving clipper system is on the way for later tonight. Looks like there will
be sufficient cold air to provide wintry weather, but the big question is how much
moisture will there be? As of this writing it's very dry here and very limited moisture
expected when the cold front moves in. What will we see? Well, draw a line from
about Dallas to about Athens. Everywhere south of that line will probably only see
rain. North of that line will see rain with a little light snow mixed in overnight. No
accumulation or issues expected. In the extreme higher elevations NE (2500-
3000' or higher) we could see a light dusting to 1/2" of snow. Everything should
come to an end by 5am or so. I'll have more in the morning. Have a good one.
Steve Milone / FOX 5 Weather - Blog post
- 9 months ago
- Views: 328
- Not yet rated
