MSU Storm Chase Class

Monday, August 17, 2009

Gust Front


Scary sky! The dark leading edge of a thunderstorm line is moving through the metro area. Expect wind gusts to 50 or 60 mph with some of the embedded stronger storms.

Ted Keller
Senior Meteorologist
KOLR/KSFX-TV
Storm chasing and more at:
Ceaseless Wind

Line of Storms 8/17/09


A line of storms will be moving through the area this afternoon. Expect some damaging winds with these storms. The line will be in western Greene County by 1:05 and.in central Springfield by 1:35.



Ted Keller
Senior Meteorologist
KOLR/KSFX-TV
Storm chasing and more at:
Ceaseless Wind

Sunday, August 16, 2009

SEVERE STORMS AND CLAUDETTE

A front drops south on Monday and triggers strong to severe storms to develop. Northern Arkansas will be spared from this activity until Tuesday, when the front is expected to stall out across southern Missouri. The main threats from the strongest of storms is hail and damaging winds. Locally heavy rainfall could lead to flash flooding.
The front will continue to sag south of the Ozarks and link up with tropical storm Claudette which should be a depression by the time it tracks across the Mississippi Valley. The next system to impact the Ozarks after this front is another cold front that will be arriving on Thursday.

3 TROPICAL STORMS FORMED IN THE PAST 2 DAYS



TROPICAL STORM ANA
Ana is forecast to weaken as it tracks across the Dominican Republic and Cuba over the next few days. It will emerge into the Gulf by Friday and will be a tropical depression at that time.



TROPICAL STORM BILL
Bill is a strong tropical storm and will soon become a major hurricane as it tracks northwestward across the Atlantic. Great uncertainty exists as to whether Bill will track towards the SE US or curve out to sea. It all depends on the strength of an approaching trough.



TROPICAL STORM CLAUDETTE
TD #4 just strengthened into a tropical storm and is forecast to track across the panhandle of Florida and towards SE Missouri. As of now, it appears as though a cold front moving across the Ozarks will keep the tropical circulation south of us.

These forecasts are from the National Hurricane Center and are susceptible to change. Computer models are showing different tracks with all of these tropical systems. There are many variables and a ton of uncertainty. Keep checking in for new updates!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Mid-August Weather Pattern


A normal pattern for mid-August is setting up. Small dips and ridges will be common with the jetstream, though high amplitude troughs and ridges are not expected. Every few days a dip in the jetstream will track across the upper Midwest and send a front in our direction. Seasonal temperatures are also on tap with highs in the upper 80s and lows in the upper 60s to around 70. We'll have to keep an eye on the tropics because if a system were to track into the Gulf, the Bermuda high may steer it northward. Inland flooding is always a concern when a tropical system makes landfall. Remember Ike and Gustav from last year?

TROPICS UPDATE





The tropics are heating up and we have two named storms in the Atlantic basin. Both Ana and Bill are tropical storms with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. Both are moving westerly at 16 to 17 mph. Ana is forecast to maintain a more westerly track and Bill a WNW track. This subtle difference is HUGE because Ana is forecast to track over more land than Bill which means Ana will be weaker. Bill is forecast to track a little bit further northward and become a hurricane by Wednesday. The Bermuda high is directing the storms due to the clockwise flow around the system. The U.S. (Florida) may be impacted by Ana as soon as Thursday, however, Ana may only be a tropical storm at the time. A lot can change between now and then and both of these systems will need to be watched closely.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Our First Named Atlantic Storm?


This week in the eastern Atlantic, we’ve watched as the lead disturbance, formally TD#2, weakened while a new wave coming off the coast of Africa becomes better organized. This trend continues this morning. While the lead system still has a chance at organization, the one bringing up the rear seems to be one to watch.

In fact, the GFS model (only one of many to watch) continues to bring this into the Gulf as a vigorous hurricane by the weekend of the 22/23. Again, the devil is in the details and while the exactness of computer models cannot be trusted, it has been fairly consistent in maintaining this as a viable storm. Other models hold it together but curve in out over the Atlantic. This is the time of August favored for the development of waves coming off of the coast of Africa.

If this forms into a storm, the likely name would be the first on the list for 2009, "Ana". Next on the list is "Bob".

Ted Keller
Senior Meteorologist
KOLR/KSFX-TV
Storm chasing and more at:
Ceaseless Wind