April 14, 2019 #TriCitiesWx Update and Forecast

Great news! The storms are gone, and so are the watches and warnings! Some showers will stick around, but other than that, fog and rain continue tonight. Welcome to the Tri-Cities Weather Blog forecast through Friday!

Storms did cause a few problems, from scattered power outages to trees falling…and the latter causing the former in parts of Bristol, Virginia, according to reports. The worst of the weather is over, and things get better soon! Here’s the outlook:

• Tonight-Clouds and fog, with light rain at times. Low 43.
• Monday-A small chance of rain early, then becoming partly cloudy. High 55.
• Monday night-Partly cloudy and cooler. Low 35.
• Tuesday-Mostly sunny. High 75.
• Wednesday-Mostly sunny. High 77.
• Thursday-Partly cloudy, with a slight chance of showers and storms late. Highs near 80.
• Friday-Mostly cloudy with scattered showers and storms. Highs near 70.

Some lingering showers are hanging around behind as a cold front moves through overnight, but there’s not any more severe weather to be worried with tonight. Did you prepare anyway before the storms got here? Good! That means you’re ready for next time, so it’s not wasted effort!

There’s nothing weather wise to worry with for most of the week, as things clear out and dry out. Another system similar to the one that’s moving through tonight will start to change our weather late Thursday, and some severe weather might be possible then. So keep the preparedness tips from earlier in mind!

I’ll keep an eye on the possibilities for storms later this week between now and then, and I’ll have updates off and on before they get here, as always. Have a great week, everyone!

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April 14, 2019 #TriCitiesWx Severe Weather Update

Here’s an edited version of my severe weather safety information about tonight that I posted earlier today on my Twitter.

The first round of rain and storms is almost through our area as of 12:30 PM. Round 2 is developing in West Tennessee/Kentucky and will be here this evening.

This includes chances for hail, damaging winds, and maybe a tornado or two. Make sure you have something on your phone to let you know of warnings. Turn on WEA alerts or download an app that will blare out sounds when a warning is up for where you are.

For WEA alerts on your phone, for Apple products, go to Settings then Notifications. Scroll to the Government Alerts section and turn everything on. That will notify you of potential severe weather. There are apps that do that, like the paid weather radio by WDT app.

If you’re a gamer, get the Accuweather app. It’s free, set it up with your location and it will warn you while you’re playing #Fortnite or #rdr2 this evening…or whatever else you play. It will tell you everything from tornado warnings to freeze warnings.

Only if you’re outside should you listen for sirens. Most wont hear them inside anyway. If you have a weather radio, make sure the batteries are good. If you don’t have one, get one. Make sure you have two ways or more to get warnings.

If you’re living in a mobile home, you have to get out to survive if a tornado hits. Call someone with a sturdy home and ask if you can shelter with them and get there. It might be a good idea to just stay with them until the storms pass.

So what if nothing happens tonight? Great! It’s not preparing in vain because all these things will be ready for you for future events when something does happen. And sooner or later, it will.

What to do before tonight? Get loose items and cars inside if you can. Less stuff for wind to blow around. As for cars, it’s best to protect yours if you can. Hail damage is insured, but can cause problems down the line. Theres time to clear out a garage if need be!

Otherwise, just make sure you have a safety kit in your safe place (lowest floor of the building, away from outside walls and windows). Mark it as a safe place for future events. Get shoes and pillows and helmets to put in it and keep them there.

Once storms arrive, get to that safe place. Tornado warnings have time limits, so be sure to note that. Keep a radio nearby (I’ll be on 91.5, 96.3, 97.3, 100.7, 103.3, and 100.3 FM periodically) with updates and I will give all clear messages. I’m also on 870 AM, 1090 AM, and 1230 AM until sunset, then the FM stations will be better. Streaming options are on the right side of the blog.

One of all those FM frequencies listed above will cover our area. After an all clear or end of a warning, if your house is there, great! Now you know what to do every time there’s severe weather. Take pictures when it’s safe if you do have damage.

I will also give an all clear when severe weather is over. I’ll do that either here on my Twitter, on air if need be, here on the blog. I’ll post an update later this afternoon. I didn’t cover everything here, so go the Severe Weather Safety Rules page for more information. Even if storms don’t materialize, you will know what to do when they do. Be safe!

April 12, 2019 #TriCitiesWx Forecast

Only in the mountains did we see rain today, and some of us might not see rain tomorrow. But the big event comes up on Sunday afternoon, when severe thunderstorms are possible. Welcome to the Tri-Cities Weather Blog forecast for tonight through Tuesday!

We finished off today at 78 degrees, a fine day for most of us despite the clouds. Just to the east of the Tri-Cities in the mountains, a few storms did pop up today. We might have a little rain tomorrow, before strong to severe storms enter the forecast on Sunday. Here’s the outlook:

• Tonight-Cloudy, a few rain showers. Low 57.
• Saturday-Partly to mostly cloudy, a couple rain showers possible. High 77.
• Saturday night-Cloudy with a slight chance of rain. Low 58.
• Sunday-Increasing clouds, with showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening. High 75.
• Monday-Partly cloudy, maybe a stray shower early. High 59.
• Tuesday-Mostly sunny. High 73.

Today didn’t produce as much rain as expected, which is always a good thing. Off-and-on rain showers and storms are possible all the way through tomorrow night.

Low pressure develops in Texas and moves east and northeast tomorrow. It’s that system that could bring severe weather in east Texas and Louisiana tomorrow through our area late Sunday. As it looks right now, gusty to damaging winds are possible, with some hail as well.

The later it is Sunday before the storms arrive means the smaller of the chances of any of that, including possible isolated tornadoes. Any severe thunderstorm can produce a tornado real quick, so be aware of that even if you’re not under a tornado warning but a severe thunderstorm warning. Sometimes the “without warning” comments come when it’s “just” a severe thunderstorm warning that is posted for a storm that produces a tornado.

All of that said, it doesn’t look terribly likely that tornadoes will be a part of the severe weather trend for us on Sunday afternoon and evening. We have far better chances of seeing storms that produce hail and damaging winds. Either way, make sure your WEA alerts are enabled on your phone…and don’t turn them off! That is our modern day weather radio (and you can still get those!), and it follows us wherever we go if a severe weather polygon is painted over our particular point on the earth. No programming is needed!

Now. Having said all of that, things will be cooler on Monday, but things will clear out. Tuesday should be mostly sunny, and we’ll be back into the low 70’s by then.

Keep an eye to the sky this weekend, especially on Sunday! If tornado warnings are issued, you can find me on-air on 96.3 FM, 97.3 FM, 91.5 FM, 100.7 and 100.3 FM near Kingsport, along with AM 870, 1090, and 1230. Streaming options are posted on the left side of the page, as is my twitter and all of that. I’ll keep an eye on things all weekend long. Stay safe!

April 11, 2019 #TriCitiesWx Forecast

We’ve enjoyed a very warm Thursday! Weather will stay warm through the weekend, with off-and-on shots of showers and storms between now and Sunday night. Welcome to the Tri-Cities Weather Blog forecast for tonight through Monday!

Starting tomorrow afternoon, we’ll see a few storm systems moving toward and through our area. That will enhance chances of rain and thunderstorms, but the best chance of damaging weather looks to be on Sunday. Even then, storms will hit some and miss some. Here’s a quick look at things:

• Tonight-Cloudy, with windy conditions in the mountains. Low 58.
• Friday-Partly to mostly cloudy, with some scattered afternoon showers and storms possible. High 79.
• Friday night-Cloudy with a few scattered showers. Low 56.
• Saturday-Partly cloudy, a few scattered showers and storms. High 75.
• Sunday-Partly to mostly cloudy, with afternoon showers and storms that could be strong to severe. High 75.
• Monday-Cloudy, with morning rain showers. Cooler, with highs near 60.

A High Wind Warning is up for the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina, as winds could gust up to 60 mph in that area until 10 tomorrow morning. If you have anything outside that might blow away or get tipped over in winds like that, you might want to bring them inside.

Despite what it looks like up there in the outlook, a lot of folks might not see any rain at all tomorrow. There will be a line of showers and storms headed our way, but they might die out before they get here. So clouds will increase and rain with possible thunder might happen in spots through Friday night.

Saturday looks similar, but id does appear that what storms do get here will definitely bring rain. So, smaller rain chances, but more storms may actually get here.

All the severe weather indices start to perk up for our area on Sunday as another cold front comes our way. That’s when severe weather might be a possibility. As of now, it looks like damaging winds and some hail are the most likely severe weather threats on Sunday afternoon.

So, keep an eye out for the weather when you’re out, because it will feel nice enough to be outside before the storms start. Once they do, make sure you get inside and stay connected to what’s going on weather wise, just in case any warnings are issued for our area. Go ahead and check out the Severe Weather Safety Rules page, so you’ll know where to go and what to do when those warnings come up.

I’ll be watching the storms as they roll in not only Sunday, but all weekend long. Keep an eye here or on my Twitter (look for that on the right side of the blog), and I’ll update everything as things happen.

Have a wonderful Friday!

April 8, 2019 #TriCitiesWx Forecast

We had a lot of rain to start the week, but the middle of it looks just the opposite, with warm temperatures! Welcome to the Tri-Cities Weather Blog forecast through Friday!

There was a bit of heavy rain at times today, and that could happen from time to time through tomorrow morning. But starting tomorrow afternoon, rain should start to taper off, with sunshine returning for the middle of the week. Here’s the outlook:

• Tonight-Cloudy with scattered showers. Low 58.
• Tuesday-Partly to mostly cloudy, with some scattered showers. High 73.
• Tuesday night-Partly cloudy, low 44.
• Wednesday-Mostly sunny, high 75.
• Thursday-Partly cloudy, high 78.
• Friday-Cloudy with scattered showers and storms possible. High 72.

A cold front that’s bringing us the rain this evening will drift out of here by tomorrow. High pressure comes in behind that, and will eventually push the rain out of here by the end of tomorrow.

We’ll clear out Tuesday night, and have a sunny day on Wednesday. Clouds will increase on Thursday, but we should stay dry. Another cold front brings rain chances back up for Thursday night into Friday.

I’ll have a look at the weekend’s weather on the next blog between now and Wednesday. Have a good one!