And the Heat Goes On

The heat and humidity are back. An excessive heat warning has been issued for Hamilton county in Ohio through the end of the week and a heat advisory has been issued for Franklin county in Indiana and points south. Heat index values are forecast to be in the 100-105 degree range. As a result of the heat, Cincinnati Public Schools have canceled classes for Thursday and possibly Friday if the forecast holds true. Several other area schools are dismissing students early in an attempt to avoid the warmest part of the day. Lack of air-conditioned classrooms is the cause of concern.

Past 46-Hours of Rainfall

The past 46 hours have seen a lot of rain to our north. Here in Franklin county though, not much. Click the image for a larger view.

Flood Watch

The combination of a stationary front and the remnants of tropical storm Erin moving in from the plains states has prompted a flood watch for the area. However, most of the heavy rain has been north of I-70 so far. Forecasters are saying that more rain will develop overnight, but I'm not convinced that it will develop. Two to four inches of rain were forecast for this afternoon and evening, but so far only 0.50" has fallen. Even less has fallen south of here.

Ice Chunks Fall from Sky in Iowa

Here is a very interesting article I recently found in the Shelbyville News, Shelbyville, Indiana. It describes large chunks of ice falling from the sky over Dubuque, Iowa. Click the article for a larger view.

The Shelbyville News, July 27, 2007

The End is In Site

Today's high was 90 with a maximum heat index of 94. Dew points this afternoon were running in the mid and upper 60's which was much better than the mid 70's we've been seeing over the past week. It was still hot though. Temperatures around the area were in the low 90's with Louisville the exception at 96. Louisville is *always* warmer than we are though. The forecast is calling for cooler weather (actually just normal temps) by the end of next week. We'll see if it develops.


Here's an interesting picture from Cleveland, Ohio. The area was hit by some strong storms and this awesome photo is proof. This is something you'd normally see in Kansas, not Ohio.

F2 Tornado Hits Brooklyn, New York

From the NWS in New York, New York...

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENTSPOTTER REPORTSNATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE UPTON NY705 PM EDT WED AUG 8 2007...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS CONFIRM EF-2 TORNADO INNEW YORK CITY TODAY...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS ALONG WITH NEW YORK CITYEMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS HAVE CONFIRMED THAT A TORNADO SKIPPEDALONG AN APPROXIMATE 9 MILE LONG PATH FROM STATEN ISLAND TO BROOKLYNEARLY THIS MORNING.THE TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN IN STATEN ISLAND AT APPROXIMATELY6:22 AM IN THE VICINITY OF ST. AUSTINS PLACE IN THE LIVINGSTON -RANDALL MANOR AREA. THE TORNADO MOVED EAST...WITH ADDITIONAL DAMAGEOCCURRING IN THE TOMPKINSVILLE AREA. MOST OF THE DAMAGE IN STATENISLAND WAS TO TREES...AND ESTIMATED TO BE EF-1...WITH WINDS OF 86 TO100 MPH.THE TORNADO HEADED EAST ACROSS THE VERRAZANO NARROWS...AND TOUCHEDDOWN AGAIN IN BROOKLYN AT BAY RIDGE. THIS OCCURRED SOMETIME JUSTAFTER 6:30 AM ON BAY RIDGE AVENUE BETWEEN THIRD AND FOURTHAVENUES...AND CONTINUED ON AN EAST-NORTHEAST PATH ACROSS 68TH STREETBETWEEN THIRD AND FOURTH AVENUES. ELEVEN HOMES IN THIS SECTION HADMODERATE TO SEVERE ROOF DAMAGE. THE STORM CONTINUED TO MOVEEAST-NORTHEAST INTO LEIF ERICSON PARK SQUARE...WHERE SEVERE DAMAGETO TREES OCCURRED. AS THE TORNADO LIFTED...IT TORE OFF THE ROOF OFTHE NISSAN CAR DEALERSHIP AT THE CORNER OF 66TH STREET AND FIFTHAVENUE. THE TORNADO RETURNED TO THE GROUND FARTHER NORTHEAST...WITHSCATTERED TREE DAMAGE ALONG 6TH AVENUE. BASED ON THE ASSESSEDDAMAGE...THIS TORNADIC DAMAGE IS CLASSIFIED AS EF-2 WITH ESTIMATEDWIND SPEEDS OF 111 TO 135 MPH.THE TORNADO RETURNED TO THE GROUND AS ANOTHER POCKET OF SIGNIFICANTDAMAGE OCCURRED ON 58TH STREET BETWEEN FIFTH AND SIXTH AVENUES. THEROOF WAS RIPPED OFF OF 5 HOMES...AND TREE DAMAGE INDICATES STRONGEF-1 DAMAGE.THE TORNADO THEN HEADED EAST...AND TOUCHED DOWN AGAIN IN THEFLATBUSH VICINITY AT APPROXIMATELY 6:40 AM. NUMEROUSTREES...APPROXIMATELY 30...WERE UPROOTED ALONG OCEAN AVENUE BETWEENBEVERLEY ROAD AND CHURCH AVENUE. THE DAMAGE ALSO EXTENDED TO THEWEST TO ARGYLE ROAD.THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAD ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING FORPORTIONS OF STATEN ISLAND AND BROOKLYN AT 6:28 AM. A SECOND TORNADOWARNING WAS ISSUED AT 6:50 AM FOR SECTIONS OFBROOKLYN...QUEENS...AND NASSAU COUNTY.

No record here, but elsewhere...

Today's high of 95 was the highest temperature I've recorded since I began using my Davis Instruments weather station in 2003. Prior to this, I recorded a high of 102 on July 30, 1999 and 101 on July 27, 1997. I have no records previous to 1997. Nonetheless, today was hot! The heat index topped out at 109 today with a max dewpoint of 75. It was really unbearable outdoors.

Elsewhere, Louisville, Kentucky tied their record high for the day of 102. I see that Hamilton, Ohio hit 101 while Cincinnati hit 100. I don't know if these were records or not, but hot anyway. Indianapolis hit 95 today. The heat index for all of these cities was easily in the 100-110 category. I know that the maximum heat index hit 109 in Louisville today by reading John Belski's blog on wave3.com.

By 5pm, a storm had developed as a result of an outflow boundary coming from a storm over New Castle. The storm dropped 0.79" of rain in about 90 minutes. The wind wasn't very strong with this storm. The maximum gust was 18mph from the North.

Perseid meteor shower peaks Aug 12-13

From the NWS in Cheyenne, Wyoming...

The annual Perseid meteor shower will reach it’s peak late in the evening Aug 12 into the early morning of August 13th. This years shower is forecast to be very good as the Moon will be in its new phase and thus will not adversely affect viewing. Skywatchers in areas of clear skies and away from city lights could see upwards of 100 meteors per hour. The Earth is now entering the outer fringes of the debris trail responsible for the meteor shower. Currently only a few Perseid meteors per hour are occurring, but this rate will increase to it’s expected peak Sunday night. The Perseid meteor shower is so named because the meteors will seem to emanate from the constellation Perseus. To see the show, simply find a comfortable spot facing the northeastern sky, away from any lights. Just scan the sky during the aforementioned time period. Do not use binoculars or a telescope as they will limit your field of vision too severely, and the meteors will move much too fast to follow with these instruments. Naked eye viewing is best.

Excessive Heat Warning

An excessive heat warning has been issued for Franklin county this evening and will continue until 6am Friday.

Today's high was 93 with a heat index of 102. Not nearly as warm as I was expecting. There just seems to be too much moisture in the air as the dew point topped out at 76 this afternoon.

The orange areas are under a heat advisory, the purple areas are under an excessive heat warning.

From the NWS in Wilmington, Ohio...

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EDTFRIDAY...HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL CLIMB INTO THE MID TO UPPER 90S WEDNESDAYAND THURSDAY. THIS WILL COMBINE WITH HIGH HUMIDITIES TO PRODUCEHEAT INDICES IN THE 105 TO 110 DEGREE RANGE BOTH AFTERNOONS.AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN HIGH HUMIDITIES AREEXPECTED TO COMBINE WITH HOT TEMPERATURES TO MAKE IT FEEL LIKE ITIS 105 DEGREES OR GREATER. PERSONS IN THE WARNING AREA AREADVISED TO AVOID PROLONGED WORK IN SUN...OR IN POORLY VENTILATEDAREAS. ALSO...KEEP PLENTY OF LIQUIDS ON HAND AND TRY TO STAY INAN AIR CONDITIONED ENVIRONMENT. CHILDREN...THE ELDERLY AND PEOPLEWITH CHRONIC AILMENTS ARE USUALLY THE FIRST TO SUFFER FROM THEHEAT. HEAT EXHAUSTION...CRAMPS...OR IN EXTREME CASES HEAT STROKECAN RESULT FROM PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO THESE CONDITIONS. FRIENDS... RELATIVES...OR NEIGHBORS SHOULD CHECK ON PEOPLE WHO MAY BE ATRISK.

The Heat is On

The NWS in Indianapolis has issued a Heat Advisory through Wednesday evening for the entire forecast area. Already today, the temperature is up to 87 degrees at noon with a heat index of 95. Hopefully we'll hit 95 today with a heat index of at least 107. The purple areas of the map indicate an Excessive Heat Warning. I imagine these areas were placed under the warning because they are heavily populated with a lot of concrete and automobiles which creates the "heat island" effect.

Heat and Humidity Returns with a Vengeance

The heat and humidity has returned and is proving to be the most intense heat of the summer. The last several days have seen high temperatures in the low 90's, but the humidity was very high today giving a heat index of 104 locally. Tomorrow through Thursday should prove to be even hotter. A quarter inch of rain fell mid morning today and the clouds seemed to hang in for a large portion of the day. By 5pm, the clouds were thick from a line of storms to the north along a warm front. As a result, the temperature only hit 91.4 today. Hopefully, it will be warmer tomorrow.

An heat advisory has been posted for the Wilmington and Louisville NWS forecast areas through Wednesday. Indianapolis NWS has not posted a heat advisory, but have made a special weather statement indicating that heat indices will be in the 100-108 category over the next several days.

July 2007 Summary

July 2007 ended up being below normal across the board. Both the average high and low temperatures were below normal as well as the amount of precipitation that fell. The temperature did not rise above 89.5 degrees the entire month. The average high temperature was 82.6 which is 1.7 degrees below normal. The average low temperature for the month was 60.7 which is 2.5 degrees below normal. Average rainfall for the month is 4.37", but we were 0.77" below that with only 3.60" of rain falling during the month.

Overall, the month was quite mild. After the extremely dry weather of June and warm temperatures, July was somewhat pleasant.