Tornado outbreak in... January????

I knew when I saw this yesterday afternoon that it was going to be an eventful day. I was talking with Mike and Matt on Dick and Darin's online chat, and we were watching as the storm intensified right before our very eyes. I watched as Dick and Darin got set in position, until I had to run to an appointment, and I couldn't even arm chair chase. I am sure that with as many tornadoes as there were that broke out in Missouri, Wisconsin, Arkansas and Illinois yesterday (37 reports thus far, and sadly two reported fatalities), that those guys encountered something. They were in it. They weren't too far from the one above actually. A tornado outbreak... in January...??? I thought this was SDS season. Anyways, I was watching TWC this morning, as they were showing the storm damage, and while I was watching, they flashed a picture that one of the "Weather Warriors" sent in. It was a picture of some of the hail that fell yesterday in the severe weather outbreak compared to a can of Mountain Dew. Dew sized hail!!! I love it! I know Mike (not Meso Mike, Alabama Mike, Tennessee Mike, Nebraska Mike, Oklahoma Mike, or Storm Chasing Mikey.., this was Texas Mike) was getting readings of up to 4.13" hail potential off his GR2ae. Now, it looks like round two has begun:

835 AM CST TUE JAN 8 2008

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

MUCH OF EASTERN AND SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
PARTS OF WESTERN KENTUCKY
PARTS OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
PARTS OF NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI
PARTS OF WESTERN TENNESSEE

Just a little further east, and it looks like Tennessee and Alabama Mikes would be contending with this one. Locally, we've got nothing, except some more of that exceptionally dense fog (not as dense as yesterday, but still pretty thick). That makes three days in a row now, that the fog was so dense and low that it left the concrete damp. It almost looked like it had rained... but no such luck. I even caught the fog drops... eh, let's call them dewdrops ;-) ... dangling from the branches of my little tree. I love the way the sun spotlights my anemometer. A true weather geek lives here is what that picture tells me.Well, tonight is the big night... the "Twister Sisters" show on WEtv, will be Dew-ified. I have a couple of members of the chase team stopping by for the big show, and I am certain that I will be teased heartily regardless... I am ready. I will be offering a full review of the show tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Have a lovely day!
~Dewdrop

The sun'll come out... on Saturday...?

Well, we needed rain, and rain is exactly what we got. I forgot to check my rain gauge before leaving the house, but we got some good steady rain in to the night, last night. The sound was like music to my ears. Although, the parts of Invest 90L that made it up north were firing some lightning, the stuff that made it up this way was not offering any CG... are we suprised? (I think not...) Anyway, the rain was nice and much needed, so I am not complaining. Still more to come, as the day progresses, but looking at trends, it looks like Carolina Mike will miss most of the nasty drizzle that no one wants to drive in... He safely made it into Georgia, and will soon continue on his way down to this area. I really hope we get a chasetunity! We are now looking at POPS at 50%, through the rest of the work week, which looks decent to me. Nothing severe is forecasted, but some CG shooting would be mighty nice. It is still highly dependent upon what 90L does over the course of the next couple of days, but it looks like it should all taper off Friday, as drier air enters the game.

Invest 90L has got a strongly convected upper low, which is moving away from the surface low, which has very little convection associated with it. I suspect that the upper low will move on, and the naked surface low will have its chance to shine, most likely at that point as a subtropical storm. Given those warm Gulf water s though, I am sure it will have no problem building the convection and the dignified honor of the tropical storm status. Most likely, Noel coming right up. It's far from impressive, but it has potential. Aside from the upcoming Noel, models are still building a system off the east coast of FL and bringing it into the Southwestern Gulf. Currently over the Bahamas, there are some impressive clusters of showers (now Invest 92L), which could develop into something substantial, proving the models correct. After that though, there are different theories regarding what will happen with it. If that ridge in the Gulf breaks down some, it could head this way; otherwise, it will most likely sail across the GOM and slam into Texas or something. This stuff is close to home, so interests all around the Gulf of Mexico should be keeping up with what is going on. We have seen how quickly nothing storms have developed into hurricanes with the blink of an eye. That is not a far fetched outcome with these GOM storms.

That's it for me. I will update with any changes, cause I'm cool like that!
Toodles,
~Dewdrop