Wednesday Weather Briefing

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Click images to enlarge.PERSEID METEOR SHOWER: Shower reaches it's peak tonight and our weather will be pretty good for viewing. Not 100% clear but not much more than some thin high clouds. Simulated satellite at 2am:hires_btop_cleveland_25See THIS POST for all you need to know!TODAY'S WEATHER: A taste of September today with low humidity and a breeze. Highs in lower and mid 70s. The most consistantly sunny part of the day will be late-afternoon and evening.highsUpper trough will lift out tonight, leading to a mainly clear and comfy night tonight.500THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Warming back up quickly (mid 80s by Friday). Sunny and dry Thursday but there might be a late-day shower or storm on Friday.WEEKEND: Front will stall over the Valley Saturday and while the day will not be a washout, a shower or thunderstorm could occur at any point. Will be warm and humid with highs in the 80s.Sunday will be the nice half of the weekend but get ready for some heat! Flirting with 90 Sunday and early next week.Lots of very warm weather coming over the next couple of weeks:KYNG_2015081200_min_max_16

BLOG: Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks This Week

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The Perseid meteor shower actually began back on July 13th but it is at it's peak this week, specifically Wednesday night. A meteor shower occurs when the Earth travels through the debris trail of a comet, The comet associated with the Perseids is Comet Swift-Tuttle.(Click images to enlarge)w704WHERE DO I LOOK? The "radiant", or where the meteors originate, is the constellation Perseus, in the northeast sky. If you are a photographer, often the best shots can be gotten by setting up your shots just left or right of the radiant. Although the radiant is in the northeast sky, you can see meteors anywhere in the sky.metshowerWHEN?Perseus rises around midnight and gets higher in the sky throughout the night so, the later the better...say 3-5:30am. I know, those are not the best hours to be awake and functioning!WHY THIS ONE IS GREATThis is one of the two best showers of any year (the other is in December) and this year's Perseids are even better because the Moon is almost new so the sky is especially dark. In the darkest spots in the countryside you may see as many as 100 per hour.KNOWLEDGE YOU CAN USE TO IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS AND MEET GUYS/GIRLS AT PARTIES: The difference between meteors, meteorite and meteoroids:Meteor: The actual flash of light you see as the debris burning up as it descends through  the Earth's atmosphere.Meteoroid: The debris itself, which can be as small as a grain of salt or as large as a boulder.Meteorite: Any part of the meteoroid that survives the inferno of the trip through the atmosphere and lands on the planet's surface.A nice video from NASA:NASA VIDEOThanks for reading,Eric

Tuesday Weather Briefing: A Taste of Fall Then a Warm Up

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Good morning all,Last night's storms are history but they dropped 1-2" or so of rain in parts of Mercer and Trumbull counties. South of 224, people are saying "WHAT RAIN??" as most areas had little or no rain. A shame given how brown everyone's yards are. THis morning, we have muggy conditions and some intervals of sunshine:nowHighs will be in the mid 70s today. A sprinkle or 5 minute shower cannot be ruled out but it's like a 20% chance kind of thing.TASTE OF FALL:Wednesday will feel like late September with clouds, sunny breaks and a cool breeze. Highs only 72-75. There once again could be a passing sprinkle or shower. The air will be drier as well as the lower dewpoints over the Upper Midwest now head our way:dewTHURSDAY/FRIDAY:A couple of nice days coming at the end of the week. Sunshine and temperatures getting back to where we expect them to be in mid August.FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY MORNING:A dying cold front will sputter through Ohio and PA and could bring a scattering of showers and storms. Hopeful that these are gone by Saturday afternoon and the rest of the weekend should be dry, warm and pleasant.LONG RANGE:Warmer air is on the way with upper 80s possible Sunday into early next week. Turning more humid as well. Summer is a long way from over.KYNG_2015081100_min_max_16PERSEID METEOR SHOWER:Will do a separate Blog post on this tonight or tomorrow but clouds will probably inhibit our view tonight. Much better viewing Wednesday night with a mostly clear sky which is great because that's when the shower peaks. Nearly new moon means it will be good and dark. Can see 5-100 meteors per hour if you are in a dark enough spot.

BLOG: A Breakdown of Severe Weather Statistics For Our Region

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I love stats, charts, graphs, etc. So, when I stumbled across a treasure trove of facts and figures regarding severe weather for our area, I just had to share. We are in the middle of a pretty dull weather pattern so it helps pass the time :)1) Tornado Warnings  Although we have had a couple of tornadoes in our viewing area over the last 2 years, they were NOT accompanied by Tornado Warnings  (See: This Post and This One Too)These maps show the year in which the last Tornado Warnings were issued for each county. The first is for the counties the Cleveland NWS covers and the second is for the Pittsburgh NWS area.lasttorcle lasttorpbzInteresting that there has not been a Tornado Warning issued for Mahoning County since 2012.2) Tornado Warnings By Month No big surprises here; tornadoes are most likely in the Spring and Summer.cletorbymonth pbztorbymonthNotice the small "secondary" peak that can occur in the fall, often in November. Strong cold fronts can run into the fading warmth of Autumn and lead to a spike in severe weather during some Novembers.3) Tornado Warning By Time of DayAgain no big surprises here, severe weather and tornadoes are most likely in the late afternoon and early evening,cletortimes pbztortimes4) Severe Weather By Year Some years are busier for severe weather than others. These graphs show the frequency of severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings over the last 13 years.clewarngraph pbzwarnchart5) Severe Weather This Year These maps show the number of Severe Thunderstorm Warnings issued per county so far in 2015. In our viewing area, the Cleveland NWS covers Mahoning and Trumbull counties. The Pittsburgh NWS covers Columbiana, Lawrence and Mercer counties. So far this year, the Pittsburgh NWS has issued many more Severe Thunderstorm Warnings than Cleveland.ohio paWhy is this? The counties Pittsburgh covers have probably had more severe weather, yes....but it is also possible that forecasters at that office are more prone to pull the trigger on warnings than those in Cleveland.Thanks for reading,Eric