One Isolated Storm

TONIGHT FOX 4 WILL BE ANNOUNCING A SPECIAL WEATHERING THE STORM SEMINAR THAT WILL TAKE PLACE @ UNION STATION. THIS SEMINAR WILL FEATURE SPEAKERS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY TALKING ABOUT THE TORNADO SEASON OF 2011. THERE WILL ALSO BE A CLASS TEACHING OUR VIEWERS HOW TO SPOT AND REPORT SEVERE WEATHER. WE ALSO ARE HOPING THAT REED TIMMER FROM THE DISCOVERY SHOW STORMCHASERS WILL BE THERE SHOWING HIS WORK SO FAR THIS SEASON INCLUDING THE HISTORIC SOUTHEAST TORNADO OUTBREAK. SPEAKERS MAY ALSO INCLUDE AN INSURANCE ADVISER AND A CHILD PSYCHOLOGIST TO ASSIST FAMILIES THAT HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT STORM RELATED ISSUES. DETAILS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON THE NEWS STARTING TONIGHT AND FOR THE NEXT 2 WEEKS.

THIS SEMINAR WILL BE HELD ON SATURDAY JUNE 18TH @ 9AM AND LAST TILL ABOUT NOON. IT WILL BE HELD @ THE UNION STATION IMAX THEATER. THE SEMINAR IS FREE FOR OUR VIEWERS AND WE'RE ASKING FOR A $5 DONATION THAT WILL GO TO STORM AID, WHICH IS OUR CONDUIT TO THE RED CROSS AND ASSISTING THE FOLKS IN JOPLIN RECOVER FROM THE STORM.

AGAIN ADDITIONAL DETAILS WILL BE FORTHCOMING...BUT PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDAR.


All is quiet around the area this afternoon as the heat and humidity continue to build through the middle part of the country. While lots of clouds have filtered the sunshine today keeping temperatures in the 80s, humidity levels have increased enough that it's not too pleasant out there. Dewpoints are tipping into the 70s and heat indicies are 90-95. Numbers that will go up over the next few days. The clouds were created by t/storm complexes last night that basically dissolved on top of us earlier this AM. The resultant clouds were slow to thin, which is not unusual for these situations so temperatures were held into the 80s. Tomorrow we won't have the benefit all the clouds and temperatures aloft and here on the ground will respond with highs surging into the lower 90s with heat indices near 100!

The weather story for the foreseeable future will be the heat and humidity. As I expected last weekend, it would take about 5 days for the 90s to get here. Tomorrow looks to be day 1 and once we hit it, we should stay in the 86-93 range for quite some time as a ridge aloft builds through the middle part of the country. IF this was July and the grass had gone dormant and the vegetation wasn't as lush, we'd be talking about highs near 100. Certainly from an upper level standpoint, even from observing the the temperatures @ about 5000 feet, we'd get there. However given the vegetation as well as the moisture content of the air, a few degrees either side of 90 should do it.

Take a look at the GFS forecast for the next several days...these represent temperatures at 5000 feet or so.

The time period is from late Saturday through early Monday. That is some pretty toasty stuff at that level

There may be some areas that can max out near 95 out of that temperature profile especially if the winds stir up the atmosphere enough.

Rain chances are more fleeting but can't totally be ruled out. There will be some sort of boundary lurking across the IA/MO border area over the weekend. We'll be somewhat capped but not overly so. That boundary should light up with storms. Then the issue is whether or not any outflow boundary can push far enough southwards. These things are near impossible to figure out from this far away but something that can't be totally ruled out.

One thing for sure the first 10-15 days of the month look to be well above average for the month of June.

Joe