Memorial Day Weekend Weather

The holiday weekend is finally here!  As we honor those who have fought for our country temperatures will soar this weekend!  Sunday looks especially hot!

HOT HOT HOT!

Plenty of hot and humid weather's coming up in the QCA!  Starting Thursday 3 of the next 4 days will see temps very close to 90°!  The hottest days look to be Thursday, Saturday and Sunday!

Tropical Depresion Alberto in May?

Yes this post is correct, there is a tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean in the month of May!  Tropical Depression Alberto formed late Saturday just off of the coast of South Carolina.  It tracked southwest towards Florida until it made a U-turn, Monday afternoon, just east of the Georgia/Florida border.  Alberto is now heading in a northeasterly direction at 13 kts with the highest and latest sustained wind speed at 30 kts with gusts up to 40 kts.  The tropical depression is expected to dissipate within the next 48 hours as it moves towards cooler water and strong vertical wind shear is present.  While May is globally the month with the smallest probability for tropical storm development, it comes right before the official start of hurricane season in the Atlantic ocean.  June 1st kicks off the start of hurricane season and it lasts through November 30th. 

Up, Up and Away!

Temperatures are nice on Monday but Tuesday marks the start of another impressive May warm-up!  Tuesday we'll be near 80° by Thursday we're near 90° and we should hit 90° once or twice this holiday weekend! 

Risk for Severe Storms Sunday Evening...

Areas East of the Mississippi River are under a slight risk for severe storms today.  The main threats if storms do become severe will be hail and strong winds.  We'll keep you posted if any watches or warnings are posted online and tonight on CBS4 News @ 5 and on Ten @ 10!

Solar Eclipse

A partial solar eclipse will take place Sunday evening between 7:20 and 8:20 pm.  A partial solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the sun and the earth and it partially blocks the sun's rays from hitting the earth's surface. 
Unfortunately, folks in the Quad Cities may have a hard time seeing it because tomorrow's forecast is for mostly cloudy skies with a chance for scattered showers and storms.

The 5th Warmest April on Record

NOAA has reported that, on the global scale, April 2012 was the 5th warmest since records began in 1881.  Land temperatures ranked as the 2nd warmest, while the oceans came in as 11th warmest.  Overall the Earths' temperature was 1.17°F above the 20th century average.  April 2012 was the 36th consecutive April with warmer than average temperatures and the 326th consecutive month with above average global temperatures.

A cause for the warm up can be linked to the end of La Nina.  Sea surface temperatures (SST's) in the tropical Pacific began to warm during the month of April, transitioning La Nina into a neutral phase.  Prior to April La Nina and a positive phase of the Arctic Oscillation helped the Arctic ice develop, due to the cooler SST's.  The Arctic ice however, held its own during the warm April.  Even though the ice was still 1.8% below the long-term average, but it was the highest amount of ice since 2001. 

Svr Weather Threat Diminishing

There is still a very low chance for svr t-storms in the Quad Cities this evening, but that chance now stands at about 5%!  A cold front is dropping through the area and that will cause a few showers but with very low humidity in place one of the critical ingredients for svr weather is lacking!  Sunshine returns Wednesday along with lower temperatures! 

High Resolution Photo of Earth in One Shot

The Russian Weather Satellite Electro-L has taken the highest resolution images of the Earth.  The satellite orbits the equator at an altitude of just over 22,000 miles.  The planet has its picture taken every 30 minutes with a resolution of up to 121 Megapixels.  The impressive part of this is that the satellite can capture the entire Earth in one picture and also do it in a high resolution. 

NASA uses a combination of many pictures to show the Earth in its entirety.  NASA officials say that their images are not any better or worse than the Russian images, they just show different things.  The satellite uses four different wavelengths of light to capture these awesome shots.  The video above shows the high resolution of the satellites images. 

T-Storm Chances Tuesday Evening

After some great weather Sunday and Monday our Tuesday morning looks fine!  However, a cold front approaches the region Tuesday evening and there will be just enough instability in place that there is a slight risk for svr t-storms.  The best chance will be just Northeast of the Quad Cities...more details as we get a bit closer to our storm chance!