I am going back on TV

Updated Friday evening...... I wanted to let you know that I am going back on TV.

Starting next week I will be filling in from time to time on the weather reports on WLKY and assisting Jay, Matt, Jared and Susanne during severe weather.

Also, Belski's Blog will be on the wlky.com site.  On this blog there were occasional posts. On the new blog I will have more entries and they will be more detailed. Are you ready for winter..... :)

Thanks for reading this blog. We had a large number of readers despite the fact that there was no advertising about it.  WATCH FOR THE NEW BLOG starting Monday on wlky.com

For more details.....click  HERE

Air pollution woes continue for Clark and Floyd counties

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has announced that 5 central Indiana counties are now meeting federal standards for particulates in the air.  This includes Indianapolis (Marion County).  This is the first time since 2004 the counties of Hamilton, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion and Morgan have passed the test.

This leaves only CLARK.... FLOYD.... and a part of JEFFERSON COUNTY (Madison area) as the only part of Indiana not to meet federal standards.

Part of this is weather related. Clark and Floyd counties get a lot of pollution coming in from Louisville and southern Indiana around Louisville has the lightest winds on average in the whole state so the particulates at times will just sit there. The last 3 summers have had stagnant weather conditions. It has not been as bad this summer so maybe there will be better news coming out next time.

For more details..... click  HERE

Hottest day of the year yesterday

Yesterday's high of 95 in Louisville was the hottest so far this year.
Last year there were 23 days hotter than 95 degrees.

A heat wave is officially classified as at least 3 days in a row in the 90's.
Today is the 5th day in a row in the 90's..... the longest heat wave of the year.
Last year's longest heat wave was 12 days.... the second longest was 9 days and the third longest was 6 days.
2 years ago the longest heat wave was 20 days and 3 years ago the longest heat wave was 16 days.

By the way, last evening, a thundershower moved through portions of the metro area.
Places that had rain saw their dew points rise to around 80 degrees with rain free areas in the lower 70's.

Early afternoon dew points in Kentucky range from 70 at Covington to 77 at Hopkinsville.
In Indiana, dew points range from 68 at Anderson to 75 at Fort Wayne.

The current highest dew point on earth is 90 in Saudi Arabia.

Antarctica weather update

Tuesday's high temperature at Vostok, Antarctica was -102 degrees.  The low was -105.
For Wednesday, the temperature made it up to -99 and is forecast to warm to -83 by Monday.

The lowest temperature ever on earth was -128.6 degrees at Vostok on July 21, 1983.

Miami is cool

The high temp in Miami today was 78.  The coolest high temperature ever recorded during July in Miami was 77.

On Monday in Texas,  Abilene (68), Waco (75) and San Angelo (71) all had their lowest high temperature ever recorded in July.

Pittsburgh lightning strike

The temperature hit 90 degrees in Pittsburgh today before storms rolled into the area.

MLB All-Star Game weather

Tonight is baseball's All-Star game in New York.

The temperature at 5:00 PM was 93 with a dew point of 62. So at least it is not too humid.
Temperatures will be in the 80's for the game this evening with no rain expected.

1966 All Star game in St. Louis

The hottest All-Star game ever was played in St. Louis.  This was back in the days when the game was played during the afternoon and not in prime time.
The temperature at the start of the game was 105 and rose to 107 during the game.
There were rolling blackouts in St. Louis with many areas outside of the stadium area losing power that afternoon.
Hundreds of spectators at the game were treated for heat issues.
The game ended up going long..... 10 innings.

Reds fans..... see if any of these names sound familiar.
Reds players in the 1966 All-Star game:
Leo Cardenas-shortstop
Billy McCool-pitcher

British Open weather

The British Open, the third of golf's major championships this year, starts on Thursday and continues through Sunday. No matter what course is played, the weather can be a major factor with hour to hour changes. In many years the winds are blowing at a steady 20 to 30 mph. This year, the weather looks much quieter.

This year The Open will be played at the Muirfield Golf Club in Scotland.

Here is the latest forecast:

Thursday:
Mostly sunny with winds of 10 mph or less. High in the mid 70's.

Friday:
Cloudy periods with a chance for rain in the morning. Winds under 10 mph.  High in the upper 60's to near 70

Saturday:
Fog and drizzle through mid-day. Chance for afternoon showers. Winds 10-20 mph. High in the mid to upper 60's.

No Sunday forecast out yet from the Met Office. (They only do a 5 day)

Read about the worst weather ever at The Open...... click  HERE

Florida Gulf Coast shark sighting

This shark was spotted along the Gulf Coast at Seagrove Beach, Florida which is between Destin and Panama City Beach.
The hammerhead shark likes warm water and coastal areas.

It's not Sharknado but it would be enough to keep me out of the water.

No 90 degrees for Indianapolis so far this year

Yesterday Indianapolis reached 89 degrees for a high and as of 4:45 today they are at 88.
There has not been a 90 degree day so far this year at Indianapolis.
Last year through July 15, Indy had 30 days in the 90's and 7 days of 100 degrees or higher.

The Indy forecast is for lower 90's for the next 4 days.

In the 5 state region of Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, here are the cities that have not reached 90 degrees this year.

INDIANAPOLIS
BLOOMINGTON, IN
SOUTH BEND, IN
YOUNGSTOWN, OH

Texas drought easing

Texas has had ongoing drought problems for several years. The latest drought index shows 12% of the state with an exceptional drought and 35% of Texas in a severe drought or worse. That is about to change with welcome rains falling.

Flood WATCH

A Flood WATCH has been issued for almost half of Texas.

A slow moving low pressure drifting westward is producing some fairly widespread rains. This rain extends up into Kansas.  Last year the plains baked under extreme temperatures and drought. It is not quite as bad this year do to more substantial precipitation amounts over the winter in many areas of the plains.

Last year, the heat would develop over the plains and build into the Ohio Valley with upper 90's and 100's at times.  This year, the heat is not as intense so anything that develops from the plains into the Ohio Valley will not be as bad as last year.

Quietest tornado year in a long time

The current number of preliminary tornado reports show this year has a lower number of tornadoes than the last 8 years.
The number of tornado reports this year is 654. This number is from the local storm reports. The actual number of tornadoes is less as many times one tornado may have several local storm reports.

In 2008, there were more than 1700 reports by this time of the year or almost 3 times the tornadoes as this year.

Also, notice that during the last 8 years, there were no large outbreaks during October or November with the exception of 2005, as the fall severe weather seasons were relatively quiet.

2005 was the year Evansville was hit by a tornado in November that killed 25 people.  The strongest tornadoes that year in the U.S. occurred during November. 

Kentucky has had 21 reports of tornadoes this year which is above normal.
Indiana has had 8 tornado reports this year which is below normal.

One computer model has a cool August ahead

The CFS computer model has the Ohio Valley into a below normal temperature pattern after the current heat wave this week.
The map below shows the temperature trends after this week into the end of August with our region in the 0.5 to 2.5 degrees below normal for the period.

How accurate is the CFS...Climate Forecast System?
It is not the best but can at least give you a bit of a trend. In this case it would be that the heat will not stick around as long as last summer. The CFS as expected will do much better over the next few weeks than the next few months. Last year at this time it was predicting our winter average temperature to be more than 8 degrees below normal for the 3 month period.....we ended up above normal.

Let's take a look at the 12Z GFS run for today on the 500mb forecast.  This is the flow at about 18,000 feet and gives us an idea of the weather trends...... The 588 line is usually the edge of the heat wave and the 594 is when things can get pretty wicked.

GFS 500mb today

The eastern heat is not as bad as it could be because of the wet ground holding the temps down a few degrees.
The heat ridge will be building over the next few days.
There is a heat advisory for NYC.
An Excessive Heat Warning has been issued for Philadelphia.

GFS 500mb for Friday

By the end of the week a broad coast to coast ridge is forecast by the GFS.

This pattern does not promote the upper 90's type of heat we have become used to the last few summers. Still, lower 90's and some mid 90's are likely with this.

GFS 500mb for July 24th

By the middle of next week... around the 24th.... a trough will be located over the Ohio Valley easing our temperatures.

In the northwest flow on the edge of the heat will be the ring of fire.
Areas of thunderstorms will move through. So besides the relief from the heat, some additional rains may develop.

GFS 500mb for July 29th

Two weeks from now, the GFS develops a strong heat ridge which may bring our highest temperatures of the summer.

The GFS is more accurate than the CFS, however, things can change a bit.  This time of year, any changes from the forecast 2 weeks out are usually not that much...... we shall see what happens.




Last week I posted about the differences in the forecast for this upcoming week between AccuWeather and The Weather Channel.
AccuWeather had every day in the 90's and TWC had every day in the 80's. It looks like the 90's will win out.

The current forecast from AccuWeather has every day still in the 90's this week with next in the 80's and 2 days in the 70's.
The Weather Channel has caught up with AccuWeather and now has every day in the 90's this week and 80's next week.

Thanks for checking in.....
I tweet every time a blog is posted.  twitter.com/johnbelski
I am also on Facebook at John Belski

STAY COOL

Pikes Peak funnel cloud

This just happened a few minutes ago.  You can see the funnel cloud near Pikes Peak in Colorado. This is a high altitude funnel which rarely touches down. The funnel formed at the 11,000 feet level.  Last summer at Mt. Evans, Colorado, a tornado touched down at an altitude of 11,900 feet.
The record for the highest altitude tornado was at Sequoia National Park in California in 2004. The tornado touched down at an altitude of 12,000 feet.

Storms weakening

The storm continues to move to the WNW away from Louisville.

There is a bit of rain over portions of the area.

A Severe Thunderstorm WATCH remains in effect until 10:00. For now, things have quieted down.

LMPD says they will let people back into the Forecastle Festival by 5:30 as the lightning threat diminishes.

Forecastle update

The storm over NW Bullitt Co. is weakening as it moves toward Valley Station.  This will miss downtown but the evacuation at the Forecastle Festival remains in effect due to a lightning threat being within 10 miles.

Forecastle Festival being evacuated

Moving to the NW

At 4:35, the Forecastle Festival is being evacuated due to a storm over Bullitt Co. moving to the northwest toward western Jefferson Co.

Even though the worst part of the storm is expected to stay to the west of the Great Lawn downtown, there is a chance for some lightning in the area.

The concerts will resume once the storm passes.

Warning for Shepherdsville

T'storm warning until 4:50

The storm west of Bardstown has gone severe again with a warning issued for Shepherdsville.
The storm is moving to the northwest and may produce 60 mph winds and quarter size hail.

At 4:27 the radar storm table shows only pea size hail with this storm but gusty winds are still possible.

The storm IS NOT moving toward downtown and the Forecastle Festival where a large crowd is in attendance.

The storm is moving toward the Valley Station area.

Large hail reported

Hail in Marion County.  This storm has weakened a bit as of 4:10.

4:00 update

The storm moving into Bardstown is not producing the large hail it had earlier.  These storms will pulse up and down in intensity.

Quarter to ping pong ball size hail was reported at Holy Cross.

One tree is down in St. Francis, KY in Marion Co.

The storm is speeding up a bit. It will reach Mt. Washington by 4:45 and may reach the Watterson Expy. by 5:00.  If the storm holds together, storms can be expected at the Forecastle Festival downtown around 5:15.

A backwards severe thunderstorm watch in effect for Louisville

A Severe Thunderstorm WATCH has been issued for central Kentucky and far southern Indiana until 10:00 PM.

This watch has been issued for the possibility of 70 mph wind gusts in the stronger storms and hail up to egg size.

Golf ball size hail has already been reported in southern Kentucky.

I call this a backwards watch because the storms are moving from SE to NW instead of from the usual southwest, west or northwest direction.  The storms over Kentucky right now are moving to the northwest toward Louisville.

The SPC says there is also a risk for a short lived tornado in the stronger storms.

Storm damage so far as of 3:30.....
Pongo, KY in Rockcastle Co.   A number of trees down and a side of a barn blown down.

Sextons Creek, KY in Clay Co.   Trees down

Clementsville, KY in Casey Co.   A blueberry farm was hit by hail.

The main threat for storms in Louisville will be after 5:30 in the SE suburbs and after 6:00 in the city.

Some summer comparisons

A good Friday afternoon to you.

Here is another comparison of this summer's weather with the last few years for Louisville  just to emphasize how pleasant it has been so far this summer.

2013 through July 12:
9 days in the 90's     Highest 93

2012 through July 12:
27 days in the 90's  
9 days in the 100's   Highest 106

2011 through July 12:
19 days in the 90's   Highest 97

2010 through July 12:
30 days in the 90's   Highest Highest 97

Phoenix:
Yesterday's high of 97 ended a streak of 42 straight days in the 100's.

The last day with a high under 90 degrees at Phoenix was May 9.

Death Valley, California:
Today is the 50th day in a row with a high in the 100's.
Yesterday was the 15th day in a row with 120 degrees or higher.
62 of the last 64 days have been in the 100's.

In the last 3 months at Death Valley, here are the days with rain:
April 9: a trace
July 7:  .01"

Houston:
Today is the 36th day in a row in the 90's.
Houston has had 3 days in the 100's.

Key West, FL
4 days in the 90's this year.
The surrounding water keeps the temperature from getting too high and it also keeps the nighttime temperatures from getting too low.
The last time the low temperature for the day in Key West was under 70 degrees was April 7.

Honolulu, Hawaii:
They have not had any days in the 90's yet this year.
The last time the low temperature for the day was under 70 degrees was May 22.

Barrow, Alaska:
This is a current view and you can see a few patches of snow on the ground and some ice out in the water.
The highest temperature so far this year in Barrow has been 66 degrees.







Let's compare the highest temperature in Louisville so far this summer with some other cities in the northwest and northeast U.S.......
Louisville 93
Boston 97
Providence, RI 95
Hartford, CT  94
Portland, Maine 93
New York City (LaGuardia Airport)  96
Philadelphia 94
Portland, OR 97
Boise, ID  110
Yakima, WA  106

Additional injuries from today's storm

Earlier I posted about the boy hit by the tree limb during this afternoon's storm. No word on his condition this evening other than it was a severe injury.

At Big Lots on Preston Hwy. the front windows were blown out during the storm and a couple of people were cut by the flying glass.

The PNC Tower..... formerly the National Bank Building downtown.....  a glass door was blown out.

2 UPS jets had minor damage. A 767 was hit by a container. That has already been fixed.
On another jet, a stairway blew into the fuselage a punctured it. The aircraft is expected to be back in service tomorrow.
A vehicle at the airport was blown onto it's side.
The top wind gust at the airport weather station was 64 mph.

There was a utility pole snapped at Bashford Manor. 

A large number of tree limbs down in the area.

Trees were down in a number of communities including.....
Shepherdsville
Bardstown
Lexington
Campbellsville

This is all in addition to the damage posted earlier.

As of 9:30 PM, just over 18,000 customers are still without power. Most of these were in Jefferson Co.

54,000 homes without power.... tree falls on a child

The storms are over and the power is back on for me.  In the metro area, 54,000 customers have no power at this time.

A 12 year old boy in St. Matthews was hit big a large tree limb. He was taken by police to Baptist East and then by ambulance to Kosair Childrens Hospital. Preliminary reports say it is a very serious injury.

Rural Metro Ambulance headquarters on Gilmore Lane had a wall blown out.

Bashford Manor Baptist Church lost its roof.

Warning for Floyd Co.

A severe storm is increasing and heading towards Floyds Knobs and New Albany....  I cannot show graphics at this time due to computer issues.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOUISVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHWESTERN CLARK COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA...
  NORTHEASTERN CRAWFORD COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA...
  FLOYD COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA...
  NORTHERN HARRISON COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA...
  SOUTHERN WASHINGTON COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA...

* UNTIL 235 PM EDT

* AT 203 PM EDT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED ALONG A LINE
  EXTENDING FROM 7 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SALEM TO 14 MILES EAST OF
  ENGLISH TO 7 MILES EAST OF ENGLISH...AND MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 45
  MPH.

  HAZARD...60 MPH WIND GUSTS.

  SOURCE...RADAR INDICATED.

  IMPACT...EXPECT DAMAGE TO ROOFS...SIDING AND TREES.

A few damage reports

Updated at 1:50......

Tree down in Bloomington.

Flooding near Terre Haute.

There are some pop up storms in the Louisville area....lots of thunder.

The main line to our west is not intensifying all that fast yet.

The SPC has issued a statement that there is a 40% chance for a watch for Louisville.

Severe weather update

Severe T'storm WATCH

A severe thunderstorm WATCH is in effect for the afternoon for eastern and most of Ohio.

There have been a few warnings so far.

A tree is down in Lafayette and there have been a number of reports of tree limbs down.

Ohio is in a 30% risk area for wind damage this afternoon. The rest of the region is in a 15% risk area.


Dew points have risen to the mid 70's...... as high as 78 at Elizabethtown at 1:15.  Any storm should be an efficient rainmaker.

Storms are increasing over SW Indiana and we do expect some severe weather later this afternoon.

Updated severe risk

SPC wind damage risk tonight

The Storm Prediction Center is keeping just about all of Indiana down to Louisville for a 15% or slight risk of damaging winds for tonight.  There have been a few stray storms but nothing organized so far.

This may be dropped in the next outlook if nothing fires shortly.

8:40 update....new update in from the SPC and the southern edge of the 15% goest across the northern suburbs and covers just about all of Indiana for tonight.

The northern half of Kentucky and the southern half of Indiana are in a 15% risk again for Wednesday with the highest time during the afternoon.






SPC says:  SUFFICIENT DEEP-LAYER SHEAR SHOULD BE IN PLACE TO SUPPORT ORGANIZED SVR MULTICELLS AND PERHAPS SUPERCELLS. SUPERCELLS MAY BE MORE LIKELY ACROSS THE MIDDLE MS AND OHIO VALLEY PORTIONS OF THE AREA WHERE STRONGER INSTABILITY...STEEPER MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES AND SUFFICIENT SHEAR WILL EXIST.
After the front triggering the storms moves through, pleasant weather is on the way for several days.  Dew points in the 70's today and tonight will drop into the 50's by late this week for a temporary change in the weather pattern.

Tampa waterspout

This is the best photo I have seen of the Tampa waterspout from yesterday evening.  The waterspout was visible from more than 20 miles away. There was some damage to a house next to the bay.
A tornado warning was issued for the waterspout which briefly became a tornado as it moved onto land.

Mid-afternoon heat update

Louisville has made it to 90 degrees for the first time in 12 days.  With the dew point in the lower 70's, the heat index has risen to the upper 90's. Although this is fairly hot for us for this summer, it is much worse over portions of the plains states.

A Heat ADVISORY is in effect for....
Kansas City
Omaha
Wichita

An EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING is in effect for....
Tulsa

Temperatures at mid-afternoon
Great Bend, KS  108
Wichita, KS  104

Back to the Ohio Valley....
AccuWeather has 12 of the next 15 days in the 90's.
The Weather Channel only has 1 day in the next 10 in the 90's and that is today.

The GFS is still forecasting a strong heat ridge for next week.
The ECMWF also has the ridge, but not quite as strong as the GFS.


With the green vegetation,due to all of the rain recently,  it will be hard to get any mid or upper 90's.



Temps well up into the 80's and maybe lower 90's appear likely for next week.....about what you would expect during mid-July.

Toronto flash flood

Several inches of rain have fallen in Toronto and there is widespread flash flooding. There have been numerous water rescues along with many power outages. Some of the scenes will remind you of Sandy in New York.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toronto subway flooded

Downtown Toronto

Here is a link to Toronto TV news. As of 10:00 they are streaming live coverage.....click  HERE

11 days in a row with no 90's

The last time Louisville had a 90 degree day was June 27.  We have now gone 11 days in a row with no 90's.
Last summer, between June 15 and August 10, the longest stretch of sub 90 degree weather was 3 days in a row and 2 of those days were 89 degrees. The other was 84.
During the past 11 days, we had 2 days in the 70's and 4 in the lower 80's.

I just checked the AccuWeather 15 day outlook and they had 7 days in the 90's coming up with the hottest at 97.

GFS for early next week

The 18Z GFS has a coast to coast heat ridge by early next week peaking out over the central Rockies and the Ohio Valley.

You haven't seen fog like this before

Check out these amazing time lapse shots of the San Francisco fog by environmental photographer, Simon Christen.
Here is the link for the entire 4 minute video titled, Adrift ......  click  HERE

Rain report while the sky was clear

Here is a statement from the NWS in Gaylor, Michigan for the airport weather station at Alpena, MI.....
UPDATE…ISSUED AT 1024 PM EDT FRI JUL 5 2013
NOT SURPRISINGLY…THE ISOLATED SHOWER IN NE LOWER WENT AWAY AS QUICKLY AS IT CAME (the shower did not move).

Alpena REPORTED -RA (a light rainshower) AT THE TOP OF THE HOUR…BUT IT DID SO AT THE SAME TIME YESTERDAY EVENING…OUT OF A CLEAR SKY. 

THIS IS MOST LIKELY SOMEONE RUNNING THE AIRPORT SPRINKLER SYSTEM

Lexington double rainbow

Last evening in Lexington as the rain was ending, the sun came out and a pretty prominent double rainbow appeared over the city.

To learn more about double rainbows..... click  HERE

Comparing this summer with last year

Although we have had a little bit of hot weather so far this summer in Louisville, it is nothing compared with last year.  Here are the numbers.

Through July 7......
Days in the 90's this summer:  6  
Days in the 90's last summer:  24

Days of 100 degrees or higher this summer: 0   The highest temp so far has been 93 degrees.
Days of 100 degrees or higher last summer thru July 7:  9 days   highest 106

Temperature since June 1 this summer:  4.5 degrees below normal
Temperature last summer from June 1 to July 7:  5.3 degrees above normal

Rain total since June 1 this summer:   6.77 inches or 147% of normal.
Rain total last year June 1 to July 7:  0.84 inches or 18% of normal.

Drought index:  Last year July 7 on the left and current on the right

This year 0% of Kentucky and Indiana is considered dry.
Last year in early July, Kentucky had 46% of the state in a moderate drought or worse and 20% of the state was in a severe drought or worse.
In Indiana, 80% of the state was in a moderate drought or worse and 30% had a severe drought or worse.
Drought conditions peaked in early August.

Today: temperatures are in the lower 80's at mid-afternoon with dew points in the mid 60's.  This is one of those rare July days with little or no haze and an extra blue sky...... enjoy!

Early reports indicate weather is not a factor in San Francisco plane crash

Red dot is San Francisco Airport (SFO)

An Asiana Airlines jet crashed during landing this afternoon at San Francisco Airport.


Weather does not appear to be a factor. Fog and low clouds were located along the Pacific coast, but bayside, where the airport is located, the sky was clear.

Winds were light.

The plane landed short of the runaway and crashed.

Recent Las Vegas and Death Valley heat records

From the NWS in Las Vegas.....

...SUPER WESTERN HEAT WAVE 2013 FINALLY FIZZLES...

A STRONG AND SPRAWLING AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT SETTLED IN OVER 
THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES ON THURSDAY, JUNE 27TH AND REMAINED 
OVER THE REGION FOR THE FOLLOWING WEEK AND STRENGTHENED. THIS AREA 
OF HIGH PRESSURE INITIALLY SET-UP NEAR THE FOUR CORNERS REGION 
BEFORE MIGRATING WEST TOWARD NEVADA BY SATURDAY, JUNE 29TH. THIS 
RESULTED IN A LONG DURATION STRETCH OF WELL ABOVE NORMAL 
TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE MOJAVE DESERT AND SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN WITH 
NUMEROUS LOCATIONS SETTING DAILY, MONTHLY AND EVEN ALL-TIME RECORD 
HIGH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES. THE HEAT FINALLY EASED BY FRIDAY, JULY 
5TH, AS THE CENTER OF THE AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE SHIFTED INTO 
SOUTHERN ARIZONA AND WEAKENED IN RESPONSE TO A MID AND UPPER LEVEL 
TROUGH THAT PUSHES ASHORE INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

BELOW IS A LOOK BACK AT THIS HEAT EVENT WITH SOME STATISTICS BY 
LOCATION:

LAS VEGAS - MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
RECORDS: 1937-PRESENT

AT THE OFFICIAL WEATHER STATION AT MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 
THE FOLLOWING MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES WERE RECORDED DURING THIS EVENT:

 6/27    6/28    6/29    6/30    7/1     7/2     7/3     7/4     7/5 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 109     115     115     117     114     115     113     113     111

* THE HIGH OF 117 DEGREES ON JUNE 30TH SET AN ALL-TIME JUNE RECORD   
  HIGH TEMPERATURE BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 116 DEGREES SET   
  ON JUNE 15, 1940.

* THE HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 117 DEGREES ON JUNE 30TH TIED THE ALL-TIME
  RECORD HIGH FOR LAS VEGAS LAST SET ON JULY 19, 2005 AND FIRST SET  
  ON JULY 24, 1942.

* THERE WERE 4 DAYS WITH A HIGH OF 115 DEGREES OR GREATER WHICH TIES 
  1937 AND 1979 FOR THE SECOND HIGHEST NUMBER OF SUCH DAYS IN A YEAR.
  THE ALL-TIME RECORD IS 5 SUCH DAYS SET IN 1940 AND TIED IN 2005.

* THERE WERE 5 CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH A HIGH OF 114 DEGREES OR        
  GREATER WHICH IS A NEW RECORD. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 4 DAYS SET  
  MOST RECENTLY FROM JULY 16-19, 2005.

* THERE WERE 7 CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH A HIGH OF 112 DEGREES OR        
  GREATER WHICH TIES JULY 13-19, 2005 FOR THE SECOND LONGEST SUCH    
  STRETCH ON RECORD. THE RECORD NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE DAYS AT OR
  ABOVE 112 DEGREES IS 9 FROM JUNE 12-20, 1940.

AT THE OFFICIAL WEATHER STATION AT MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 
THE FOLLOWING MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WERE RECORDED DURING THIS EVENT:

 6/27    6/28    6/29    6/30    7/1     7/2     7/3     7/4     7/5
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 84      86      89      89      95      90      92      91      89+ 

+ MUST HOLD THROUGH 1 AM ON 7/6/2013 TO COUNT FOR DAY.

* THE LOW OF 95 DEGREES ON JULY 1ST TIED THE HIGHEST LOW TEMPERATURE 
  EVER RECORDED IN LAS VEGAS OF 95 DEGREES SET ON JULY 19, 2005. 

* THERE WERE 4 CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH A LOW OF 90 DEGREES OR GREATER  
  WHICH IS THE 2ND LONGEST SUCH STRETCH ON RECORD. THE RECORD IS 5   
  CONSECUTIVE DAYS FROM JULY 17-21, 2005 AND TIED FROM JULY 16-20,   
  2010.

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IN LAS VEGAS HAS BEEN 100 OR GREATER FROM 
JUNE 28TH THROUGH JULY 4TH. THIS IS THE SECOND LONGEST SUCH STRETCH 
ON RECORD. THE RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH AN AVERAGE 
TEMPERATURE AT OR ABOVE 100 DEGREES IS 8 FROM JULY 14-21, 2005. THIS 
RECORD COULD STILL BE THREATENED.

THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED AT AN OFFICIAL WEATHER STATION IN 
LAS VEGAS DURING THIS HEAT WAVE EVENT WAS 119 DEGREES AT THE 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE LOCATED ON DEAN MARTIN DRIVE LOCATED 
IN SOUTHWEST LAS VEGAS ON JUNE 30TH. THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE EVER 
KNOWN AT AN OFFICIAL WEATHER STATION IN THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY WAS 121 
DEGREES ON JULY 17, 1961 AND JULY 14, 1972 AT A FORMER COOPERATIVE 
WEATHER STATION IN THE SUNRISE MANOR NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE NORTHEAST 
PART OF THE VALLEY.

 DEATH VALLEY - FURNACE CREEK, CALIFORNIA 
RECORDS: 1911-PRESENT

AT THE OFFICIAL WEATHER STATION AT FURNACE CREEK IN DEATH VALLEY THE 
FOLLOWING MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES WERE RECORDED DURING THIS EVENT:

 6/27    6/28    6/29    6/30    7/1     7/2     7/3     7/4     7/5 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 122     125     128     129     127     127     128     126     125  

* THE HIGH OF 129 DEGREES ON JUNE 30TH SET A NEW ALL-TIME RECORD HIGH
  FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE AT DEATH VALLEY. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS     
  128 DEGREES SET ON JUNE 29, 1994 AND TIED ON JUNE 29, 2013. THE 129
  DEGREE HIGH ALSO TIES THE UNITED STATES RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR
  THE MONTH OF JUNE FIRST SET ON JUNE 23, 1902 AT VOLCANO,           
  CALIFORNIA WHICH IS A FORMER TOWN NEAR THE SALTON SEA.

* COUNTING JULY 5, 2013 THERE HAVE BEEN 7 CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH A 
  HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 125 DEGREES OR GREATER SINCE JUNE 28, 2013 AT
  DEATH VALLEY. THIS TIES WITH JULY 14-20, 2005 FOR THE SECOND       
  LONGEST SUCH STRETCH ON RECORD. THE LONGEST EVER SUCH STRETCH WAS  
  10 DAYS FROM JULY 5-14, 1913.

* THERE HAVE BEEN 10 DAYS SO FAR THIS YEAR WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF
  125 DEGREES OR GREATER AT DEATH VALLEY. THIS TIES THE ALL-TIME     
  RECORD FOR ANY YEAR WHICH IS 10 SET IN 1913.

AT THE OFFICIAL WEATHER STATION AT FURNACE CREEK IN DEATH VALLEY THE 
FOLLOWING MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WERE RECORDED DURING THIS EVENT:

 6/27    6/28    6/29    6/30    7/1     7/2     7/3     7/4     7/5 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 92      91      93      98      98      104     102     98      95

* THE LOW TEMPERATURE OF 104 DEGREES ON THE MORNING OF JULY 2ND      
  RANKS AS THE 6TH WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE EVER. 

Snow in Canada

Even though Iqaluit, Nunavut in Canada is pretty far north, it is still a bit rare to get snow during July.

The photo below shows what it looked like there this week.

It is currently 36 degrees in Iqaluit and they are expecting high in the 50's by Sunday.

Updated rain totals forecast

The 12Z runs are in and there is some difference between the NAM and GFS on the weekend rain totals.

The NAM brings about 1.5 inches of rain to Louisville through the weekend with around 5 inches on the KY/TN border.

The GFS has about 3 inches for Louisville.

The HPC has about 1.5 inches for Louisville.

Here is what the NWS in Louisville says....  Our concerns focus on a couple of mid-level waves that look to bring several more rounds of showers and storms to the region. The first wave looks to roll in during the overnight hours tonight. More diurnally driven storms look likely for Saturday afternoon with another upper wave forecast to come in Saturday night. Each of these waves will have the ability to produce widespread convection along with the possibility of thunderstorms which would be producing torrential rains given the high atmospheric moisture content. The main forecast challenge will be determining where the actual heavy precipitation axis will set up. Overall, the models have not been too bad with the placements thus far, and our current Flash Flood Watch covers the area at highest risk for flooding. Current thinking is that if the 12Z models continue to suggest the additional two waves of convection, an extension of the watch out through Sunday looks very likely.     

Flash Flood WATCH for Frankfort... Lexington...Bardstown...Springfield...Hodgenville...Campbellsville... Cincinnati