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  • Chris Holcomb | Meteorologist
    by: Chris Holcomb | Meteorologist
    Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:22:00 PDT

    11:15am-Thursday

    Our second tropical storm of the season has formed.  The tropical depression developing off the coast of Africa officially grew to tropical storm status late this morning.  The new tropical storm is named Bertha.

    Usually at this time of year, we see storms developing near the gulf or in the Caribbean in the warm water.  It's usually later in the year when the storms begin forming off the coast of Africa.  We typically call it Cape Verde season later in the summer because that is when those storms develop near the Cape Verde Islands.  It's interested to see that a storm has already developed well ahead of schedule.

    The forecast track of this storm has it nearing hurricane strength by early next week.  The forecast track also keeps it out to sea.  It doesn't look like this one will make it to the United States.  We'll keep tracking it for you and keep you posted as it moves east.  You can also check out our Hurricane Guide here at 11Alive.com for updates.

    I'm off tomorrow for July 4th.  I'm also taking some days off next week, too.  Steve Adamson will be filling in for me on the morning show.  My family will be spending July 4th at Lake Oconee.  We'll be jet skiing, wake boarding and eating plenty of hamburgers from the grill!

    Have a great 4th!

     

  • Chris Holcomb | Meteorologist
    by: Chris Holcomb | Meteorologist
    Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:05:30 PDT

    7/2/08-10:15am

    Another great morning!  Temps were very refreshing again this morning.  In the city, we held in the 60s...but there were a lot of 50s in the suburbs.  These temps are still not typical of July. 

    We'll warm up a little more this afternoon than we did yesterday.  Yesterday's high was 85.  I cut the grass yesterday.  Even though it was warm, I couldn't really complain too much thanks to the dry air!  Today, we'll be about 3 degrees higher than yesterday when we move up to 88.  The air will still be dry.  Dewpoints will be in the upper 40s and lower 50s, so it won't be muggy again today.  Things are about to change, though.  The humidity will be a little higher on Thursday and Friday with temps warming to near 90. 

    Even though the humidity will go up, it looks like the 4th of July will stay dry.  We'll see a few of those afternoon storms beginning to pop up again by the weekend.  That pattern will last through the beginning of next week.

    Don't get spoiled by this cooler and drier start to July.  The hot muggies will be back before you know it!

  • Chris Holcomb | Meteorologist
    by: Chris Holcomb | Meteorologist
    Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:59:37 PDT

    6/30/08-Monday 6am

    Today is the last day of June!  The weather the next couple of days won't be typical June/July type weather!  A cold front came through last night bringing storms to some areas.  All of that rain moved south and east and then fell apart overnight.

    Now, we are on the north side of that front.  We will have cooler and drier air today.  The dewpoints will lower with that dry air.  So it won't be as muggy with lower humidity.  Since it will be drier tonight, that will allow temps to drop a little more by morning.  Can you believe we will start off July with a morning temp of 60 degrees.  Many areas in the burbs will even be in the 50s!

    We will gradually warm up as we head toward the end of the week.  Right now, July 4th is looking good, but scattered showers will return on Saturday and Sunday.

  • Josh Johnson | Meteorologist
    by: Josh Johnson | Meteorologist
    Sat, 28 Jun 2008 05:02:46 PDT

    Sure hearing a lot about the ice situation up at the North Pole.  Apparently, an ice scientist has come out with a projection that involves the North Pole's ice completely melting this summer.

    I have several opinions on this - first, I'll believe it when I see it.  There is still plenty of ice in the NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, which includes the North Pole.  From what I gather from this report, there is simply an area of ice that is thin, and it happens to reside over the  North Pole.  On the whole, ice levels in the northern Hemisphere are not terribly different than previous years and decades.

    Secondly, even if that does in fact occur, it's not proof or even compelling evidence of manmade global warming.  I realize that pretty much flies in the face of everything you're probably hearing about this from the national media.  But, ice coverage in Antartica (South Pole) set an all-time high in 2007.

    Here is a graphic showing ice coverage in the Southern Hemisphere.  The record goes back until 1979, so it does include the majority of the time that the manmade global warming folks want us to believe that we did all of the "damage"...

    This chart shows the Southern Hemisphere sea ice area in square kilometers from 1978 to today.

    Here is another interesting chart...This one shows the ice area of the NORTHERN hemisphere (including the North Pole, which is supposedly melting and proving that we're destroying the Earth)... 

    Looks like the change is very, very subtle when viewed on the whole. 

  • Josh Johnson | Meteorologist
    by: Josh Johnson | Meteorologist
    Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:03:03 PDT

    A good friend of mine from my college days at Mississippi State once worked a summer job at a local car wash.  It was a bright green building, right on the main (and only) 4 lane highway in the city....and painted in big letters was the name of the operation:  SPLASH AND DASH.  The car wash did business with an interesting and unique clientele - an odd mixture of those college students that hung around Starkville for the summer and some of the locals there in Starkville, Mississippi.

    Well, one day, as my good friend tells it, a car with a rather plain (and I'm being generous) looking lady came through the car wash.  Her car was washed, and without warning, as the lady left, she quickly leaned out of the car's window and raised up a certain part of her clothing, revealing a certain part of her anatomy that is typically left covered.  Then, her car drove off quickly.  The entire episode lasted no longer than 10 seconds, during which the lady was wailing and yelling at the car wash workers.

    My friend and his colleagues at the car wash were stunned.  After that, the wash became known as...FLASH AND DASH.

    What in the world does this have to do with weather?  Very little. 

    I've heard weather folks throw around the phrase "Splash and Dash" thunderstorms - it aptly describes the nature of the quick storms we see during our hot and humid summer afternoons here in the South.  But, every time I hear it, my mind goes back to my friend and his episode at that old car wash back in Starkville, Mississippi.

    Storms Today??? We are dealing with a few scattered storms, dare I say it - of the splash and dash variety.  The heaviest activity this afternoon is across parts of east Georgia, back towards parts of Newton and Rockdale counties...Movement is towards the east, so these specific storms will not impact the Atlanta metro.

    However, through the remainder of the day, we could see more storms develop.  While we do not foresee widespread severe weather, these storms could pack gusty winds.  And, they will almost certainly contain lots of lightning. 

    Weekend Forecast... The storms will probably be more widespread tomorrow, as the flow shifts around to the southwest and we get a little bump in our atmospheric moisture content.  That'll lead to more storms, most likely.  So, if you're going to be out and about, be sure to bring along BOTH the sunscreen and the umbrella.

    Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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