by Steve Norris, Smith County Insider Weather Correspondent:
Summer cold fronts are rare this time of the year in Tennessee, but you know there is going to be trouble when one is able to move this far south. This was the case Tuesday when a drier and slightly cooler air mass collided with hot and humid weather. A line of storms developed near Nashville and moved Eastward with the worst storms arriving in Smith County after 4 p.m. There were several reports in our County of trees being blown down, particularly near Gordonsville. Strong wind and hail reports were quite numerous across Middle Tennessee during the afternoon.
August storms tend to be very heavy because they have lots of heat and humidity they use as fuel. The largest hailstone on record in Smith County was on August 19, 1997, when baseball-size hail occurred.
The front is gone and now we have beautiful weather to enjoy right on through Saturday with sunshine and somewhat lower humidity. The heat will return for the weekend with highs 90 to 95. We should have enough moisture in the atmosphere by Sunday for a 30% chance of an afternoon storm.
The outlook for August 19th through 28th is pretty typical summer weather with highs near 90 and a few afternoon and evening thunderstorms, but no major changes for a while. Sunrise is now 6:02 a.m. with sunset at 7:33 p.m. The sun is setting about a minute earlier each day. In our evening sky we will have a big bright moon rising to the east Southeast and the planet Jupiter in the southern sky. Check them out, because they are lovely on these beautiful Tennessee evenings!
Sadly there have been more reports recently in the news of heat related deaths in automobiles with the windows rolled up. On an 80-degree day the temperature inside a vehicle with the windows up reaches 109 degrees in only 20 minutes and 123 degrees in an hour. Heat-related deaths are preventable; look before you lock for the safety of children and pets! Now that we are into our hottest month of the year be sure to limit outdoor activities in the hottest part of the day, drink plenty of water and wear light colored clothing as it reflects the sunlight from your body.
Steve Norris, Smith County Insider Weather Correspondant
Steve Norris got his first job at 18 years old doing radio weather. Steve does forecasts for several radio stations and newspapers, and he serves as a severe weather meteorologist for some city governments in the Middle Tennessee area. Steve first became interested in weather when his grandfather bought him a thermometer when he was 10 years old. He has been loving weather for over 40 years.
If you have any weather-related questions, you can reach Steve Norris anytime at weather1@charter.net.
[wdca_ad id=”11404″ ]
[wdca_ad id=”11484″ ]
