Falling Temperatures and Rainy Conditions

At 9:30 am, the temperature is 59.3° with a south wind in Cookeville, TN (41° in Hopkinsville, KY and 43° in Clarksville). This is all about to change as a cold front is at our doorstep. Behind the front, the winds will shift to the north northwest and temperatures will fall rather quickly. Conditions will feel quite chilly as we go toward the late afternoon hours. I expect a heavy rainshower or two before lunch.

Did you see the Winter Weather Awareness Week post?
We are in the middle of winter weather awareness week and yesterday we discussed ways to stay safe and what you must have in the event of a major winter storm in the Upper Cumberland.

Did you feel the earth tremble on Saturday?
It was the single biggest traffic post this year on my blog.

What is our 3-month forecast (Dec, Jan, Feb)
Click here for the Climate Prediction Center outlook

My 2012-2013 Winter Outlook

Tonight we'll see decreasing clouds and a low of 29° by sunrise on Tuesday. Sunny skies are expected for Tuesday with a high of 51°. Cold again Tuesday night with a low of 30° and sunny skies Wednesday with a high of 53°. The rest of the week will be similar with slightly warmer temperatures each day.

*Latest Local Forecast*

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Earth Tremor In Cookeville

Did you feel it?

There are reports of a small earth tremor in Cookeville today. So far we've gotten reports from Bangham area north of Cookeville, the Avery Trace area just east of the Courthouse and also in northeast Cookeville near Hwy 111 and 10th Street.

I've checked the earthquake map at:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

Nothing so far.

A 4.3 magnitude quake has been recorded some 13 kilometers (8.07 miles) west of Whitesburg, Kentucky (near KY/VA border) at 11:08 am this Saturday morning.

Reports of the ground shaking are coming in from all over Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and even as far away as Charleston, West Virginia.

Report what you felt to the USGS at:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000dqhx#dyfi

Better Late Than Never - What A Day!

I failed to push the publish button early this morning after writing the morning update. So, it is better late than never. Before get to what I didn't publish this morning, here is the latest on Hurricane Irene and the earthquake in Virginia that affected much of the east coast.

IRENE AFTERNOON UPDATE:
At the 5 pm update, Irene has maximum sustained winds of 90 mph and is still moving WNW at 9 mph. We do expect Irene to develop into a MAJOR (Category 3 or higher) hurricane by either late Wednesday or early Thursday as she churns on a more northerly track after passing the Bahamas. By 2 pm on Friday, Irene is expected to be centered due east of Jacksonville, FL and by 2 pm Saturday, we expect she'll be just south of the outer banks of North Carolina.

EAST COAST EARTHQUAKE:
Quite a quake today affecting northern Virginia and the Washington, DC area today. It occurred around 12:51 this afternoon causing evacuations of all federal buildings in our nation's capital. Some people have tried to be humorous about it. Some even joked the current administration would blame the former administration for it. Finally, I saw one person say it wouldn't be long before the quake was blamed on so-called global warming. Bottom line is that it appears most damage was minor and injuries are minor, too.


THE ORIGINAL MORNING POST:
Nice start in the 50's this morning in Cookeville. Expect this afternoon's high temps to top out around 88° under a sunny sky. Another cool overnight with lows by Wednesday morning around 62° and we'll hit 90° on Wednesday. I do expect showers to re-appear in the forecast for Wednesday night through Thursday night, but then a return to sunny skies on Friday and Saturday.

*Latest Local Forecast*

MAJOR HURRICANE EXPECTED:
Hurricane Irene has really become the big weather story. Now a Category 2, she is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane over the next 24 hours.

Cookeville's Daily Almanac
Our morning low: 58.0°
Yesterday's high: 87.2°
Yesterday's low: 64.1°
Last Year: 85° and 65°
Normal High: 87°
Normal Low: 63°
Records: 100° in 2007 and 47° in 1956

July 5th Earthquakes (Tennessee)

Two earthquakes occurred today (July 5, 2008) in or near Tennessee.

The first was at 1:14 am and registered 2.0 on the Richter scale.
It was centered four-miles ESE of Madisonville (38 mi. SSW of Knoxville) in East Tennessee.
Quake information from the USGS.

The second was at 1.58 am and registered 2.7 on the Richter scale.
It was centered one-mile from Dell, Arkansas (51 miles N of Memphis)
Quake information from the USGS

As many of you are aware, we are located in the New Madrid Seismic Zone.

Friday Evening Update...

What a day! We start it off with an earthquake around 4:40 am!

It was sunny and very warm along with some windy conditions (28.4 mph sustained) this afternoon....the high temperature ended up at 77.1° (at 3:45 p.m) after a morning low of 46.5° which occurred at 6:34 a.m.

Our normals this time of year are 69 and 43. The record high this date was 92 which occurred in 1896 while our record low was 28 from 2001. Last year, our high was 72 and the low 34. On this date in 1940, we recorded 1.49"

For the rest of this evening, we expect a band of precipitation to continue making it's way across Tennessee. At 8:50 pm, the leading edge was past Nashville. Here in Cookeville, we should see rain falling by 10:00. Most areas will receive around .25 inches tonight.

The rest of the weekend offers a mainly cloudy Saturday and Sunday with greater chances of rain on Saturday, but an isolated shower Sunday can't be ruled out in the morning. Temperatures will remain mild as highs are expected to be in the 60's.

Our latest, local forecast

I finished mowing the yard this evening and have plans to (hopefully) do a little trimming with the weedeater, a little edging, a little tilling in the garden, and a couple of other things. If the rains prevent these things from happening, I may just go to the lake and sit on my parent's houseboat! :)

Finally, the NWS-Nashville has put together a radar loop of the tornadoes that struck Middle Tennessee on Friday, April 11, 2008.

Earthquake Map

Here is something kind of cool that I found at the USGS website. Click on it for a better view. I count, at least, four different tremors. Our first earthquake post is below this one.

Earthquake This Morning (Tennessee)

About 4:40 am, I was awoken by the sound of my housing shaking. It was almost like the same type of sound from a very strong wind gust. As I became more awake, I knew it was an earthquake. Our light on our ceiling fan rattled as well.

When I woke our teenaged daughter up, she had felt it as well. Said it woke her up and she though someone was in her room. She quickly turned her lights on, saw that no one was in her room, but still felt the shaking...couldn't have lasted more than 15-20 seconds.

Did you feel the quake? Report it here at the USGS website.

The USGS Official Report for all quakes today is here

Louisville, KY and Evansville, TN have damage being reported. The quake was felt all the way to Milwaukee in the north and to Atlanta in south. Right now, we understand it is a 5.4 magnitude. The epicenter is part of the New Madrid fault. The tremor was also felt in Chicago.

Breitbart has a good story about the quake, too.

10:15 am UPDATE......another quake has struck virtually in the same area and has registered a 4.6 on the Richter scale. What does this mean? I don't really know.

8:45 am UPDATE...found out today is the 102nd anniversary of the great San Francisco earthquake...also, West Tennessee area has planned an earthquake drill for today...has been in planning stages for a year (thanks to Jeff Ray, meteorologist at WKRN-News2)

6:46 am UPDATE...quake downgraded to a 5.2 magnitude and was MUCH deeper than first thought....third earthquake in Tennessee region this week...hmmmm....is a much larger one looming for the New Madrid fault.....the answer (long-term) is yes.

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