Threat for Severe Weather Today: Saturday, November 30th

NOTE: This blog post is pertaining to the risk for severe weather on the afternoon and evening of SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30th.

UPDATE - 10:30am Saturday, November 30th, 2019

Showers and thunderstorms have already made for a wet morning in West Tennessee with heavy downpours and occasional thunder and lightning but the risk for severe weather will be delayed until the afternoon and evening. The threat for tornadoes is low but it's always one we take seriously and will continue to monitor for. There is a greater chance for damaging winds and large hail today than there is for tornadoes but even their risk is slight (level 2 out of 5).

SUMMARY 

• Scattered showers and thunderstorms will move through for the rest of the morning and early afternoon but they're not expected to be severe
• Non-thunderstorm wind gusts may not be as high as they were this week on Tuesday night, but could still gust to 30 mph this afternoon and evening
• A second round of thunderstorms will develop in the middle of the afternoon and continue through the evening: 3pm - 9pm
• The 2nd round poses a slight risk for damaging winds and large hail with a low risk for an isolated tornado
• Wind gusts will be stronger on Sunday possibly up to 40 mph

Meteorologist Corallys Ortiz will have the forecast hour-by-hour live on WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News at 6:00pm on CBS. wbbjtv.com/live

A little bit about a Little Bit

This post is not weather related...

...but, it was on November 14th, 2018 that my wife and I had our first ultrasound of our baby girl - the same day that Jackson got the earliest 1" of snow on record. Every appointment afterwards seemed to coincide with various other weather phenomena seeming to prophecy that this tiny human would follow in my footsteps.

Our girl was due to be born on June 18th - a mere two days after Father's Day - and I told my wife, Evan, that she would never have to do anything for me ever again if she could only bring our baby into the world a little earlier so we could celebrate. I warned her that if our baby was born on June 18th, that we would be naming her after Jackson's new mayor (Scott or Jerry) set to be elected later that evening. Unfortunately, it turned out that our baby was going to have to come earlier in any case, because she was measuring small at our May appointments. Evan was going to be induced the night of June 10th or 11th.

To take in the quiet air of one of our last child-less nights, my wife and I enjoyed a perfect day on Saturday, June 8th. The weather in West Tennessee turned out just as forecast - scattered showers, warm and muggy. We proceeded through our usual Saturday ritual of getting our groceries (and donuts) at the Farmers' Market and visiting Pinson Mounds with our dog, Roxi. After tending to some last minute errands and preparing the home for baby, we went out for a date night of dinner and a movie. Everything seemed to be going according to our new plan. We went to bed around 11 o'clock.

I woke up at 2:30 Sunday morning to Evan telling me that something was happening. She thought that she was having contractions and that her water had broken. This wasn't expected, but it certainly was welcomed! Having a natural birth was high on the list of what Evan had hoped this pregnancy would culminate in! We got to the hospital at 4 that morning and found that Evan was fully effaced...

...but only 1 cm dilated.

It took 25 grueling hours before Evan could finally start pushing, and then 1 hour later, our beautiful girl was here! All that time in the hospital that seemed to drag on then felt so brief. We are so incredibly thankful for the hospital staff from triage to discharge that took care of us. We also can't thank Evan's parents enough who took care of us from the very beginning of labor through our first week as parents. They drove all the way from Raleigh the minute we told them we were going to the hospital! We're also incredibly grateful for the wisdom from Dr. Christopher Welch that kept the mama and baby healthy throughout the whole process. Our faith in God and the prayers of our family and church at Cornerstone Community Church saw us through the birth of our first child and will keep us going through the days, months, and years to come.

Many of you have reached out asking about her name. For the moment, my wife and I are keeping that information about her as private as this modern technological age will let us. We will be making a concerted effort to keep that part of her confidential for the moment. I am planning to be back on WBBJ on June 24th. You can catch me then, and I may even bring a guest soon after that. I cannot wait to show off this little bug on the green screen. Who knows what kind of weather we'll have then!

Threat for Severe Thunderstorms and Damaging Winds Tonight and Tomorrow

NOTE: This blog post is pertaining to the risk for severe weather on the night of WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13th and the late morning through afternoon of THURSDAY, MARCH 14th.

UPDATE - 12:45pm Wednesday, March 13th, 2019

I know this probably seems like it's getting old, but March, April, and May, are the most common months for severe weather in West Tennessee. This is par for the course for late Winter and early Spring which officially begins one week from today!

Showers and thunderstorms will begin moving into the area tonight with a threat for damaging winds. The threat for tornadoes tonight is low but the chance for rotating thunderstorms increases late Thursday morning through the afternoon.

SUMMARY 

• Scattered showers and thunderstorms will move in after sunset and pose a threat for damaging winds overnight - especially near the Mississippi River
• Winds may gust over 60 miles per hour in the strongest storms, but even when it's not raining winds could still gust up to 50 mph this afternoon and evening
• A second round of thunderstorms will develop late tomorrow morning and afternoon 
• The 2nd round poses a slightly higher threat for tornadoes and large hail but will mainly impact parts of West Tennessee near the Tennessee River

I'll have the forecast hour-by-hour live on WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News at 5:00pm and 6:00pm on ABC and at 5:30pm and 6:30pm on CBS. I'll be back with another update on both networks at 10:00pm.