Skip to main content

2 Canes from the Past and Tropical Storm Bill

You may have heard of (hurricane) Ike, but do you know Elena?  They are both worth getting to know as we prepare for heavy rain in parts of the Local 6 area from the remnants of Tropical Storm Bill.
The Local 6 area may not lie on the Gulf Coast but inland tropical impacts have been felt many times before in our weather history.  Most people remember how the winds from the remnants of Ike brought record-breaking power outages to the Ohio Valley. Hurricane force wind gusts were recorded in Louisville after tropical storm force winds blew across Carbondale, Owensboro, and Poplar Bluff. 28 deaths were attributed to Ike in the Ohio Valley by the time it moved on to Ontario, Canada. It took Ike only a few hours to travel across the Ohio Valley on September 14, 2008 but as the day came to a close, over 600,000 people were without power and a State of Emergency was declared by Governor Steve Beshear.  Of course this only happened a few years ago. Another record-setting hurricane that brought severe inland impacts to the Local 6 area blew thru a couple decades ago. It's name was Elana. 

It was the peak of the 1985 Atlantic Hurricane Season when Elena was born a Category 1 Hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. On September 2 it made landfall near Biloxi, Mississippi and fueled a wealth of thunderstorms all the way up through the Mid-South for several days, including Western Kentucky. The peak rainfall for our area was reached on September 5, 1985 when Paducah recorded 7.49" of rain for the day. Flash flooding left many stranded and searching for dry ground. According to the Harlan Daily Enterprise, Perkins Creek raged submerging cars and trapping guests of a nearby hotel on the second floor. (see photo to left) To read more about Elena from the Harlan Daily Enterprise, click here.
The one reason we look to invite decaying tropical weather into the area is to get summer drought relief...especially once August arrives. With a wet Spring and early June, flooding is a concern as the remnants of Tropical Storm Bill arrive at the end of the week. The areas of concern to us for the risk of flooding continue to be across SE Missouri and Southern Illinois. While the risk is not as great, we can expect periods of heavy showers and storms across Kentucky and along the Tennessee state line as well. 
A weak cold front to our north is trapping Gulf of Mexico moisture associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Bill across the Ohio Valley and Midwest. High pressure over the Southeast is enhancing the compact placement of the moisture that will lead to heavier downpours over those same regions. See below for the latest computer model forecast concerning rainfall totals through Saturday morning.
Wednesday Evening Update - RPM Computer Model








Labels:
Location: Paducah, KY, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Planting Zones Heading North

As our global climate changes, so does our planting zones, helping us determine which flowers/shrubs/trees are hardy in specific areas. The Local 6 area has always been split by 2-3 growing zones so placement becomes very important to those in the agricultural community. The image below represents the average over the past 30 years. Climate Central published the following information:  "What kinds of flowers, shrubs and trees you’ll find at your local nursery depends on your climate — how warm it tends to get in summer, and how cold in winter. A plant that’s happy in Wisconsin might be miserable in Alabama, and vice versa. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has formalized these differences into " hardiness zones " — strips of similar climate that run more or less east-to-west (except in the high mountains), where particular plants should do especially well. But as the planet warms under its thickening blanket of greenhouse gases, those zones are shifting northward. Th...
46 comments
Read more

Updates on Upcoming Winter Weather Events

Sunday Morning Update: A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for much of the WPSD Local 6 area with a handful of counties just reaching Winter Storm criteria. Here is the latest map. They are in effect until early Monday. Snowfall totals have not changed much from last nights posting and I really feel this will still just be a road impact for Monday morning. Here is the projected snowfall total map: Sorry, TN. Looks like another near miss on the snow for you. :( Saturday Night Update: A Winter Storm Watch has been issued by the Paducah National Weather Service for most of the WPSD Local 6 area. Portions of NW TN and MO Bootheel have been placed under a Winter Weather Advisory all for winters weather on Sunday as colder air begins to arrive.   Rain will switch over to freezing rain, sleet, and snow during the day on Sunday eventually leading to accumulations in the watch/advisory areas. Initially any frozen precip will melt thanks to Saturday's mild temps and warmer pavement surfac...
4 comments
Read more

Longer Allergy Seasons

The National Phenology Network is showing the early arrival of leaves on trees in the Ohio Valley, the Midwest, and Western United States this year. This trend has become more of a norm over the past past 50 years.   Climate Central published data this week showing the same trend since 1970 with notable attention to the West where states are seeing as many as 17 more frost-free days, extending the growing season. Here in the Local 6 area, the growth is not as notable but still averaging between 4-9 days additional to the growing season. Why does this matter? Aside from having an influence on which plants are suitable for planting zones, it has a much higher societal impact by extending the allergy season.  "As the climate warms from the increase of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the last spring freeze is trending earlier and the first fall freeze is coming later. This means the growing season is getting longer, and so is the pollen season— whether it i...
4 comments
Read more