Olympic Heat for a Day

First off, a correction! J.B. Miller was kind enough to invite me on his show last Friday and I thanked him by writing 97.1 not 97.9 in my blog. Frankly, I have his station on my speed radio dial in my car, and should know it is Magic 97.9, the fastest growing radio station in Tri-State history, so they say!

Now it’s onward and upward to new heights. Since last week, we have been touting this Tuesday as one of the hottest days of the summer. Our forecast has steadfastly predicted mid 90s for highs. If it gets that hot, we will indeed brave the hottest day of the summer.

That forecast looks on track, though we may have to dodge an early morning and late afternoon storm in parts of the region to get there.

Since the air is turning super-hot, it will be capable of thundery weather anyplace, anytime starting Tuesday and lasting until a fall-like cold front passes on Wednesday. That means any storm can create street flooding from a sudden torrential downpour, power hits from streaks of dangerous lightning and perhaps a few violent wind gusts.

When we talk severe thunderstorms, keep in mind the severe usually occurs at small scales, so the percentage of places actually reporting damaging conditions is relatively small. Last Saturday morning for example, it was Northern Gallia and Southern Meigs that had the flooding and pockets of Northern Kanawha and Southern Roane that had the wind.

We will keep a close eye with Marina in the morning to see where and when thunderstorms in Western Ohio will be tracking. Odds again favor Southern Ohio and Central WV but until those cells are squarely in the crosshairs of our 3D Doppler Radar scope, we can not time or place them with sureity.

Once these storms pass, a taste of early fall is set to slowly arrive late week and may last into next week. So kids use Tuesday as a sure fire day to enjoy the pool.

By the way, if we hit 93 as forecasted on Tuesday, we will experience the hottest temperatures of the summer as mentioned earlier. You might call these Olympic caliber temperatures! And it is the weather and specifically the haze and smog of the Beijing Olympics that will be my focus on Friday with my weekly special story on First at Five and here at WSAZ.COM.

EARLY BEIJING WEATHER ALERT

My early call is for a very humid and thundery first weekend of the Olympic games. Thanks to my trusty European weather model, I see a constant wind off the Yellow Sea acting like a moisture pump into Beijing much as a flow from the Gulf into our area. There is also a possible tropical storm forming in the East China Sea. Add it up and I see some delays for indoor pool events (clear the pool when thunder is around) and some for outdoor track and field events.

More to come as we get closer to the weekend but don't be surprised if you see umbrellas up and a downpour for the parade of nations.