Look at this shot from Highway 67 in Jacksonville! This is the main 4 lane highway that we all take to Little Rock! If you want a link to all of the road closures in Region 8, CLICK HERE.
Be safe!
RyanFriday, 30 October 2009
Major flooding is ongoing in Hardy on the Spring River and it is getting WORSE!. This flood is already worse than the big flood of 2006, but hopefully not as bad as 2008. The above image shows the current stage, forecast stage, and timeline as of 8:00 AM. It is expected to crest at 18'. Below are the impact statements regarding the flood stages at various points:
22.0 FLOOD IN MARCH 2008 CRESTED AT 22.29 FEET. WATER OVER U.S. HIGHWAY 63 ON EAST SIDE OF TOWN. LOWER LYING BUSINESSES IN OLD TOWN AND CITY HALL FLOODED. WATER OVER SPRING STREET AT BRIDGE. WATER OVER RAILROAD.
20.0 FLOOD IN APRIL 2008 ROSE TO 20.81 FEET. PORTIONS OF OLD TOWN FLOODED. SPRING STREET FLOODED. WATER UNDER MOST ELEVATED HOMES ALONG THE RIVER BANK.
18.0 LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. HOMES AND BUSINESSES ALONG THE RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES WILL BE FLOODED.
16.0 SERIOUS FLOODING IN FULTON AND SHARP COUNTIES ALONG THE RIVER. DANGEROUS SITUATION WITH SWIFT WATER RUNNING THROUGH CAMPGROUND AND UNDER HOMES ALONG THE RIVER. SEPTEMBER 2006 FLOOD CRESTED AT 16.8 FEET. LIFE THREATENING SITUATION.
14.0 HOMES ON PILINGS ALONG THE RIVERBANK HAVE WATER UNDER THEM. RIVER BEND CAMPGROUND AND OTHER LOW LYING RECREATIONAL FACILITIES ARE FLOODED.
12.0 SOME FLOODING IN THE CITY PARK AND IN RIVER BEND CAMPGROUND. WATER MAY BE NEAR HOMES ALONG THE RIVERBANK.
10.0 WATER IS BREAKING OUT OF THE BANKS AND FLOODING LOW LYING AREAS ALONG THE RIVER.
Thursday, 29 October 2009
If you want to see our pumpkins from previous years, there is a dropdown on the right side of the blog to go to Octobers of 2007, 2006, and 2005...
Happy Halloween!
Ryan
PS- If you can't figure out the third pumpkin, CLICK HERE.
1. 72.18" 1957
2. 66.35" 1937
3. 65.39" 1973
4. 65.33" 1906
5. 64.21" 1898
6. 63.75" 1927
7. 62.19" 1945
8. 59.18" 1923
9. 55.73" 1921
10. 55.38" 1970
Stay Dry!
Ryan
Sunday, 25 October 2009
This week looks wet! While some cutting and picking can still be done on Monday, Tuesday is looking wet! THEN, more rain will come on Thursday night into Friday! Before we end this week, we may have 4-5" added to our totals!!! We are already up to the 8th wettest year on record and it is only October! I fully expect to move up a few slots by next weekend. The above image is the 5-Day precip forecast from NOAA.
Farmers are going to be working hard on Monday. If you see them out and about this week when it is raining, give them a hug!
Ryan
Thursday, 22 October 2009
This was actually the second wreck I encountered on my 15 minute drive home. The first did not have any ambulances, so hopefully everyone was ok. It was on Highway 358.
FINALLY, the oddest thing of the night came over the radio scanners in the StormTRACKER. A couple had called the Sheriff's Department after finding a toddler in the middle of the road on Highway 141! It's 11:00 PM on a very rainy night and we have a toddler on the highway.... There are several things I want to say, but I won't. I'm sure you have the same feelings.
There are families in deep pain tonight. It really makes me appreciate the family I have and makes the little things I worry about seem silly.
By the way, as of right now... the toddler is riding around with a Greene County deputy. He's trying to tell them which house is his.
Ryan
Edit- This morning I learned that the victims in the accident were young. For some reason, seeing young people die is harder. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of Candace Scott and Tyler Tritch. Also, Seth Tripod was transported to the hospital. I'm not sure about his condition at this time, but please pray for him and his family. Seth graduated from GCT last year and was the starting QB. I've met him several times while shooting football for GCT. Good kid.
Rain is to blame according to the State Police report.
Saturday, 17 October 2009
I often use the terminology that something "rocks". When I say something rocks, I mean it is cool... it is awesome.. it changes lives.. it puts a smile on faces... it helps... it may even show the awesomeness of God. Let's think of "rocks". They are tough. They stick around for awhile. They are not easily broken. They have endurance.
So, with that said. I went outside as the sun was coming up this morning. (The sun is that big bright ball that use to be in the sky.) As I stepped out to hand my wife some water. I saw three things that rocked.
#1- The sunshine. It rocks! It is vitally important right now. Farmers are falling on their face during one of the wettest years on record! Seeing the sun ROCKS!
#2- A "sale pending" sign. I guess I could say that selling my house rocks, BUT what rocks even more is God's plan. God has a cool plan for my family that I would rather not disclose at this time, but it ROCKS. Don't read into that, because you won't figure anything out. I'll share someday. But believe me, it ROCKS.
#3- I then saw my wife running down the road. She's on about mile 10 or 11 of 12 miles today. She ROCKS on so many levels! She's tough. She has endurance (she puts up with me!). She changes lives. She puts smiles on faces. She has all of the characteristics of something that ROCKS. By the way, she's been training for a race and has done an AWESOME job.
Have a great Saturday,
Ryan
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
We all want a little sunshine. Unfortunately, it may not come for a few days. There is this weird belief that weathermen control the weather. It's either a weird belief or a joke that has been passed down from generation to generation. Belief me, If I controlled the weather, a few things would be true:
- It would be sunny and 75° today.
- I'd be rediculously rich.
- We would never have ice storms.
- I'd take bribes for snow from kids and teachers.
So when will we see a substantial amount of sunshine again? Not "peaks" of sunshine, but full, bright, "put a smile on your face" sunshine? According to the data, it may be several days before we see some good sunshine. The whites and grays indicate "clouds" on BUFKIT. We use BUFKIT to chew up data for us. It's great and everything, but I'm not sold on its "cloud" feature. If you notice, it has us clearing out late on Friday, before "Football Friday Night". Not so fast though...
If I turn off the "clouds" and turn on the Relative Humidity, then I notice something that needs to be watched this time of the year. It's HARD to get the clouds to move out in the Fall. That's just how it is. Do you see the shades of red carrying over into the weekend in the image below??? That very well may be some clouds persisting through the weekend.
With that said, it's a tough forecast. Will we see clouds or clearing? If we clear out, how much warmer will that make the temperatures? Regardless, it will still be a little chilly!
Ryan
Thursday, 8 October 2009
I'm going to be watching the current conditions, visible satellite, and the special lunchtime wx balloon (sounding) in Little Rock today. You can check the statewide currents by clicking here. As of noon, we already had some juicy air, with 70°+ dewpoints overspreading the state. Clouds were breaking up and temperatures were into the upper 70s and low 80s! In addition, low level winds are increasing. Harrison already had wind gusts to 30 mph.
Below is a nerdy weather program we use called BUFKIT. This is the morning run of the NAM model. A few things to note for this evening... First, CAPE is over 2000. Anything over 1500 would concern me today. EHI is a combination index of shear and instability. Anything over 2-3 would concern me today and it is up to 7. Finally, the old classic "Lifted Index" is down to -6 or-7... anything under -3 or -4 is a red flag. IF, and I did say IF this happened... severe weather would be likely. We'll continue to watch everything unfold and I will update my Twitter feed on the right side of my blog...
Below is a nerdy weather program we use called BUFKIT. This is the morning run of the NAM model. A few things to note for this evening... First, CAPE is over 2000. Anything over 1500 would concern me today. EHI is a combination index of shear and instability. Anything over 2-3 would concern me today and it is up to 7. Finally, the old classic "Lifted Index" is down to -6 or-7... anything under -3 or -4 is a red flag. IF, and I did say IF this happened... severe weather would be likely. We'll continue to watch everything unfold and I will update my Twitter feed on the right side of my blog...
Before I sign off, SPC has issued their new outlook. 10% chance of tornadoes has been noted in Region 8. That may not seem that high, but it is when referring to a tornado threat! The blue "hatched" area is a 10% or greater probability of tornadoes EF2 or greater from 25 miles of any given point. That's comforting, right?
I'll be updating Twitter through the day unless we have to go on air.
Stay tuned,
Ryan
PS-Sun just peaked out at my house!
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
NASA has a collision with the moon scheduled for Friday morning! If we did not have clouds and rain in the forecast for Region 8, I would encourage everyone to grab a telescope and check it out. Instead, we will have to watch it on NASA TV.I could ramble on about what I have learned about the mission on the blog, but it's probably better to just send you to NASA for the full summary. Click here to read about the mission.
You can watch it Friday morning on NASA TV at 5:30 AM and coverage starts at 5:00 AM. Here's the link to NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
Ryan
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
As a young boy, I LOVED playing cars! I bet I had 200 cars. In addition to cars, I had cities, railroad tracks, and ramps to go with the cars. A few years ago, my mom surprised me by giving us some of my old cars and a fold-up city. My boys play with that city these days, just like I did when I was a young boy.
While playing "city" with my youngest son today, I noticed this old fire truck. I can remember playing with this exact car when I was his age! As you can tell, it's been called out on a few fires! I'm shocked that it's still around... and drivable! 
While playing "city" with my youngest son today, I noticed this old fire truck. I can remember playing with this exact car when I was his age! As you can tell, it's been called out on a few fires! I'm shocked that it's still around... and drivable! While we played today, I told my son little things about the city we were playing on. I told him that the bank building use to have a third section... I told him that the hand drawn parking spaces were surveyed and striped by me, with a Sharpie. And I told him my favorite places to "live" when I was a kid...
His city has expanded or "sprawled" from when I was his age. If you notice, he has many roads now, stoplights, gas stations, etc. I suppose it's much like the real world. Some things are new, but there are still several things that will never change!
I hope to keep some of their toys around to pass down to their kids. It may not mean much now, but it sure will bring back some memories one day!
Ryan
His city has expanded or "sprawled" from when I was his age. If you notice, he has many roads now, stoplights, gas stations, etc. I suppose it's much like the real world. Some things are new, but there are still several things that will never change!
I hope to keep some of their toys around to pass down to their kids. It may not mean much now, but it sure will bring back some memories one day!Ryan
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Dewpoints surged into the 60s ahead of the storm system tonight. As of midnight, we still have dewpoints in the 60s at my house because the front has not cleared, but look at the dewpoints in the 30s coming into the state from the NW!!! (click image to enlarge)
Remember, dewpoints give us a measurement of the moisture content in the atmosphere. This SHARP drop in dewpoints is going to make for a VERY dry day on Friday. It should feel NICE and comfortable!
Enjoy,
Ryan
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