We’ve joked about how many Fridays have seen rain around here.  Well for humor to be funny there must be kernel of truth to it and the truth is almost stranger than fiction.

After doing some digging we found out that our last dry Friday was all the way back on August 14th.   I couldn’t believe it either and checked it 3 times.  We’ve gone 3 months of Fridays with some degree of rainfall.  To be totally fair 2 of those in early September were just trace amounts and even if you took those as not technically ‘measureable’ the string would be amazing.  But August 14th…I’m still shaking my head over that.  Weather is truly amazing. 

Now combine that with the fewest 70 degree Octobers and the lowest high temperature for the month of July this has been a year for the obscure and incredible!

Our weekend continues to look great…a bit breezy…but warm.

Enjoy the ‘honey do’ weekend.

OK…looking for something fun to do this morning.  Go sit by your favorite bank clock (or your home thermometer will do as well) and watch the temperature leap up this morning.  Considering we’re going to go up about 30 degrees from this morning’s frosty start and, most of that will occur before noon, you are looking at some good old fashioned cheap entertainment. 

And now you know just how exciting the life of your friendly neighborhood weatherguy is…

We’re still on track for a nearly perfect November weekend. 

Enjoy your Friday and the aforementioned weekend and Go Cats (although good luck to the Colonels too!)

And now it begins…

For the first time in a long time we’re going to see a lot of that big glowing thing up in the sky.  The sunshine lasts today and at this point through at least Sunday if not Monday too. 

As for the temperatures…today will be just a hair below normal, tomorrow normal to just above, and then the weekend is looking well above pushing 70 by Sunday.  Where was this pattern in October?

On my way out to an early golf game over at the Golf Club of the Bluegrass.  It’ll be brisk early on, but by the time we wrap up the sun should feel pretty good…assuming I’m in the sun and not looking for the ball in the woods.

Enjoy your Thursday.

After a few showers today that featured a bit of sleet, we’re now kicking into the very small warm sector of a low passing through southern Indiana this afternoon.  So with that we’ll see some sunshine come back the rest of today and temperatures getting into the mid or even pushing some upper 50’s.  The trailing cold front sweeps in this evening with some clouds and a slightly cooler airmass for tomorrow.

The big weekend warm up is very much on tap!

Once we get passed today…ironically hump day…our weather is going to get a whole lot better.

The clouds (with bits of sun) are out there this morning.  The radars are lit up, but most of it is virga…precipitation that evaportates on the way down.  How you can tell what’s virga?  I checked our Maxtrack Live Doppler (which is 2 seconds off of live here online)  and saw there was essentially a doughnut around Lexington…maybe a little something sw Fayette Co.  Compare that to the NWS radar out of Louisville which has a blob o’ stuff (technical weather term) over Lexington.  It has to do with beam height.  The Maxtrack starts at 100 feet up (tower) and is angled upward about 4° so the height increases as it goes away from the radar…plus add the curvature of the Earth for distant targets.  When you see a doughnut (eat it, especially if it’s a Spaldings!) you know at a nearly constant altitude the water is evaporating.  Now the Louisville beam is much higher over Lexington, so it’s seeing the precip, but it can’t see the evaporation underneath.  It’s like putting a puzzle together.  BTW, if you’re reading this at like 4:00 in the afternoon, the above links won’t mean as much, but the “How to find virga’ lesson still holds.

Today’s clouds are with the last cold front we’re going to see for a while.  We get invaded by a decently cold airmass tonight and tomorrow (but the sun returns!) and then the warm up proceeds.  This weekend is looking terrific, and like one of those to get A LOT of winter prep done.

So y’all enjoy a Wednesday with some clouds knowing that a whole bunch of nice is coming your way.

Welcome to November!

We’ve talked at length on just how cold October was so we won’t rehash that anymore.  It was also very wet with between 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 inches of rain around Lexington (offiical versus the Ky Mesonet).  Here’s how wet we’ve been…it could not rain another drop for the rest of the year and we’d still be above normal for 2009.   With all the rain, even though it’s November, the grounds of Stately Meck Manor are still lush. 

With the clear and cold nights river valley fog is a pretty common occurrence.  Cold air is heavier and denser than warm air so at night it can drain into lower eleveations…valleys.  When you combine a moisture source(and a relatively warm one at that) then you create fog.  The valleys can actually end up being several degrees colder than the surrounding slopes and hills which can chill the ambient atmosphere enough so that the temperature and dewpoint can become equal and then…boom…fog, but just where it’s cold enough.  Heading out for Bill’s Weather 1o1 this morning in Mt. Vernon we took the Valley View Ferry which crosses the Kentucky River.  On many Mondays when we’re out early going to the distant towns crossing the Kentucky is pretty common either at Clays Ferry on I-75, when you often drive over the fog, or on US 27 at Camp Nelson where you do drive through some of the fog.  Today it was all the way down to the river, and it was an amazing sight.  While driving on the last ridge before going down you could see the top of the fog (cloud) filling the valley…it just looked like cotton batting.  It was interesting watching the fog rising off the river while crossing on the ferry.  You know our weather is going to be pretty dull when fog is our big topic of conversation.

This week is just what we need.  It’s looking dry (with one little exception) and cool.  After a weak front pushes out early Tuesday we’ll see our highs fall back to the low and mid 50’s with increasing sunshine.  Another cold front will approach quickly Wednesday in this progressive flow and it’s got a bit more going for it.  We’ll see increasing clouds Wednesday with a very slight risk of a shower late Wednesday with that front.  Once it goes by, a big high settles in and is looking to bring an actual warm up this weekend.  We won’t say anything else so we won’t jinx it.

By the way…if you were ever wondering what’s at the end of a rainbow, one of our Storm Trackers from Berea, Jerry Cooper has answered the questions.  Apparently the Irish have bent the truth just a bit about a pot o’ gold at the end. 

There’s a pot…but I don’t think there’s gold in it….and I’m not going to try and find out!

So with that, enjoy your Tuesday.

Halloween has arrived and it’s looking like there may be just a few more treats than tricks weatherwise.  We’ll be seeing a lot of rain around early Saturday but the cold front looks to have a bit of giddy up to it.  This is good news for the trick or treaters prowling the area later today as the rain looks to be moving out as the afternoon goes on.  It’s also good news for the UK game.  It’ll be cool, but the game is looking ok.

Sunday looks like a good beginning to November with sunshine and seasonably cool temperatures and the chill will be around most of the upcoming week…hey it’ll be November!

Friday’s warmth topped out at 79 in Lexington.  It was only the 2nd 70 degree day for the month…as we’ve talked about that’s a record for the fewest 70 degree days in October…the old record was 4 from 1988 & 1925…WOW!

Turn the clocks back before you head to bed Saturday night. 

Cats win 31-17…

Enjoy your weekend and be especially aware driving Saturday evening.

Friday=Rain in the Forecast (actually that works for Saturday too)

A powerful slow moving system is dropping bucket loads of rain to our west and is trudging its way our direction.  The heaviest of the rain with this system will be falling to our west, but still a pretty good soaking looks in store for us Friday night into Saturday.  Lighter rain could arrive as early as Friday afternoon…but those are just scattered showers.

OK…so now that everyone is panicikng about trick or treat and the UK game we may actually catch a break.  First off we do have 100% chance of rain Saturday, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s gonig to rain every minute of the day.  Rain will be falling through the morning but should be tapering off during the afternoon so that by the time trick or treat rolls around and the UK game the heavy-steady rain is gone.  A lingering shower can’t be ruled out, but the worst should be past.

We’ll have a very strong south wind on Friday that will be pumping the warmest air of the month into the Bluegrass.   We’re looking at just our 2nd 70 degree day for the ENTIRE MONTH with a high in the low to mid 70’s.  We will be obliterating the record for the fewest 70 degree days in October…this is an amazing record.

Don’t forget to set your clocks back an hour when you go to bed Saturday night after the CATS victory and trick or treating.  We’re heading back to standard time…so get ready for those early sunsets.  Also, change the batteries in yoru smoke detectors.

Enjoy your Friday and your weekend.  Of course be extra careful Saturday with the trick or treaters…btw if you’re tailgating at Commonwealth Saturday you may want to take some candy along for the little goblins and witches (or whatever the kids are wearing now) that will likely be around trick or treating before the game.

After another pretty good soaking we’ll see improving weather through Wednesday.  The clouds will be slow to clear but some late day sun can’t be ruled out.  When that happens our temperatures should respond to a ‘normal’ high in the low 60’s.

Now this is Pacific air coming in, so we’re in for a nice warm up…and a nice change of pace.  We’ve only had one 70 degree day this month in Lexington (a record) but we’re looking at 2 of them to finish the week.  In fact, Friday should be our warmest day in more than a month.  Considering this is October and and not the middle of winter that is REALLY saying something.  We’re on target for only three days of 70 or higher in Lexington this month with Thursday and Friday forecasted at 70°+…this will go into the record books as the FEWEST 70 DEGREE DAYS in Lexington’s weather records.  The old record was 4 from both 1988 and 1925.  We point out ‘cold hard facts’ (pun intended) of cool records (and major ones at that) just to cool the hype you hear about weather related issues. 

We’ll have a big storm on the map through the end of the week.  Unfortunately it also looks to be slowing down which means the rain arrives later on Friday and also last longer into Saturday.  There is at least possibilities that rain could last into trick or treat times as well as the UK game.  As we get closer to the weekend we’ll hone in on more of the details of timing.

Bill’s Weather 101 stays in Lexington today with a trip to the 6th graders at Jesse Clark Middle.  This is an annual visit that is always a blast. 

So with all that in mind…enjoy your Wednesday.

If it’s a Monday it must be a travel day for Bill’s Weather 101.  Today it was down to Monticello in Wayne County.  With the surrounding hills it’s a truly beautiful spot in the Cumberland Valley…but A LONG way from Lexington.  The round trip was about 4 1/2 hours…or most of the way to St. Louis…where the Mecklette will be playing soccer this weekend.  Anyway, it’s always great to head there for BW101.

We had 2 whole nice days in a row…but don’t expect 3.  A combination of a cold front coming in from the west and a moisture laden low coming up from the Gulf will bring thickening clouds to your Tuesday.  Rain will be overspreading the area from south to north as Tuesday goes on.  The bulk of the rain looks to be Tuesday night with some lingering showers into early Wednesday. 

The aforementioned cold front has Pacific air behind it, so once the sun comes back on Wednesday the thermometer should respond nicely.  We could even pick up another 7o degree day or 2 late in the week.  Regardless we should be looking at the fewest number of 70 degree days in October…Later this week I’ll repost the decadal temperature records for Lexington for our climate refresher course.  Last Friday night I MC’d an event for the American Lung Association and one of the doctors there started asking me about the whole climate question, so as a service to him…and all mankind for that matter…I’ll get our historical facts back online again.

Did anyone else notice how quickly the leaves came down.  I went to work Friday with a tree full of leaves and got home Friday night to a bare tree and a yard full of leaves.  Unfortunately the wind didn’t blow them in to Mike’s yard, so Sunday was leaf pick up day #1.  Only the ash tree  let go, but my maples are still green.  BTW, if you have an ash tree make sure you get it treated for the emerald ash borer (is that like a bug that just shows lots of home movies of his vacation?)…I’ll sit back and wait for you to get that joke….

For those of you that do that kooky facebook thing, we do have a weather page on there now.  We do put a webcast on there, so it does have a bit more than just the bloggy thingy here. http://www.facebook.com/billsweather

What’s been really interesting with facebook is I’ve been able to contact my 5th grade teacher (who I still mention by name in all my Bill’s Weather 101 presentations) and basically thank her.  That is something that a lot of us don’t get the opportunity to do…thank the teachers that were such a strong influence on us during our formative years.  I”ve thanked Mrs. Wormley but now I need to thank Miss Jensen (kindergarten teacher who I just saw a couple of years ago and she said she remembered me wanting to be a weatherguy even then…I thought it was 1st grade), Mrs. King, Ms Johnson, Mrs. Watkins, Mrs. Good (we had a Mrs. Good & Mrs. Best both 4th grade teachers…go figure), Mrs. Myers from grade school.  Mr. Hension (sp?) gets the thanks for getting me involved in drama in jr. high evne though I had to wear tights as the ‘handsome prince’ (insert your favorite joke here ________) and Mrs. Ahuja gets a gold star for trying to teach me to sing…obviously didn’t succeed, but she had to listen to a lot of bad vocalizing.  A big thank you goes out to kindly old Mr. Barnes for putting up with me for 4 years in high school with radio, and plays.  Mrs. Barnes gets a big thank you for speech team and just being nice.

There are of course many others through the years.  If you ever do get the chance, thank your teachers.  You’ll be surprised how many of them remember you…and they really are some of the greatest people on Earth.  When teachers tell me after a BW101 I should have been a teacher I thank them for such a high compliment, but then gently defer and say I only deal with them for an hour and give them back…you have them all day-every day and that’s not an easy job…and kids reading this…go ahead and hug your teacher today too and tell them thanks.  You may not like the homework, but all they’re trying to do is get you guys ready for this kooky nutty real world out here.

Well that ought to do it for today’s teacher love-fest.  Enjoy a somewhat wet Tuesday!