7Stormteam Weather Blog

A Wet Week Ahead....

Skies have begun clearing this morning in the wake of a cold front that moved through overnight.  This front brought a narrow line of quick passing showers to parts of the area before sunrise, and cooler temperatures to our northern viewing area.  However, this break in the rain and warmer temperatures is very short lived as moisture and clouds will begin spilling back into the area later tonight.  Then the forecast begins to get a bit complicated.

The front that moved through this morning will actually stall out today and lift back north as a warm front Tuesday night.  This, combined with an upper level disturbance moving through SE Texas, will result in numerous showers and thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon and evening.

We will likely see a lull in the rain late Tuesday night, but it’s not over yet!  The grand finale will come Wednesday afternoon/evening in the form of another cold front and associated low pressure center that will track near SW Louisiana Wednesday.  The atmosphere will be so juicy that another heavy rain/flash flooding scenario could be the result in a few locations Wednesday.  Conservative estimates of 1-2 inches of rain look likely with locally higher totals. 

There is also the concern for the potential for some storms to turn severe on Wednesday.  While all the ingredients aren’t necessarily coming into play to signal a severe weather outbreak on Wednesday, I won’t rule out a few isolated severe storms with the main concern being damaging wind gusts and/or a few tornadoes.  Rain will come to an end on Thursday behind the front, and temperatures will drop back to seasonal averages by the end of the week.

Mars to dance with the Moon tonight...

From http://www.space.com/14237-moon-mars-meet-night-sky-tips.html

Skywatchers who venture outside tonight (Jan. 13)  after 11 p.m. local time and look east-southeast will likely take notice of the waning gibbous moon and a very bright yellowish-orange "star" glowing well above and to its left. That "star," however, is actually the Red Planet, Mars. 

In truth, the apparent distance between our natural satellite and the world named after the Roman god of war will not be very close. The two will be separated by about 10 degrees; that's roughly the width of your clenched fist held at arm's length. The sky map of Mars and the moon here shows how they will appear this evening.

What will make this a rather eye-catching configuration is the brightness of Mars at magnitude -0.1; it now appears to mimic the brilliant star Arcturus both in brightness as well as color. Beginning after midnight you can make a direct comparison, as Arcturus will shine 40 degrees, or "four fists," below and to the left of Mars. 

Even for those who view the night sky with more than a casual glance, seeing Mars stand out so brightly relative to the moon will likely be a surprise. [Our Solar System: A Photo Tour of the Planets]

After all, for much of the fall and winter, Mars has appeared as nothing more than a moderately bright star. But from now through the early part of March, Mars will "flame on" as it rapidly approaches the Earth. By Valentine's Day, Mars will have doubled in brightness to magnitude 0.9 and its fiery hue will seem even more intense.

Right now, Mars is right at the borderline between the constellations Leo and Virgo. It appears highest in the south around 4 a.m. This is the best time of night to look at it through a telescope, but you can also get an impressive naked-eye view when it rises like an orange ember, almost due east, mid-evening at around 9:45 p.m. 

Mars will officially enter Virgo's boundaries Sunday (Jan. 15), but its stay there will be relatively short. 

On Jan. 24 the Red Planet will appear to become stationary against the background stars and then begin to retrograde or loop backward toward the west. In the next 81 days (until April 15) Mars will move back into Leo, appearing to come within 4.5 degrees of the bright star Regulus when it halts and resumes its normal eastward trek among the stars.

Although Mars will be getting increasingly impressive-looking each day, this apparition of the planet is nearly the most distant in its 16-year cycle of close and far oppositions. 

Mars is at aphelion (its farthest from the sun) Feb. 15, so it will come no closer to Earth than 62.6-million miles (101-million kilometers) March 5. 

But keep this in mind when you see it poised high above the moon late tonight: Mars will be 86-million miles (138-million km) from us. And from now until March 5 it will be getting gradually closer to us by an average of about 459,000 miles (738,000 km) each day.

If you have an amazing skywatching photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.

Images from the southwest Louisiana flooding of Monday 1/9/2012

6.26" of rain was recorded in Lake Charles on Monday January 9, 2012.
The highest daily rainfall ever recorded in January was on 1/24/1915 at 6.60"

This was taken at 6th Ave. and 2nd. St. in Lake Charles.  A mother and her child had to be rescued from the vehicle.  It appears she turned too soon into a ditch instead of the intersection.

Outside the studios of KPLC Monday afternoon.

Oakhurst Mobile Home Park. Hwy 90 by Manchester Rd.  Monday 4:30 PM

Low ragged clouds taken at the Lake Charles Regional Airport during the heavy rain storm.

Backyard of a home on Hwy 14 and Chloe Rd.

Ryan Street during the 5PM rush hour on Monday.

Front yard of a mobile home on E Burton St. in Sulphur

Boat launch near Rossignol Rd in Bell City

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Thank you to everyone who submitted your flood photos!  If you have more please send them in to weather@kplctv.com !

Ben Terry - 7Stormteam Meteorologist

 

Orion testing continues...

Here is the link from Nasa to this story: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/mpcv/orion-droptest-jan06.html

After six months of testing, an 18,000 pound (8,165 kg) Orion mockup took its final splash into NASA Langley Research Center's Hydro Impact Basin on Jan. 6.

Orion, the next deep space exploration vehicle, will carry astronauts into space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel, and ensure safe re-entry and landing.

The testing, which began in July 2011, simulated different water landing scenarios and took into account different velocities, parachute deployments, entry angles, sea states and wind conditions that Orion could face when landing in the Pacific Ocean.

The January 6 test represented worst case landing for an abort scenario in rough seas. The test impact conditions simulated all parachutes being deployed with a high impact pitch of 43 degrees. The capsule traveled approximately 47 mph (75.6 kph) before splashing into the basin and rolling over into the Stable 2 position.

This type of landing scenario isn't likely to occur during actual vehicle operation, but is essential for the validation of analytical models. As was the case with Apollo, the Orion flight design will feature an onboard up-righting system.

Big rain event for Monday and Tuesday

Southwest Louisiana is in the target zone for quite a bit of rain over the next couple of days.  A vigorous low pressure system that will push into West Texas on Monday will begin our initial round of rain overnight tonight into early Monday morning.  Rain will continue off and on all day Monday and Monday night.  The area of low pressure and associated cold front will push through southwest Louisiana on Tuesday morning bringing our rain chances to end during the day on Tuesday. 

This image is the surface map valid Tuesday morning.  Note the position of the low pressure center and associated cold front in relation to southwest Louisiana.  It will be Tuesday before the front pushes through.  Once this occurs, our rain chances will quickly diminish.

With an already over-abundance of moisture in the air, verified by the dense fog the past few mornings, we could see widespread rain totals from 2-3 inches by Tuesday morning.  Even though we continue in a persistent drought, some localized street flooding is possible especially in poor drainage areas. 

 The following is an image courtesy of NOAA that displays the forecast rainfall totals over the entire duration of the event Monday and Tuesday.

Today would be a good day to do a visual check on storm drains and clear any leaves or debris that could block the flow of water into storm drains and culverts on your property grounds.

Although, atmospheric ingredients are not place for a big outbreak of severe weather, we could see a few storms that try to rotate or produce damaging straight line winds.  Therefore, there is a slight risk of tornadoes and damaging winds in some of the storms that push through on Monday.

This image is courtesy of NOAA.  The shaded area indicates the best location for any severe weather that could develop with the storm on Monday.

The KPLC 7Stormteam will be on alert all day Monday and Tuesday monitoring all the storms as they pass through the area notifying you if anything severe threatens the area.

 To track all the rain as it moves through the area, download our 7StormTeam weather app for the iPhone and Android.  It’s a free download in the app store.  You can also view the latest radar anytime by going to www.kplctv.com/weather.

Freezing weather forecast for SWLA on Tuesday morning

KPLC meteorologists are calling for temperatures tonight to fall into the mid 20s for southwest Louisiana north of I-10 and below freezing to its south.




The National Weather Service has also called for a Hard Freeze Warning for Beauregard, Allen, Evangeline, St. Landry, Vernon, Rapides and Avoyelles Parishes from midnight Tuesday until 9:00am.

The National Weather Service has called for a Freeze Warning for south Louisiana including Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis, Acadia, Lafayette, St. Martin, Cameron, Vermilion, Iberia, St. Mary, and Assumption Parishes.

A Hard Freeze Warning means temperatures in the mid 20s or colder are imminent or highly likely. These conditions will kill sensitive vegetation. To prevent freezing and possible bursting of outdoor water pipes...pipes should be wrapped or drained.

A Freeze Warning means sub-freezing temperatures are imminent or highly likely. Take measures to protect plants by covering them or bringing them inside. Also pets should be protected or moved indoors. Be careful heating your home. Space heaters need to be kept 36 inches away from anything that can burn. Turn it off when you leave the room or go to bed. People need to dress warmly or be in a safely heated place.

Temperatures in the hard freeze warning will be below 27 degrees for 3-6 hours and below freezing for up to 8-10 hours.




Conditions are expected to warm above freezing Tuesday afternoon and remain there for the rest of the week into next week.

You can find more details on tonight's forecast on KPLC Meteorologist Kristian Claus' Facebook Page by [CLICKING HERE] 

You can find the full 7-day forecast at kplctv.com by [CLICKING HERE]

Copyright 2011 KPLC. All rights reserved.

Your New Years Eve Forecast

Fog was an issue again this morning and lingered for so long the National Weather Service decided to extend the Dense Fog Advisory through 11:00 AM.  As a result of the deep layer of rich Gulf of Mexico moist air being pumped back into southwest Louisiana, a few showers have even begun popping up over land this morning defying all computer model forecasts as well as my previous thinking. 

These are very quick passing showers and should only last 5 minutes at the most before moving off to the NE and will likely come to an end altogether this afternoon. 

A warm spring-like day will be felt with high temperatures ranging from the upper 60s to low 70s.  Tonight skies will become cloudy with areas of dense fog again developing overnight.  Overnight low temperatures will bottom out in to upper 50s.  We will see temperatures tomorrow warm slightly into the 60s ahead of an approaching cold front early New Year's Day morning. 

There is a slight chance we could more showers early tomorrow morning with the passage of the front.  Colder temperatures will move in during the day and will likely drop into the 50s by afternoon.   

Another reinforcing shot of cold air will spill into the area by Monday and that will likely result in sub-freezing temperatures by Tuesday morning area-wide except for the immediate coastline. 

And remember, you can always find the latest radar image by visiting www.kplctv.com/weather anytime!

Have a happy 2012!

-Ben Terry

Lake Charles Rainfall Over Past 15 Years

Let’s take a look back over the past 15 years at rainfall in Lake Charles and see just how much rain we have received over that time period.

Here’s a breakdown year by year starting in 1997.  Keep in mind, the normal yearly rainfall for Lake Charles is 57.19”.

YEAR	RAINFALL RECORDED	SURPLUS OR DEFICIT
1997	65.70”	+10.86”
1998	56.58”	+1.74”
1999	37.38”	-17.46”
2000	48.36”	-6.48”
2001	62.87”	+8.03”
2002	85.17”	+29.98
2003	44.10”	-13.09”
2004	68.73”	+11.54”
2005	46.05”	-11.14”
2006	56.97”	-0.22”
2007	67.65”	+10.46”
2008	44.43”	-12.76”
2009	73.55”	+15.31”
2010	35.85”	-21.34”
2011	38.64”	-18.53”
15 YEAR TALLY	832.03”	-25.85”

 

So over the past 15 years, we have received 832.03” out of the normal 857.85” expected.  That puts us at receiving just at 96% of the normal rain over the past 15 years combined.

HURRICANE LILI FROM 2002

In 2002, we were 29.98” above average on rainfall.  21.45” of that total rain fell in October 2002 thanks to Hurricane Lili.

In 2009, we were 15.31” above average on rainfall.  14.96” of that total fell in October 2009 due to a significant rain event that caused widespread flooding across the Lake Charles area.

FLOODING IN WESTLAKE FROM OCTOBER 2009

Ironically, the years of Hurricane Rita (2005) and Ike (2008), we actually ended the year in a deficit of rain both years.

I just thought this was kind of interesting to look back and see how the numbers lined up year by year.

Happy New Year!

-Meteorologist Ben Terry

A Cold Rainy Christmas...

Earlier this week I was leaning toward a dry Christmas day, but the computer models were trying to push the low pressure system out of the area too quickly.  What has actually transpired is a slower than anticipated setup resulting in a damp, soggy, cold forecast for tonight and Christmas day.  In fact, rain showers will likely linger on and off through Monday.  Cold rain and blustery conditions will be the forecast for Sunday with highs in the low 50s and lows in the 40s.  By Tuesday, the forecast improves tremendously and highs will slowly warm back into the 60s by mid week.  More showers are possible again by next weekend.

Something else worth mentioning is rainfall amounts.  We are looking at possibly a good widespread 1-2 inches of rainfall with this system with some isolated amounts of 2.5” possible.  

As aggravating as can be to have rain on Christmas Day, keep in mind how dry it’s been in 2011.  We average over 55 inches of rain for an entire year in Lake Charles.  So far in 2011, we have only received 37 inches putting us at a near 20 inch yearly deficit.

So far in December we have already received over 3 inches of rainfall so any additional rain we see between now and the end of the year will greatly help reduce the yearly deficit and help tremendously with our overall drought situation.

Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis

Here is a link to a website with some awesome pictures from inside the Space Shuttle Atlantis as crews work to prepare it to be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center.  There are multiple pictures from inside the Shuttle that you probably have never seen before.  This is super cool to see!!!  Go check it out… http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-121911a.html

Here is one example from the website: