Weather

We’ve seen a few rain showers across our area so far today, but that’s about to change. Many thunderstorms are to our west with Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, and I have a feeling we’ll see that continuing for us this evening. Welcome to the Tri-Cities Weather Blog forecast for tonight through Friday!

At 5:30 this afternoon, there was a storm in Hancock County south of Sneedville that produced hail the size of ping pong balls…or larger than quarters and smaller than golf balls. So that area all the way through most of Hawkins County will be under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 6:15 this evening. At the same time, other thunderstorms were lined up to the west in Claiborne, Campbell and Scott Counties, into Anderson, Union and Knox Counties. Between that and the eastern Kentucky storms with possible issues for Southwest Virginia, it could be a loud night storm-wise.

A cold front is approaching us, and that’s what is causing all this madness. That front moves through tomorrow morning, thus ending the storms for a few days. Here’s the outlook:

• Tonight-Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Low 65. Severe storms are possible, mainly damaging winds and hail.
• Tuesday-Partly to mostly cloudy, rain showers are likely mainly in the morning hours. High 75.
• Tuesday night-Becoming partly cloudy. Lows near 50.
• Wednesday-Mostly sunny, highs near 80.
• Thursday-Mostly sunny, high 84.
• Friday-Partly cloudy, maybe a thunderstorm in the mountains in the afternoon. High 85.

So the main focus on this forecast is Monday night, obviously, with storms moving through. They’ll happen this evening, then there’s another line out there for later on, if it stays together. These storms have a history of knocking down trees, which could also affect power lines as well. Very heavy rain, lots of lightning and hail are possible as well. With regard to hail size, it’s generally figured that hail the size of quarters has the chance of damaging things outdoors, mainly cars. So that’s the reason for the quarter-sized hail being a severe weather criterion.

The best chances for storms are from 6 PM to midnight…so we might get one round of storms in, get the kids to bed, and another round happens. So be prepared for whatever that might cause overnight. Some kids are scared of storms and need you around, others can sleep through a nuclear blast and not wake up. Be sure you know which one yours are, and plan accordingly!

The cold front moves through tomorrow, so Tuesday should look better as it goes on. There should be considerable clouds for most of the day, so it’s likely that we don’t get close to 80 tomorrow afternoon. We will get close to that Wednesday with sunshine, and back toward average for Thursday and Friday. Sunshine is likely for Thursday, with partly cloudy skies and that small chance of rain for Friday.

Thanks for checking here for the forecast! I typically go on the air for tornado warnings only at this time, but I’ll tweet severe thunderstorm warnings as long as they’re up. Check my Twitter feed on the right side of the page for more on that. Stay safe tonight, and have a great Tuesday!