Weight Watcher Storms

A complex of thunderstorms has moved from the St. Louis area to parts of southeast Missouri and southern Illinois. The line appears to have joined Weight Watchers and is thinning. I don't expect much in the way of severe weather.

Here is a view of the radar image from the Paducah NWS radar site at 11:55am CT.


The Storm Prediction Center isn't anticipating having to issue a watch for the line of storms, however they are keeping an eye on the area. There doesn't appear to be as much instability across the area as compared to the last couple of days. One of the biggest reasons is the cloud cover blanketing the area.

I'm in for Bob this afternoon and evening, so check in on Heartland News at 5, 6, and 10 and of course on KFVS12.com/weather for the latest.

Sunday Morning Tornado Warning

We've got some storms moving in to the KFVS viewing area this morning.

A Tornado Warning is in effect until 10:45am CT for parts of St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve counties in southeast Missouri. Some of the cities included in the warning include Farmington, Weingarten, Libertyville, and Coffman.

Here is a look at the radar image from the St. Louis NWS site at 10:23am this morning.


The warning is based off of radar and nothing has been spotted. I've been keeping an eye on it and I haven't noticed too much rotation with the storm.

The complex of storms is beginning to move in to southern Illinois and further south in to southeast Missouri. The big question is how much momentum is there behind the complex and how long will it hold together. I wouldn't be surprised to see the complex start to fizzle out in the next hour or so. However, the complex is moving in to a fairly unstable air mass.

At its current speed and motion rain will start to move in to Carbondale, Il, Benton, Il, and Greenville, Mo around 11:05am, and if the storm continues to hold together Cape Girardeau, Mo around 11:35am, Bloomfield, Mo around 11:40am. (All times approximate.)

Currently, there is a Severe Thunderstorm Watch that is in effect until 1pm CT that includes the following counties in southeast Missouri: Iron, Madison, Reynolds, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve and in southern Illinois: Randolph and Washington.

Storms tonight?

The Storm Prediction Center has included most of the KFVS viewing area (southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, northwest Tennessee, northeast Arkansas, and western Kentucky) in a "Slight Risk" area for severe thunderstorm development.


The outlook from SPC runs from now through 7am CT Friday.

The main threat appears to be damaging wind from storms that develop.

Severe Thunderstorm Watch #450

The Storm Prediction Center has issued Severe Thunderstorm Watch #450 for southern Missouri. The watch is in effect until 4:00pm CT Sunday. It includes parts of southeast Missouri.


A complex of thunderstorms has developed southeast of Kansas City. The thought is that the storms could continue to move/develop south/southeast along a semi-stalled front that runs from roughly the Missouri bootheel to northwest Missouri.

The main threat from the thunderstorms will be damaging wind and large hail up to 2" in diameter. Storms are expected to move east/southeast at 45 mph.

Just a reminder... You can get severe weather watches and warnings sent to you instantly via Facebook and Twitter for free. Just "like" KFVS Weather Alerts on Facebook and follow kfvsweather on Twitter.

The Rain Dance

If you have been doing a rain dance it looks like it might be paying off. Forecast models are hinting at up to an 1.4" of rain could fall from Sunday evening through Tuesday morning.

Here is a breakdown of the rainfall amounts from several different forecast models and the National Weather Service forecast for a few locations across the KFVS viewing area. Click on the image to see a larger version.

The different colored lines are different runs of the forecast models. Use the legend at the right of the graphic to see which color represents which model/forecast.

Cape Girardeau, Mo:


Farmington, Mo:


Paducah, Ky:


Before anyone asks, I don't have any data for the Missouri bootheel. There are only a couple of sites across the viewing area I have to work with using the type of data from above.

This is the same type of data I showed on the blog during the winter. Instead of the above images (meteograms) showing the accumulated snowfall these show the accumulated precipitation.

Hot Enough

Is it hot enough for you? Believe it or not, I have had several people tell me they like this hot and humid weather. Personally, I'll pass. Put it back in the middle to upper 80's and drop the dew points to the 50's and I'd be much happier.

June turned out to be a hot month for the entire KFVS viewing area. Take a look at some of the statistics:

Cape Girardeau, Mo:

• Average temperature: 80.7
• Departure from normal: +5.0
• Days above 90: 19
• Days above 94: 9
• Warmest day of month: 97 (6 times: 13, 14, 15, 21, 22, 26)
• Monthly rainfall: 1.66"

Carbondale, Il:

• Average temperature: 79.9
• Departure from normal: +7.2
• Days above 90: 16
• Days above 94: 6
• Warmest day of month: 95 (6 times: 12, 14, 15, 21, 22, 26)
• Monthly rainfall: 3.34" (1.43" below normal)

Paducah, Ky:

• Average temperature: 79.6
• Departure from normal: +5.1
• Days above 90: 13
• Days above 94: 0
• Warmest day of month: 94 (3 times: 20, 21, 22)
• Monthly rainfall: 2.74" (1.77" below normal)

Poplar Bluff, Mo:

• Average temperature: 82.4
• Departure from normal: +6.4
• Days above 90: 24
• Days above 94: 13
• Warmest day of month: 99 (2 times: 20, 21)
• Monthly rainfall: 0.55" (3.41" below normal)

June 2009 saw similar numbers and then July ended up below normal. Keep your fingers crossed if you want some cooler weather!

Plastic, Plastic, Everywhere

Have you ever wanted to see a couple LARGE pieces of plastic? If so, you should come to the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport Satuday.

In preparation for the U.S. Navy Blue Angels' arrival at the 2010 Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival we have to roll out a 5,000 foot by 40 foot piece of plastic and place it next to one of the runways. That's 200,000 square feet of plastic. That's a lot of plastic!

Needless to say, we are in need of volunteers to help lay out the plastic and get it weighted down. We have a few thousand bricks and pave stones that will hold it down. The more people we can get to help, the quicker the process will go.

If you can volunteer, be at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport at 8am this Saturday (June 12) and meet at the Cape Aviation building.

Up, Up, and Away

I am floating on cloud nine. It looks like I am going to get to cross off number one from my "bucket list".

Friday I received a call from the United States Navy. They called to tell me that I have been approved to ride in the backseat of a F/A-18 with the U. S. Navy Blue Angels! I have wanted to do this since I was probably 10 or 11.

What does this mean? It means that I get to ride in the back of a $20-million fighter jet. It means that I get to fly along just under the speed of sound. It means I get to pull 7 to 7.5 G's. It means I get to puke and black out all for fun!

I will be going up in the #7 Blue Angel F/A-18 Wednesday, June 16 around 4:00pm CT. I would be willing to bet that sometime later that night I will have some video posted to my blog so you can have a good laugh.

The reason the Blue Angels are going to be in town is because they will be performing at the Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival June 19 and 20. This is the first time the Blue Angels have been back to perform at the air show in 18 years (1992). Make sure you plan to attend this year's air show because who knows how long it will be before the Blue Angels come back to perform.

You can purchase advance tickets (and save 20%) at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitor's Bureau, Rhodes 101 stores and online at www.capeairfestival.com.

I apologize for the lack of posts lately here on the blog. One of the main reasons the blog is because I have been involved in getting things put together for the air show. I have been working on the publicity side and also am serving as the publicity liason with the Blue Angels while they are in Cape Girardeau. (The other reasons for the lack of activity on the blog is I took some time off from work and also because the weather has been relatively quiet.)