High Pressure Dominates This Weekend

Good morning and I hope you are staying warm! Current temperatures range from the upper 20s in the Plateau to mid 30s in the valley. As we work through the day, don't anticipate much of a warm up. Most will stay idle with little warming by this afternoon. Looking below, these were the hazards (watches, warnings, advisories) in place last night. As you can see, a MAJOR storm system impacted the eastern quadrant of the US. The southern end contained severe storms including thunderstorms, tornadoes, and flooding. Of course, the biggest threat for us was flooding (which other than a few ongoing minor river floods we faired fine with). Further north and west, ice and sleet were major issues, and further north and west, heavy snow blanketed the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes.

Looking at rainfall totals, they varied. Locations hit the hardest were the far east and the leeward side of the Smokies and into the Carolinas. Much of the valley picked up between 2-4 inches, which came out a bit less than forecast. The drier air held on a bit longer, allowing for less overall accumulations. Overall, we still picked up significant rainfall but with the drier conditions from the previous weeks, the ground was able to soak that up with limited issues (yay!). 

Overall, this storm system was very messy but we came out alright. Most reports indicated between 2-4 inches of rainfall, with our site in particular (West side of Oak Ridge) picking up 2.44". Moving ahead, slightly warmer temperatures will be in the forecast tomorrow, with low 40s and much warmer air by Sunday around 50. Weather conditions will be quiet over the next 5 days, with very limited to no rainfall expected. Our next best shot comes a week from today.

                                                                 Pre-recorded for 5pm show