It’s not like you can’t go outside, but you must remember a few rules. The heat can really “sneak up” on you.

1) Wear light colored clothing.

2) Don’t overexert yourself and get in the shade often.

3) Drink plenty of water.

4) Try to avoid caffeine and alcohol. They make you feel good briefly, but actually make the effects of heat worse, especially beer which dehydrates the body.

5) Take a break and go inside in the air conditioning occasionally.

For more from the American Red Cross
click here.

And now for the Air Quality Advisory:

TNZ005009-025030-057-059-062-063-250500-
AIR QUALITY INDEX STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
220 PM CDT SAT JUL 23 2005

…CODE ORANGE OZONE FORECAST ISSUED FOR SUNDAY…

THE TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION IN
NASHVILLE HAS ISSUED A CODE ORANGE HEALTH ADVISORY DUE TO
OZONE FOR MUCH OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE…INCLUDING THE GREATER
NASHVILLE AND CLARKSVILLE AREAS…EFFECTIVE FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT
UNTIL MIDNIGHT SUNDAY. THIS CODE ORANGE HEALTH ADVISORY IS FOR
OZONE LEVELS FORECAST TO BE IN THE UNHEALTHY RANGE FOR SENSITIVE
GROUPS.

THE TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION RECOMMENDS
THAT ACTIVE CHILDREN AND ADULTS…AND PEOPLE WITH LUNG DISEASE SUCH
AS ASTHMA…SHOULD LIMIT PROLONGED OUTDOOR EXERTION.

Most of the heavy rain, quick passing gusty winds and lightning have moved away from Middle Tennessee for the time being. Had just a few isolated reports of small branches off of trees and garbage cans moved around but nothing serious as far as we can tell.

As sunshine breaks back out, readings will climb quickly. With highs back into the lower 90’s and all that humidity around more scattered storms will be possible this afternoon. The Storm Prediction Center took us away from “slight risk” today probably just due to lack an exact location to focus on. Read that here: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/day1otlk.html

All indications are any storms that do develop will move from north to south and around 20 mph meaning the threat of flooding will be limited. Main threats would be frequent lightning and possible gusty winds.

Looks like a much easier precipitation forecast for this weekend…nothing!

A cluster of showers and storms developed in Illinois last night and will push south through Kentucky and into Middle Tennessee. While no watches are currently in effect, heavy rain, lightning and wind gusts near 40 mph will accompany these storms during the morning commute. We have added the National Weather Service radar above and you can get the latest warnings if they are issued here: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bna/

Tough to say if after these storms move through if we will see the possibility of others developing later this afternoon. The Storm Prediction Center has put us under slight risk of severe weather today: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/day1otlk.html
Look for an update on this outlook after 8 am.

After the storms today it’s “full steam” ahead into the weekend. It’s been mentioned all week: highs in the mid 90’s, a heat index well over 100 degrees. Obviously, this is not one of those weekends you’re going to want to make a lot of outdoors plans. Please use common sense, we haven’t seen these types of conditions in almost three years!

With heat like this…not all heat waves are created equal. In the northern U.S. the official defination of “heat wave” is three consecutive days at or above 90 degrees. That doesn’t wash in Las Vegas or here for that matter. So what’s a definition we can all use? Here goes:

heat wave: Three or more straight days where the high temperature exceeds the middle point between the normal high for that date and its record high.

Example for today…Our normal high for today (and the next several days) is 90 degrees and our record high is 103 set back in 1952. For today to qualify we would need a high above 96 degrees. Probably not…but assuming similar readings this weekend, Saturday through Monday will qualify!

So what will it take for us to actually hit 100 degrees? A couple of things:
1) An extended period of dry weather ahead of the heat- low soil moisture means the temperature will shoot up faster. We had that before Arlene and Dennis made a much needed visit.
2) A warm start to the day- a running start on temperatures early in the day (near or above 80) makes it a shorter climb to the magic 100.
3) Strong southwesterly winds- while rare in these types of summer patterns, it does help feed in even warmer air from the hotter southwest.

So who hits 100 degrees this weekend? While you may see a 100 reading on those normally warmer local bank thermometers (a topic for another day,) our neighborbors to the west Jackson, Memphis and Tupelo have the best chance. Sunday seems to be the peak of the heat, although they may make another run at it Monday. Best guess for the warmest reading we’ll see in Middle Tennessee will probably be in th 98 degree range south and west of Nashville on Sunday….how about Centerville? We’ll find out Monday…

Tropical Storm Franklin has developed east of Florida. This is the earliest a 5th named storm has developed in the Atlantic Basin! Details here: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Thank you so much for your comments yesterday on your Plan B for weather information…we always like to know more about our fellow “weather geeks.” (That’s a kind term!)

Stay cool out there!!!

I love those weekends where I can use the weather as an excuse to not catch up on the lawn and garden…usually it’s lots of rain stopping me, not this weekend. As one more service we provide, I’ll give you the three good reasons why this weekend may be a better weekend to catch a movie, head to a restaurant or do some house cleaning than to “enjoy” the sunshine.

1) Temperatures: we’ll be as hot as we have been for any three day stretch since August 3rd-5th of 2002 (highs of 96, 96, 97.) http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ohx/f6/0802.htm If you haven’t had this type of weather in a while, you’re not used to it.

2) Humidity: Dewpoints will be in the lower 70’s this weekend pushing the heat index (Davis and I explain this below) to an uncomfortable above 100 degree level each afternoon. A heat advisory will probably be be in effect.

3) Poor Air Quality: For the first time in a few years our air quality may go unhealthy due to pollutants and low level ozone in the air. We’ll keep you up to date on that throughout the weekend on News 2.

If you do have to be outdoors this weekend: drink plenty of water, take some breaks in the air conditioning or shade, do those outdoor activities very early or late in the day and keep an eye on the pets and elderly.

Scary thought of the day: If we hadn’t seen the rain from Arlene and Dennis in the last 5 weeks, the soil would be so dry (drought) that these mid 90 highs would easily have been triple digits!

The tropics have started to quiet down (albeit briefly.) Emily is now a tropical depression and raining itself out in the mountains of Mexico. The Huricane Center is watching another area in the Atlantic for possible development over the next few days: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

One comment and one question:
While the heat and humidity of summer truly kick in I am left without some of my normal motivation…my school visits. My schedule is wide open for the upcoming school year…if you are or know a teacher that would like me to come visit during a weather unit, just flip me an e-mail: kskarupa@wkrn.com

I’m very curious as to where you get your weather information when the local TV stations aren’t doing news. Whether it’s cable, radio or the internet, I’d love to know. Me? I watch the weather channel on weekends that adverse weather is going on somewhere (Hurricane Dennis two weekends ago) and I’ll go to the internet to look at the computer maps even when I’m off the clock (what a geek huh?)

The News 2 City Cam looks quite different than yesterday, when storms broke out during the morning hours.

Yesterday’s storms cooled temperatures to the 70’s. But today, we’ll be back in the 90’s with a heat index in the upper 90’s to near 100 during the afternon.
The heat index is a fahrenheit reading combining temperature and humidity to show the toll on the human body. Don’t overwork yourself outside, drink plenty of water, and get in the shade when you can. As you can see by clicking on the 7 Day Forecast, temperatures don’t get any cooler, and the humidity will be high as well.

Kevin gave a link below for a chart to find the heat index. The chart from that link is right here.
To get the current temperature and humidity for to use the chart click here.

If you prefer using dew points instead of relative humidity (like we do), use this chart:

Here is a look from space at the category three hurricane named Emily making landfall along the northeast Mexico coast early this morning. It will continue to move west over the next few days and rain itself out in inland portions of Mexico. There is yet another disturbance that bears watching over the next few days for development in the eastern Caribbean. For all things hurricanes go here:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Must mention it again, another great set of forecasts from the National Hurricane Center on Emily, having this storm making landfall on the northeast coast of Mexico some 5 or 6 days ago. They get enough flack for missing forecasts occasionally, just want to give them credit where it’s due.
Speaking of forecasting hurricanes…how about investing in them? Here’s an odd story: http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/ap_hurricane_betting.html
I always have said weather forecasting is 80% science and 20% riverboat gambler, but that’s a little over the top!

While driving back from a school visit yesterday I ran into a heat driven downpour at 10:30 am! Since readings are starting out a few degrees cooler this morning, it may take an extra hour or two for the storms to form, but by afternoon 50% of Middle Tennessee will get wet. These tropical type downpours can dump a quick inch of rain in 20 or 30 minutes. Take some extra time and keep an eye out for ponding on area roadways.

As the rain chances die away by Friday, the sunshine will increase…and so will temperatures! We’re talking the hottest stretch of weather we’ve had this summer and in the recent past! Consider this:

96 degrees: Warmest reading so far this summer (done twice June 30th and July 4th.)
94 degrees: Warmest temperature in the summer of 2004 and 2003.
97 degrees: August 5th, 2002 (following two days at 96 degrees!)
100 degrees: August 17th, 2000 (last time to hit the century mark.)

And yes, the humidity will be around for that heat. You will hear a lot about the heat index: a temperature put to the Fahrenheit scale where the humidity makes it feel even warmer and more uncomfortable (a summer version of the wind chill factor.) Here’s a heat index chart from the National Weather Service showing temperature with relative humidities and dewpoint readings:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pub/heat.php

I think it’s safe to say we will have a heat index over 100 degrees each afternoon this weekend and probably a heat advisory in effect. There aren’t many sunny weekends where we say to cancel the outdoor plans…this may turn out to be one of them!