9/02/11 Rain, rain go away!

One of my favorite things as meteorologist (besides hurricanes) is to look at a satellite image. They tell a story.  You could either look at today's image and get a feel for what is going on or you could look at an image from 30 years ago and you could basically tell a story. Satellite information is so valuable.

Today's image shows so much. Including Tropical Storm Katia, TD #13, an area of disturbed weather 94L, a cold front approaching from the plains and an area of High pressure in eastern Canada.  Most of these will have some influence on our weather.

   94L is of no concern for the US as it is moving off toward Newfoundland, but it is producing winds of 50mph and could become a tropical storm at any time
Katia, is expected to become a hurricane again soon, but it does not influence our weather for at least another week.
Of concern now is TD #13 and the frontal system over the plains.  The warm front (in red) will approach New England during the day on Saturday and bring an increase in humidity and warmer temperatures.  The cold front however will have the potential to tap into the moisture associated with the tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico and bring some locally heavy showers to parts of New England for Sunday and Monday.

Tropical systems can hold a lot of moisture, and the forecast for the depression is to drop nearly 20 inches of rain across the Gulf Coast.

The 5 day rainfall forecast.

Of great concern is if this cold front taps into the tropical system, it could bring heavy rains to an already soaked flooded area of New England from Irene. Nearly 4 inches of rain in Vermont, NH and Maine. 1" possible Boston area.  Most of this rain will fall on Sunday into Tuesday.  (The New Orleans area could get hit with up to 20" of rainfall)

Cold fronts act as conveyor belts and can easily transport moisture from far away. Needless to say, some areas in New England will see heavy rain amounts that they just do not need. So it is imperative that those in flood prone areas and areas already hit with flooding take notice to the sky and rainfall.

 

Next week, the forecast will focus on the direction of Katia.