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After it appeared like we had perfect weather for the launch, isolated Florida storms rained on the parade. I'll leave the window from the previous post in place for the attempt tomorrow.

Ryan

Go here to watch the Space Shuttle Discovery launch in HD... Enjoy.

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I had a great time this weekend at the Kid's Fun Day at St. Bernards. I took the Wood Ford StormTRACKER there and showed the Kid's some of the waves from Hurricane Bill via Twitter.

I think my favorite part of Joey Perry's Martial Arts demonstrations and the petting zoo. Here are some goats...
Here are some little pigs.... mmmm, bacon.

Here's Officer Fousts' new Dare care. Nice ride!

Here's the Wood Ford Storm TRACKER...

Thanks for the invite!

Ryan

Jason Kelly at WJHG in Panama City just pointed me to the Tampa radar this evening. Our unnamed feature is showing some decent rain bands trying to set up off of the coast of Florida. I'm starting to wonder if we already have a TS... This radar is from 11:30 PM Central. Anywho... just wanted to post a radar image from Tampa.

Ryan

The storm that initially did not look like a system that could be named, is now developing a warm, tropical core and could become Tropical Storm Claudette within the next 24 hours (if not already).

If you notice, some models are taking this into the gut of Region 8. This is the system (named or not) we have been tracking for several days and the reason we have rain chances in the forecast for this week.

Stay tuned,
Ryan

After appearing to die yesterday, TD #2 has come alive again and may be our first named storm of the season by tomorrow evening. Whether it is named or not, many of the models bring this system into The Bahamas on Wednesday as a rainmaker. This could become a rainmaker for folks in Florida, too. If you click on the image below to get a larger look, you will notice the various tracks from various models. We call this a spaghetti plot. If TD2 takes a more southerly route, TheTurks and Caicos will see some rain and wind. Maybe even Paradise Island in The Bahamas... If it takes a northerly track, many of these spots will see just a fringe impact. Regardless, TD#2 is not expected to bea hurricane. This is good, because I love The Bahamas and I don't like it when Willy-Willys miss with them!

Now, let's talk about the system right behind TD#2. This storm may actually beat TD#2 and be named first. We'll have to see... It is showing signs of being much larger and much stronger. Lots of guidance suggests this one could become a hurricane. Look at the spaghetti plots on this storm...

Notice on the closer inspection that many of the models take it to the East Coast, but some take it into the Gulf of Mexico. This is one that will be watched closely over the next week. It should be at least 10 days before it makes any contact with the US.

Once again, this will be coming along the same areas as TD#2. We'll watch and see if it goes into the Gulf of Mexico. If it does, it could impact our weather... Latest GFS has it coming into the Gulf and hitting Panama City... not good.

Stay tuned,

Ryan

The tropics are heating up and as we learned last year with Ike and Gustav, we need to track these storms! If you recall, parts of Arkansas saw 10-15" of rain from Gustav and winds over 70 mph with Ike. Ike probably caused some of the worst problems in Region 8 last year, minus the Super Tuesday tornado.

This year, we have yet to see a named storm in the Tropics, but the first one may be a doozy. IF the strongest wave out in the Atlantic is named first, "Ana" would be something to watch over the next 10-14 days. This first image is a MODEL...NOT A FORECAST. As you see, it is taking a hurricane into the northern Gulf of Mexico. IF this happened... we would be impacted. Keep reading below...

So, once it goes inland, it COULD come straight into Region 8. IF this happened, we would see some heavy rain and wind. We should not worry yet though... this is pretty far out. Keep reading below...
IF this were to occur (or something similar), it would be sometime around August 24-26'ish time period.

Stay tuned,
Ryan

In a few weeks my Father-in-law is going to tackle another Ironman. It will be his 4th Ironman and he is 54 years old! In the past he has done the Ironman in Panama City, FL. This year he is doing it on Louisville, KY and has to swim in the Ohio River!

If you do not know what the Ironman is, it's a triathlon where the participants swim 2.4 miles, then bike for 114 miles, and then run 26.2 miles. It's the KING of all triathlons. Back in 2004, I made this video when he was racing. I'll be making another video this year!

If you know Benny, tell him you are cheering him on and let's get him excited for the big day!!!

Ryan

The conditions are just right to see the cars going down the interstate with Doppler radar this evening. These images are level 2 velocity data from Memphis. From time to time, the radar beam bends in funky ways due to temperature inversions and we can see the traffic moving down the interstates. Look at the image below and look at the bright colors NW of Caruthersville on I55... Those are cars, trucks, and big rigs being detected on Doppler radar....
In this next image, you can see the traffic on I40 AND for my first time, I can see the traffic on Highway 63 East of Harrisburg! That's the future I555.

We typically see this in the summer during temperature inversions. Tonight, we have warmer air over the rain cooled air near the surface. This inversion is messing with the Doppler!

Upper-Level Ridge (High Pressure, Big blue H) is moving east providing a little pathway for upper-level disturbances in the northern Gulf of Mexico to head our way. If you need to fertilize, mow, or spray your crops... today is the day. While it may be dry at your house tomorrow, this is the driest day over the next week. Rain chances will be at 30-50% and may be increased.

Stay tuned!
Ryan

I found a great clip on YouTube and it reminded me about something I have wanted to write about for a few weeks. Simply put, the service at McDonald's in Paragould has become SOOO much better in recent months. I was quite critical of them at one point (if you read the blog last year), but they have really turned it around. It's clean, the service is faster, and they get my order right! I could not say that last year. They are now as good as the McDonald's in Prattville, AL. LOL (I'm friends with the owners in Prattville) Way to go Mickey D's!

Well, without further delay... Here's the funny clip:

This was probably the most photogenic part of our trip. These pictures were taken at the Blue Spring Heritage Center. If you have never seen or heard of this place, click here.

The pictures speak for themselves. It was a great spot to chill out and enjoy the morning...


Have a great day!

The final numbers are in for July in Jonesboro. This past July tied a record for the coolest on record, with a mean temperature of 77.3°. It was also the 4th wettest on record, with a rainfall total of 6.87". I had initially "tweeted" that we had the wettest July on record, but I had accidentally added the wrong rainfall total from Thursday. My bad.... I still had "vacation brain".

Some other interesting notes, we had 22 days with high temperatures below 90°!!! Last year, we only had 7 days below 90°.

The wettest day in July was July 21st with 2.93" of rainfall.

On that note, get ready for the 90s to return. It's been over 2 weeks since we have seen the 90s!

Ryan

I grew up in Antioch, TN (suburb of Nashville) and there was a cave that we simply called the "Antioch Cave". Not many people went to the cave and it was not a tourist attraction. I suppose you could call it a "wild" cave. Anywho, that was my first cave experience. Since then, I've been to a few caves and really appreciate the beauty of the sub-terrain.

In addition to the soda straw formations, the bottomless lakes were pretty cool. While there were not originally any fish in the water, the lake now has some rainbow trout that are fed on each tour. The above picture is the first bottomless lake on the tour.

Moving along to the brain...

The "brain" at Cosmic Caverns looks pretty gross...lol. It sits on a ledge that's called the "Operating Table". If you look at it, it appears there is a brain, some guts, a finger, and a big toe. Made for some cool formations!

The #1 rule is caving is DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING. Human oil from our hands will destroy the formations. The brain formation is the only one that you are allowed to touch in Cosmic Caverns. If you notice, the formation is turning black from the oils on our fingers. Wicked, huh?

For you cave fans, there are several different formations in Cosmic Caverns including some cool soda straw columns, flowstone, and my personal favorite... drapery (AKA bacon) formations. There's also some very fragile Helictite. I snapped this shot of it:

You can bet that I'll be taking the boys here one day! I will have to handcuff them so they do not touch anything!

Ryan

My wife and I went to Eureka Springs for our 10th Wedding Anniversary and we loved it! I know many of you have been there before, but this was our first time to go to Eureka Springs. I've always heard good things about the city and area, so we decided to check it out for ourselves.
The downtown streets have such a rich heritage. The art stores were amazing! Jenn and I could literally go there to decorate our entire house. They had some great restaurants downtown and in the surrounding areas.

To be honest, I was expecting your typical mountain city stores filled with "Home Sweet Home" decor and a lot of "country" decorations and items. While I don't have anything against that style, we tend to have a different style in our home.

I was a little surprised to see all of the contemporary items along the streets of Eureka Springs. My wife got a door decoration that put a smile on her face all day long! Great find I suppose! We stayed a little south of Eureka Springs at Lazee Daze Cabins. It was a great spot that provided a nice view of the woods! We had a few hummigbirds that would visit us on the porch each morning. It was nice to sip some coffee on the porch and only hear nature!

As you can see, we had a nice little cabin for two. Next time we come to Eureka Springs, we plan to bring the kids. We picked up a lot of brochures for things to do with them next time. At the top of the list is this... click here.

We noticed that when we were leaving today, that a lot of hotels had "No Vacancy" out front. Despite the issues with the economy, it appears that people are still vacationing. I wonder if people are staying closer to home or if it's normal to have the hotels to fill up. Maybe they are "Rejecting The Recession"!

I have more to write, but will stop for now. Coming up I'm going to talk about the Thorncrown Chapel, Keels Creek Winery, Blue Spring Heritage Center, Cosmic Caverns, and The Great Passion Play. Plus, I'll tell you about a couple of spots we found to eat!

Stay tuned!
Ryan