LIVE News and Weather Video On Our Apps

8:42 AM |

A lot of people have asked how to watch our newscasts on our Apps. I'm very proud that KAIT has always lead the way on streaming video in the state of Arkansas. We were the first television station in the state to stream our newscasts and severe weather coverage on all platforms. While I do not have an Android device, I'm sure the Apps are very similar. Let me show you where to find the live video feed on our Apple Apps.

First, here is a screen shot of the Region 8 News App for an iPad. The link is at the bottom of the page and is titled "LIVE VIDEO". That is available for severe weather coverage, also! 
If you have the KAIT, Region 8 Storm Team App for iPad, click the "VIDEO" tab at the top of the page and you will have two options for live video at the bottom. One has closed captioning for our viewers that are hearing impaired. 
 Now, let's talk about the Apps for your iPhone. The screen shot below is our Storm Team weather App. If you open it, slide the bottom line to "Video" and click it, you will then have several options. You can get the latest recorded weather segments OR if it is newscast time, you can watch the newscast LIVE. This is also available during severe weather.
We also offer this service on our KAIT news App. When you open the App, wait about 3 seconds and a link will pop up that says "LIVE VIDEO". Click that link during newscast times or during severe weather coverage and we will be there!


If you have any questions about watching LIVE video on our Apps, feel free to email me at ryan@kait8.com OR tweet me at @ryanvaughan

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Why Is It Freezing Rain and Not Snow?

10:05 PM |

I hope this graphic makes sense because I just spent 20 minutes making it! :) It shows why I encountered freezing rain and not snow at 31 degrees on my way home from work:

As you go up in the atmosphere, the air is above freezing between roughly 3600' and 8600' (red line). Snowflakes form high in the atmosphere, but on their way down, they melt between 8300' to 3600'. In some cases, the drops refreeze before it hitting the ground and sleet is formed. If it does not have time to refreeze, it hits exposed surfaces and freezes on contact into an ice glaze.

In order to get snow, the air has to be at or below freezing throughout most of the column of the atmosphere.

With that said, we may see some slick spots. I still think that some people may see the entire column go 32 or below, so I'm not completely ruling out some light snow in spots.

Be careful if you are driving late tonight!
Ryan

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Will The Kids Go To School?

6:33 PM |

I'm finally sitting down to look at some data today. After going to Church all morning, spending time with my family this afternoon, eating Thanksgiving dinner with our Church family, and putting up the Christmas Tree... I'm sitting down with a cup of coffee to see if the kids will go to school tomorrow! I know, I know... many kids are already out for Thanksgiving Break. Not my kids! lol

Everyone throughout the day has been asking about the winter weather threat and most are simply wondering, WILL THE KIDS GO TO SCHOOL?

Here are my thoughts in the simplest form:

  • It's the first wintry weather of the year, so the panic level will be a little higher.
  • There is not a lot of moisture, but enough where SOME places will have travel problems.
  • It has been cold enough for this to "stick", even on the roads.
  • At 8PM (Sunday), Freezing Rain and sleet is already being reported.
  • While there is some sleet being reported now, best chance comes after 9AM on Monday. This will cause some problems with school districts. Cut them some slack.
  • Accumulations will be between a dusting and 1" of snow and sleet.
  • Other parts of the state will have more accumulation than Region 8.
The two biggest forecast challenges: Will it be cold enough and how much moisture will extend into Region 8. First, we were 5-7 degrees colder than model guidance today, so I feel we will easily be cold enough. Second, it appears we will at least have enough moisture to give us some light accumulation. Here's what it should look like on radar tomorrow. By mid-morning, a large part of Region 8 will have sleet (orange), freezing rain (orange), and snow (blue). This will continue nudging northeast.
By the evening, we will still have moisture in Region 8. While it will not be a lot, I think most of it will be in the form of a wintry mix. Models typically do not handle shallow, cold air too well and I expect us to be colder than model guidance. If you have travel plans in the evening, look for some slick spots. 
Tune in to Bryan McCormick tonight at 10:00 PM and Justin Logan in the morning for the latest data and information.

Ryan

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Posted by Unknown

Invisible Smoke Ceiling

5:56 PM |

It's typical to have  fields burning across Region 8 in November. On many afternoons, you can look on the horizon and see smoke. Today, I got a tweet that spawned this blog:

If you look at the pic above (click to enlarge), it appears that the smoke hits an invisible ceiling and starts fanning out. In fact, that is exactly what it does! As the smoke rises, it comes to a point where something happens. But, what is it?

If you look below, we have a skew T for the time period of the pic. This diagram is showing you what the temperature (red line) and dewpoint (green line) is as you go vertically into the atmosphere. At about 2300', the temperature stops dropping, as it typically would, and starts rising! This is a temperature inversion and because of the inversion, the smoke stops rising. Remember, warm air rises. The smoke encountered air that was warmer than it was and it stopped rising.

Have a great day!
Ryan

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Posted by Unknown

Strong Cold Front, But Not As Strong As 1911

4:04 PM |

Tomorrow afternoon is going to be COLD. It's going to be about 30 degrees colder than it was this afternoon. The winds will be blowing 20-30 mph and the wind chills will be in the 30s! This will be a BIG change over a 24 hour period, but not as much as this same date in 1911! Take a look at this climate log from Jonesboro in November of 1911. Click image to enlarge:

Notice, it was 80 degrees on November 11, 1911 and the low on November 12, 1911 was 15! That's an amazing drop!

Fortunately, we are not going to see severe weather as this cold front moves through. That was not the case in 1911. If you look at the notes on the lower-right side of the page, they mention LARGE hail on November 12th.

Get ready for the cold air. You feel it tomorrow (11/12/13)!

Ryan

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Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) LIVE Coverage

4:46 PM |

Typhoon Haiyan appears to be the strongest Typhoon ever and is grinding through the Philippines at this hour. In case you wondered, a typhoon is a hurricane, but carries a different name because of it's location.

For LIVE updates on the Typhoon, HERE IS A LINK to CNN International.

-Ryan

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Posted by Unknown

Caraway Tornado Coverage

7:39 PM |

I often go back and look at our coverage after a tornado hits Region 8. On Halloween night, 1 tornado hit in Arkansas and at least 5 hit in Southeast Missouri. The tornadoes in SEMO started around 6:30 or so and Bryan McCormick covered them extensively, even when they did not have tornado warnings. The Caraway tornado hit around 7:40. I wish there had been more of a lead time on the warning, but the storm formed rapidly and quickly moved into the city. Shortly before the warning, Justin Logan spotted the rotation west of the city. That helped us to be on air as the warning was issued and the sirens were sounding. Here's the first 1:30 of our coverage as the tornado was coming into Caraway. I'm not sure if you can tell by my voice, but I was trying to stay calm... despite being very concerned about the people of Caraway. Here's the clip:
I'm so glad that we did not have anyone hurt in Caraway. With so many kids running the streets, we could have seen a horrible situation. It rained for about 7 minutes before the tornado hit. I think the heavy rain drove people indoors and saved a lot of lives.

The weather is going to be quiet for the next few days. Enjoy it!

Ryan

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