Our first named storm?

Well the start of the Atlantic hurricane season is upon us and if this is any indication of what’s to come...it could be a busy one. We already have out first Tropical Depression. The NOAA is tracking Tropical Depression One (TD1) which you can see in the pic I nabbed from their Hurricane Center website. Using MS Paint (Big Budget) I’ve illustrated the storms projected track to give you a rough idea of where this is heading. Currently TD1 is sitting a few hundred kilometers south of Rhode Island, but don’t expect landfall as neither the Eastern Seaboard or the Atlantic Coastline are in it’s track or even the margin of error. Good thing to because this depression is expected to develop into our first named storm.

As of 11am this morning TD1 had sustained winds of around 60 km/h and it’s gaining steam. If this develops into a full blown tropical storm her name will be Ana. Luckily this depression is tracking NE and will likely die harmlessly in the cold Atlantic. Oh...and did I mention that this storm is 4 days early from the start of the season? Not a great start.

Now to the local stuff. Thundershowers are possible tonight and expect more rain that continues into tomorrow. That flood advisory issued yesterday by Otonabee Conservation is still in effect and Ganaraska Conservation has upgraded their bulletin to an advisory as well. 40.5mm of rain fell in Peterborough yesterday and more showers are expected. I’m not ruling out the possibility of some clearing tomorrow afternoon but showers are still likely tomorrow. On a good note the weekend is looking good! Oh and keep me updated on any thunderstorm activity in the area by "Tweeting" me at www.twitter.com/JayScotland so we can keep everyone in the know. It's a big help and much appreciated.

Tomorrow? Are you sure you want the details? Absolutely sure? Well...for weather nerds like myself, tomorrow looks to be pretty exciting. For the rest of you that don't like rain (99.9% of the population) it's not so good. Showers. Oh (and here's the exciting part) there is also the potential for a thunderstorm or two. I love watching storms. That low is kicking in some warm, moist air from the south and is packing a lot of precipitation. We have heat, humidity, wind and atmospheric instability. All of the ingredients are there for a storm but it's not a sure fire bet we'll see one. Just a good chance for it. (As illustrated by my "MS Paint" depiction to the left...big budget here on the blog. We spare no expense).

Oh, and on a side note. I want to thank Michelle, Mellissa and the "5:30 Crew" for featuring my Twitter account on today's Newswatch @ 5:30. Be sure to catch it at 5:30 on CHEX TV and learn about Twitter's growing popularity. Thanks for interviewing me gals...oh and follow my weather updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/JayScotland. You can also check out my video channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/TheWeatherNerd.

The Big Delay

Well this post is for all of the space nerds out there…including myself. The shuttle landing was delayed today. It just goes to show you that even with a gazillion dollar budget, you can plan a NASA space mission but you can’t plan for the weather. Oh and Florida is certainly seeing lots weather today…well, lots of rain anyway. Although this rain is an inconvenience for the folks at NASA it is much needed for the state of Florida that has been drought stricken for quite some time.

Now the shuttle landing was postponed until tomorrow but looking at the latest American model, that low doesn’t look to be moving anywhere fast. I’m not saying NASA will delay the landing again but I’d expect a landing at Edwards on the west coast as the Kennedy Space Center will still likely be experiencing a lot of rain. That low is just kicking in a ton of moisture. So why is it that a Space Shuttle can handle the extreme conditions of outer space and not a little stormy weather? Well, unlike a plane, a shuttle uses no engines as it lands. It is essentially a billion dollar glider. Imagine trying to glide something that large through high winds and rain without power. Shuttle pilots are amazing.

Now on to the weekend weather for our region. We could see a shower tomorrow by late afternoon…but likely we’ll just see a mix of sun and cloud with (unfortunately) more cloud than sun. But it’s still not looking too bad and Sunday looks to be great! Enjoy the weekend!!!