Coverage of rain from Wed.'s front was just about 100% but amounts were mostly a 1/4" or less. Now a quick shot of chilly air through early Fri. with highs Thu. some 10-15 degrees below avg. in the mid 60s - the avg. for mid January(!). Temps. by early Fri. near & west of Highway 301 will be near freezing with some light frost. A nice rebound Fri. afternoon with highs near 70 degrees.
The weekend still looks wet, but the question remains how much & how persistent the rain will be. All will hinge on the location of a nearly stationary front that looks like it'll set up across either extreme N. Fl. or SE Ga. which would focus the heaviest rain along the Fl./Ga. border & SE Ga. In any case, all areas should get at least some rain over the weekend & there will be the potential for locally heavy rain & strong to severe storms.
2013 is expected to be a "near average" year for severe storms. Some new research shows that an increase in severe storms -- like 2011 -- could be linked to "trans-Nino" conditions in the Pacific Basin. Click ** here ** for more info.
The storm chasers' convention was recently held in Denver, Co. Don Burgess from the University of Oklahoma (a person I storm chased with a few times in my college days) reported that our advances in issuing tornado warnings has reached a plateau. That doesn't mean, however, that there will be no improvement in the future. Click ** here ** for the story.
