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by AngelaHutti from St.Louis

Last Post 4 days, 3 hours Ago


Angela’s Corner: Aug. 3, 2008
Aug 3, 2008 | 12:33 PM
Category: Weather
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  Warm front moving east Sunday morning is helping to fire some rain and thunderstorms primarily right along the Mississippi and points east. That is keeping Sunday temperatures in St. Louis and Illinois on the cooler side. Once the front lifts away and the storms move on, sunshine will return and so will the heat.

    Dangerous heat and humidity for St. Louis this Monday and Tuesday as a strong ridge of high pressure builds across the region.  Temps will climb into the mid to upper 90s with some places hitting 100 degrees. With dewpoints in the upper 70s, heat index values will be very high, with some readings near 110 degrees.  Please, please be careful if you have to be outside. Drink plenty of water, wear light colored clothes, and take frequent breaks. If you have outside pets, bring them inside if you can.

  In anticipation of the urban heat island effect, an excessive heat warning has been issued for St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis from Noon Monday into Tuesday. A heat advisory has been issued for the rest of the region.

  Tuesday evening we’ll watch for storms to move in and break up our heat. Could see some severe weather as a cold front that dives into our stifling summer airmass.  Rain and storm chance continues into early Wednesday. Temps will be more bearable as we finish out the work week.

 As for the tropics, NHC is watching an area of  low pressure area that has formed in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Conditions appear to be favorable for a tropical depression to  form early in the week.

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Member Comments Total Comments: 63
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snowman99 read my blog
Aug 3, 2008 | 2:05 PM

Well as has been the case this summer, this heatwave will not be as long or strong as originally feared. This was originally suppose to be a 5 day long stretch with temps in the upper 90's to near 100. Now it'll be 1 or 2 days. The heat just cant get a hold on the area this year, which is fine by me. But Monday may be a stifling gross day with those ridiculously high dewpoints. In the KC area on saturday some places had dewpoints up to 84!! That's just gross. Everyone have a good day.
BRTNWXMAN read my blog view my photos
Aug 3, 2008 | 8:02 PM

Yeah, this wet ground really feeds back against the heat. It's always a good idea to go w/ a cooler forecast during wet periods like we are in now.

Just like that, we've got another home-brew tropical storm in the Gulf- Edouard. Looks like another hit for the Texas coast, and while too early to say for sure, it could quickly become a weak hurricane. Depending on the evolution of the upper ridge over the next 5-7 days, we could eventually see the effects of this much like Dolly. It would have to take a much quicker and more direct path though, as it will almost undoubtedly be a weaker storm at landfall. Kudos to JB for giving the heads up on this system, the NHC seems to be playing catch up w/ this one. I'm not sure what they didn't see with this, everything was there for a quickly evolving home-brew storm.

Stay cool!
jeepers4559 read my blog view my photos
Aug 4, 2008 | 12:32 AM

This is the point of the summer where I always say "Come on, September!" LOL
AngelaHutti read my blog view my photos
Aug 4, 2008 | 6:36 AM

5am temp in St. Louis was 78 this morning. Dewpoint was 73. Yuck...leading to a haze across the region.
BenjisMom read my blog
Aug 4, 2008 | 8:28 AM

Angie, I am so enjoying seeing you on weekday morning weather.

I wanted to let you know how much I like your new look! Save the suits for winter. You look nice and summery now!

Keep up the good work!
Denise
WebsterGroves read my blog view my photos
Aug 4, 2008 | 9:37 AM

This is literally hell on earth.
hage read my blog
Aug 4, 2008 | 9:52 AM

It is wicked outside and it's only 10AM I better get out an mow now. Just read the disco for the morning. Very funny! Spidey sense?!?!

HOWEVER...MY SPIDEY-SENSE IS
TELLING ME THAT THE CHANCE POPS WE HAVE IN THE GOING FORECAST FOR
TUESDAY NIGHT WITH THE FROPA THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT JUST AREN`T
HIGH ENOUGH.
BRTNWXMAN read my blog view my photos
Aug 4, 2008 | 12:26 PM

Haha, I read that too hage - I know where he's coming from :) Good to see you back, we need some more of the regulars on here from time to time!

Hell on earth is right - I've got 92.5*, but here's the kicker - a dewpoint of 81*! I had my doubts when I saw that on the Davis, but I checked it w/ the psychrometer, and even it had 80-81, and blipped 82 once. The HI is already tickling 115, hopefully we'll get some decent mixing, and lower that dewpoint a bit. Ugh. Good thing I have to go out and work in this in 2 hours...
hage read my blog
Aug 4, 2008 | 3:18 PM

Can this be correct? 124 HI

Alton / St. Louis Regional
Lat: 38.91 Lon: -90.05 Elev: 558
Last Update on Aug 4, 2:47 pm CDT


Partly Cloudy

95°F
(35°C) Humidity: 71 %
Wind Speed: S 15 MPH
Barometer: 29.93"
Dewpoint: 84°F (29°C)
Heat Index: 124°F (51°C)
Visibility: 7.00 mi.
More Local Wx: 3 Day History:
snowman99 read my blog
Aug 4, 2008 | 5:16 PM

If that dewpoint of 84 is correct, it's very possible that HI is right on. OUCH
Wrestlerdude read my blog
Aug 4, 2008 | 5:17 PM

that dewpoint cant be, there is no way. it would be raining
was that since above a man whole or some sort of utility tunnel?
guyatacomputer read my blog view my photos
Aug 4, 2008 | 7:47 PM

As I always say...it's days like this that make me glad that someone invented air conditioning!

I dug deep down in the grass today and found the soil to still be damp. Pretty amazing since we have had no rain since last Wednesday (we got thunder but no rain Sunday morning). Ordinarily during the summer after 3 days of no rain the ground is cracking. But the air so humid the moisture just isn't evaporating out. Quite interesting.
AngelaHutti read my blog view my photos
Aug 4, 2008 | 8:12 PM

BRTN, you actually own a sling psychrometer?? Did you buy it or make it? I haven't used one since my days with Dr. Williams at WIU. Very nice...
Anyway, I hope you all survived Day 1 of the extreme heat without melting too much!
red12 read my blog
Aug 4, 2008 | 8:43 PM

I work out side all day as ground keeper and it really was hot worst than last year when we had no rain for week at a time. I dont sweat much even when it is hot out but I was soaked today I hate this kinda weather. Im just glad we went in early today.
MarkGeldmeier read my blog
Aug 4, 2008 | 10:11 PM

The 84 dewpoint seems too high compared to all the other surrounding locations today...but BRTN and a few areas did report low-80's. Dense woods nearby could add some evapo-transpiration moisture...but I'm guessing that St. Louis Regional is off by 1-2 degrees. BRTN, maybe you could go by this location with your sling psychrometer and take some measurements at the top of the hour?? That'd be cool to see how it compares!!
BRTNWXMAN read my blog view my photos
Aug 4, 2008 | 10:48 PM

Angela, I've got an Amprobe digital "sling" psychrometer. I just got it this past spring from eBay for an outrageous price, like 40 bucks or so... It's surprisingly accurate as
long as you have it shaded and have some sort of breeze going through the probe-head - it just takes a minute or two to adjust if the temp/humidity is a lot higher/lower than inside.

Hage, those numbers were very similar to what we saw up here today. I work w/i a couple miles of that station, and believe me, it was extremely hot and humid when "nature's air conditioning" wasn't blowing(thank god it was, I have a bad heat-headache as it is from working in this). I'm kicking myself for not taking the psychrometer w/ me to work today after I saw those readings.
Here's the real kicker(I thought the heat was ridiculous before I went to work...), and I'll be the first to admit, I have a hard time believing this. Let me say first, that I've had some issues w/ the hygrometer on my Davis station, BUT it's usually only a problem w/i 24 hours or so after a rainfall. I think I may have some water getting into the sensor housing, or sitting on top of the radiation shield or something. Long story short, take this for what you will, and keep in mind that I had been checking the readings w/ the psych all morning and afternoon, and it verified every time:
Photobucket

BRTNWXMAN read my blog view my photos
Aug 4, 2008 | 10:50 PM

Photobucket

I swear that is un-edited, no joke. I practically had to put my eyeballs back in the sockets when I checked the highs for today... Folks, this is extreme. I was concerned about high dewpoints, but I didn't envision this. Considering KALN and other local stations had dewpoints in the low-mid 80s today, the wet soil conditions,(good call guy, didn't think about doing that) and our location and land-type(crops, forest, many ponds and lakes - all add to evapotranspiration and therefore higher humidity but slightly lower temperature), it might not be that far-fetched, which is hard to believe. Amazing! Looks like much of the same tomorrow too :( Thank god this is only a 2 day deal.
BRTNWXMAN read my blog view my photos
Aug 4, 2008 | 10:56 PM

By the way, scroll to the right to see the HI/dew values... The timestamp is the time of the high readings - 5:44pm.
BRTNWXMAN read my blog view my photos
Aug 4, 2008 | 11:07 PM

Mark, great idea! I could run over there just before I go to work - around 3pm. I'm within a stone's throw of the airport anyways, so I can take multiple measurements throughout my shift. Sounds like a plan.

Hopefully the dewpoints wont be quite as extreme as today, but moisture pooling along the front has me concerned... I guess only time will tell...
jeepers4559 read my blog view my photos
Aug 5, 2008 | 7:38 AM

As to high indexes, yesterday afternoon around 4pm, I checked out wunderground weather and it was saying that Wildwood Town Center had an HI of 119. I thought that it was just a fluke but maybe it wasn't.

There is a certain level of ridiculousness with this situation. I'm glad that we only have two days of this nonsense with this stretch. Nasty.
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AngelaHutti

Born and raised in St. Louis, I'm living my dream of being a meteorologist. I came to Fox 2 in October 2006 after a few wonderful years doing weekend weather for a TV station in Anchorage, AK. Look for me weekend mornings on Fox 2 and at every Cardinals game I can possibly get to!

Member Since: 11/15/2006


 

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