Overnight

Here is a look at LIVE DOPPLER 2X around 11:30 this evening. No other Live radar in town looked this good... as we are a thousand-times more powerful here... giving you the first look at these showers/thunderstorms:

So these showers and thunderstorms will affect us through the early morning hours. The strongest storms will stay to our South...

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...but between 2am and 7am... we do have the potential for some stronger wind gusts as the thunderstorms move through.

The REAL severe weather has been in Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas today. Here is a look:

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In the Springfield, Missouri area today there were several reports of a tornado on the ground.
First, a storm spotter saw a brief touchdown... and then additional sightings had the tornado intensifying while it was on the ground. The tornado snapped powerlines along one of the highways there, and debris from a barn was reportedly found a quarter-mile away from the barn's original location!

Anyway, we will start Tuesday with showers and thunderstorms in the area during the early morning hours. Things will turn a little cooler later in the day... as winds shift in from the West.

Is anyone planning on going to the Deal or No Deal casting call this Saturday?? Isn't that exciting that they are coming here?! It is going to be a huge event... you should all come and try out for the show!!

Jamie

Here Comes the Rain Again

HERE COMES THE RAIN AGAIN!

Great song... gotta love the 80s! :)

Anyway, rain IS making a return to the Miami Valley, and along with it, we'll enjoy warmer temperatures! Take a look at the evening surface map. There is a warm front just to our south. We are in the 40s, with readings in the 50s and 60s on the southern side of the front:

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That front will pop north overnight, allowing the mild air to move into the area. Expect windy conditions on Monday... and our highs will climb into the 60s! If we see any sunshine... watch out! It could be close to 70! But it looks like clouds will be around most of the day, keeping things in check. (And spotty showers are possible through the day as well.)

Monday night into Tuesday, a strong cold front heads our way. Thunderstorms will form along this front to our West, and move in with the front during the early morning hours. Some of these storms could be strong to severe, with damaging winds being the main threat. The SPC has us JUST outside a Slight Risk of severe weather:


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We'll have to watch this... as severe weather may become more likely... depending on the timing of the front. Either way, it looks like a pretty good bet my old stomping grounds will see a severe weather event during this period. (I used to work in Kansas City, and they are in the 30% "hatched area"). It will be something to watch!

Have a great "Opening Day"!! Do you believe it's already baseball season??? Look what my husband is doing to my daughter... corrupting her!! Ugh! :)

She's still cute, though!! :)

Jamie

NOAA Weather Radios

To continue with Severe Weather Awareness Week... let's talk NOAA weather radios today! These small electronic devices act as ALARMS for severe weather!

This is your DIRECT link with the National Weather Service. NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts CONTINUOUS weather information directly from the NWS office in Wilmington. You will hear warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

When there is a WARNING for your area... tones will sound, like an alarm. Your radio will alert you that there is dangerous weather nearby. After the tones, you will hear a voice come on to announce who is in danger, where the storm is heading, what the threat is (ie, wind, hail, or a tornado). NOAA weather radios are particularly valuable to have around at nighttime, when most are sleeping... and not paying attention to the weather. The alarm will wake you up.

They are also very important to have in larger facilities... hospitals, malls, nursing homes, schools, and movie theatres. Remember the Van Wert tornado back in 2002? Thanks to a NOAA Weather Radio, all of the patrons of the local movie theatre stayed safe. A manager heard there was a tornado on the radio, and was able to get everyone into an interior safe place. After the storm had passed, they came out to find CARS and other debris on top of the very seats they had been sitting in! You can check out video of the F4 tornado here:

VAN WERT TORNADO

You can even listen to NOAA Weather Radio online... click HERE.

Now on to the forecast... we have a front located just to the south of Dayton. In fact, it's north of Kettering, Springboro, Centerville, Xenia... as temperatures there are in the 50s. North of the front we are cooler... in the 40s. Here is a look at the afternoon map:

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A wave of low pressure will work along that front and pass to our South. This will keep us with the chance of rain showers through Friday morning. There may even be a few wet snowflakes mixing in late in the northern counties. Friday afternoon we should get into a bit of sunshine, and we'll see highs in the 40s. Right now, half of the weekend looks good, with another round of rain moving in eventually. We'll talk more about this on our weathercasts tonight and Friday!

Jamie

Definitions!

Severe weather season is almost here, so it's a great time to refresh our memories with some severe weather terminology. That way, when you hear us talking about watches, warnings and other weather events... you'll know exactly what we mean!

WATCH: When used with tornado or severe thunderstorm, it means that tornadoes or severe thunderstorms are possible. Watches are typically in effect for several hours, and let us know that atmospheric conditions are favorable for severe storms to develop. When a watch is in effect, keep an eye to the sky and WATCH OUT for conditions to worsen!!

WARNING: This means that a severe thunderstorm or a tornado is eminent or is already occuring. Warnings are shorter-duration events... in effect for an hour or less. If a warning is issued for your location... now is the time for ACTION!!

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM: Any thunderstorm that produces winds of 58 mph or higher... and/or hail of 3/4" or larger.

TORNADO: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground. The funnel usually decends from the base of a severe thunderstorm.

FUNNEL CLOUD: A violently rotating column of air that decends from the base of a thunderstorm... but it does NOT make contact with the ground. This can sometimes signal the development of a tornado, although not all funnel clouds become tornadoes.

A Statewide tornado drill will be performed tomorrow... WednesdayMarch 26th. This is part of severe weather awareness week in Ohio. The National Weather Service in Wilmington will issue a Special Weather Statement for the drill and the NOAA Weather Radio code used will be the routine weekly test or rwt. As long as yourNOAA Weather Radio is set to alert for the routine weekly test then it should go off for the drill. The drill will be held between 930 am and 10 am.

We're still tracking the potential for heavy rain late Wednesday through early Friday. We look like we could see more than an inch in some locations. We'll keep you posted...

Jamie

SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY AWARENESS WEEK

Happy Severe Weather Safety Awareness Week! Each day, we will be brining you important information about severe weather here on the Blog... and on Channel 2. The National Weather Service focuses on something different each day... today... we're talking TORNADO FACTS!



* A tornado is a violently rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground (and is in contact with the ground!)



* The most violent tornadoes are capable of tremendous destruction with wind speeds of 250 mph or more. Damage paths can be in excess of one mile wide and 50-miles long.



* The average tornado moves from southwest to northeast... but tornadoes have been known to move in any direction!



* The average forward speed of a tornado is 30 mph, but may vary from very little movement to as much as 70 mph.



* Tornadoes can occur throughout the year. The peak season in Ohio is April through July... but the Van Wert tornado struck in November!!



* Tornadoes are most likely to occur between 2pm and 10pm, but they have been known to occur at any hour... day or night.



I always say, "never say never when talking about weather"... so while these are general statements about tornado behavior, anything is possible. Tornadoes can occur anywhere... that is the important thing to remember. I often have people say to me, "I heard (insert city here) is safe from tornadoes because we are in a valley/on a hill/too far north." Well it's not true! Tornadoes can happen in valleys, in hilly areas and north or south.



Thankfully, we will not be dealing with severe weather in the next few days, but we may be dealing with some heavier rain. The models are really different right now, in terms of where that rain may fall. But here is a look at both of them... one puts the heaviest rain north of us... the other to our south... but it is something we will be watching over the next few days. The NAM has the rain north:



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The GFS keeps the bullseye to our South:



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The potential for the heavier rainfall would be late Wed into Thurs... we will keep you posted!
Jamie

"The Weekend IS HERE!!"

Did you ever notice that Mark Allan says "The weekend is here!" at the end of the news EVERY Friday at 11pm? It is music to our ears! After those words are said, we all get to head home to our families for two days of fun! :) This weekend, I will actually be coming back into work Sunday night... Brian is off next week, so I am helping cover Erik's shift... and Erik will be filling in for Brian. Anyway, watch the 11pm tonight, or any Friday, and you will hear Mark's sweet words!

Check out this HUGE temperature contrast across the region this evening:

Wow... do you believe it is actually 62-degrees in Cincinnati at 9:43pm??? Unfortunately, that mild air really won't make it here... there is a storm moving through the region tonight, and that will pull in the colder air (up towards Ft. Wayne and Chicago).

And you can now see why there are WINTER STORM WARNINGS to our North... here is the evening satellite/radar:

They are getting 5 to 10 inches of snow in Southern Michigan tonight! So much for Spring. As that low moves to our South, we will also see a little snow on Saturday. It looks very light for us, though, and we will see less than an inch of snow accumulation. It will be a cold holiday weekend, with highs in the upper 30s. And if you have an early morning Easter egg hunt... or if you're heading to early services... temperatures will be in the lower 20s Sunday morning... brrrrrr!

Have a great weekend!

It's HERE!! :)
Jamie

Winter's Official Motto

"Here we go again!"

Carl and I have decided that the phrase above is the official motto for this winter! It's storm after storm tracking right near the Miami Valley! This next Low will be moving out of the Northern Plains and into our area late in the day Friday. We'll start off with a little sunshine, but the clouds will increase Friday afternoon, and then showers move in.

To add insult to injury, we may see some snow in the northern counties Friday night... and snow for everyone on Saturday!! Ugh!

Today, NOAA issued a Spring Flood Outlook... putting the entire Miami Valley in the "Above Average" risk for flooding (as if we needed them to tell us that!). The main ingredients are melting snow and heavy rain, both of which we experienced this past week. Here is a look at the national outlook, courtesy of NOAA:

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The important thing to get from this is to have a flooding safety plan in place, if you live in a flood-prone area. The Red Cross recommends you have written instructions on hand so you know how to turn off your utilities. Also, prepare a first aid kit and keep your essential medications on hand. Batteries and flashlights/radios are also a great idea. And even if you don't live in an area that gets flooding, you may be driving and come across flood waters. Again, we can't say it enough... Turn Around Don't Drown! MOST flooding deaths occur in VEHICLES.

In fact, a woman just died after her RV was swept away from a campground near Wilmington. Clinton County deputies say it was dark when she drove into the water. She tried to walk to safety, and clung to a tree branch where her husband found her just before she died.

Next week is SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS week, and we will be discussing severe weather and how to stay safe on all of our newscasts. We hope you tune in!

Jamie

Rainfall Roundup

Beavercreek: 4.7"
Bradford: 2.1"
Brookville: 3"
Camden: 3"
Cedarville: 3.13"
Covington: 2"
Eaton: 2.9"
Fairborn: 2.85"
Greenville: 2.09"
Kettering: 4"
Middletown: 4"
New Carlsile: 2.7"
Sidney: 2"
Springfield: 2"
Tipp City: 2.9"
Union: 3.5"
Wapakoneta: 2.1"
Xenia: 3.7"
Yellow Springs: 3.7"

.... And it's over! Thank goodness. We still will be dealing with high water and flooding problems, however... so that part is not over just yet. At least Thursday will be a dry day!

And, HEY... SPRING begins tonight shortly before 2am! Yahoo!!

Jamie

Puddle Ducky's Dream Come True...

Over the next two days, we will see some serious rainfall across the area! The entire Miami Valley is under a FLOOD WATCH through Wednesday. As Erik mentioned below... the models have been advertising this for awhile now, and this evening's run of the NAM model has even MORE rainfall forecast. Five inches!!

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While this makes Puddle Ducky very happy...

...it will make many of US very sad! Flooding could become a REAL problem... really fast. Remember the severe flooding our northern counties had not too long ago... plus all the moisture from the big snow storm across the area. The ground is saturated! And there's not going to be anyplace for this rain to go. We will likely see all waterways running high, and street and yard flooding may also be a concern. Remember the saying, "Turn Around, Don't Drown" if you come across a water-covered road.

Here is an email I received today from one of our viewers:

Hi Jamie,
Today our lawn maintenance man (here for the first spring weed & feed treatment) noticed one of our huge (80 feet!!) trees in the hillside behind our house was beginning to up-root. We immediately called a tree service. They left another job to shore up our tree, then came back to remove it.

We were very lucky to have had our lawn service man find it before all the coming rain - it most assuredly would have come down - completely through our house within the next few days.

So, if you have the time, please give a brief warning on the upcoming weather forecasts: very old trees are becoming waterlogged and the earth is so wet, there is a danger of these trees up-rooting.
Thanks!!
Carol & Don

That is a great thing to keep in mind... we always hear about this sort of thing happening when the ground is really saturated. It is also going to be windy Tuesday and Wednesday... so watch out! We will keep you posted on this storm on Channel 2... blog updates as necessary! Send us your rainfall totals... either comment below, or email to weather@wdtn.com. We will try to incorporate them into our graphics!

Thanks,

Jamie

HEADS UP! Heavy Rain is Headed for the Miami Valley!

After a fairly active winter & our spring like thaw over the last few weeks.... many folks across the Miami Valley are dealing with muddy lawns, swollen streams, and the occasional hum of a basement sump pump. It looks like more rain is on the way so things could get pretty interesting. The graphic above is a conservative estimate of our possible rainfall. The graphic below... is some of the raw data being pored out by the GFS computer model. If you look closely at the legend... the GFS is dumping 3-4 INCHES OF RAIN over a 48 hour period (Monday night - Wednesday night) in western Ohio.

While this is the most extreme of the computer models..... the NAM (another competent model, posted above) is beginning to look more and more like the GFS. Currently the NAM has 2.5-3 inches of rain while just yesterday it was spitting out much less only 1.5 inches.
Since the start of the event is still 24 hours away, and the end of it is 72 hours away... the forecast will need some tweaking, so I'll will continue with my conservative estimates. Just be ready... If there is a bright spot it's that the rain will come over a period of 48 hours. When I was out in South Dakota we had 6.5 inches of rain over the course of an afternoon! Cars were stalled out and in some intersections they were under 3 feet of water!!! and that all happened right across the street from my station!
-Erik

Only 7 Days Till Spring!!

Sorry for not blogging more this week! Sometimes, after a BIG storm... we need a few days to sort of catch our breath around here! We were overwhelmed with the forecast, the snowfall, and all the weather pictures our viewers sent in! We do look at each one, and enjoy seeing the storms through your eyes. We receive way too many to post them all, but I did include several more at the end of this blog entry. Thanks to everyone, once again!

What a nice taste of spring we have today! We only have a week to go until the season actually changes, but today... many of our weather checkers are calling in with afternoon temperatures in the upper 50s and even lower 60s! I hope you got to enjoy it, because we will turn a bit chilly for the weekend. We are now tracking a small storm that will move right near the Miami Valley on FRIDAY. This will bring us the chance of RAIN beginning late tonight and through Friday afternoon. It will be a cooler day, with the clouds and rain around... expect highs in the 40s.

In from NOAA today... this has been the coolest winter Since 2001 for the U.S. AND the World!
* In the contiguous United States, the average winter temperature was 33.2 degrees F... which is 0.2 degrees F above the 20th century average – yet still ranks as the coolest since 2001.
* It was the 54th coolest winter since national records began in 1895.
* Winter temperatures were warmer than average from Texas to the Southeast and along the EasternSeaboard, while cooler-than-average temperaturesstretched from much of the upper Midwest to the West Coast.
* With higher-than-average temperatures in theNortheast and South, the contiguous U.S. winter temperature-related energy demand wasapproximately 1.7 percent lower than average, based on NOAA’s Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index.
* Winter precipitation was much above average from the Midwest to parts of the West, notably Kansas, Colorado and Utah. Althoughmoderate-to-strong La Niña conditions were present in the equatorial Pacific the winter was unique for the above average rain and snowfall in the Southwest, where La Niña typically brings drier-than-average conditions.

And here are some more pictures from all of you!


"Snowdog"... from Teri in West Manchester



"Burried Buick"... from Pat in Kettering



"Hiding Out"... from The Clarks in Ceaderville



"I'm Sinking!"... from Jennfier StClair



"Beautiful Sky"... from Cindy Pelhan of Huber Heights




"Buck in Snow"... from Alex Bilbrey of Beavercreek



"My Landlord"... from Ryan W. of New Bremen




"Signs of Spring!"... from Jean Davidson, Greenville




"Plowing Through!"... from Michele Ghearing, Miami Twp.



"My New Friend"... William Risk




"Snow Baby"... 10-mo old Carissa... from Shavon




"Easter Snow?" Logan OSkey of Englewood



"I See Snow!"... 19 mo. old Brookelyn... from Susan Ballard



"Putting Out The Fire!"... from Eric Denlinger, Dayton

Have a great day!!
Jamie

More Snowstorm Pictures! Thanks for all the photos!

Betty Shappie - "Granddaughter having fun in the snow"

Su Berry - "Deck full of fun"









Donita - Picture from Old Dayton Road around the Trotwood area
















Anne Booten -"Dog in Snow Cave"












Michele Chearing - "Too Much Snow" Miami Township











Matt Warner - Pic from Catawaba











Darlene Roll - Sundown in Bellefontaine











Carol Overholt - "Snowdog" Sidney











Quintin& Denise Fyfte - "Wolfie" Greenville

Snowfall Totals! They are in... and Impressive!

This past weekends storm came in #2 on Daytons All-Time Record snows list, beating out the blizzard of 1978.

Here are some local storm totals. Thanks Weather Checkers!

Ohio nailed by some of the heaviest snows! 18" inches in Columbus, 16"in Mansfield, 12.5" in Cleveland!

Storm Winding Down

Good news, Bloggers!

The heavy snow is coming to an end across the area! As of 2pm, we still have a few heavier pockets around Greene, Clark and down into Warren Counties... but for the rest of us, things have lightened up a great deal. The accumulation snows should come to an end well before 4pm, when our Blizzard Warning expires.

As the snow moves off, however... the sky lightens... and things are BRIGHT out there!! Don't forget the shades when shoveling!

We will still have the problem of blowing and drifting snow as we head through the rest of the day. Winds should relax a bit overnight, though.

I am working on a snowfall totals list, and will post viewer pics here as soon as I can get them online. If you have info to share... comment below, or email us... and you can send photos to that same email at weather@wdtn.com.

"Confused Robin"... Shirley Sebright-Bierley



"Helping Hand"... Nick Halter, New Lebanon



"Clearing the Way"... from Cindy Pelhan, Huber Heights




"Dining Out?"... from Dan Minnix, Kettering




"17 1/2 inch Drifts"... from The Fox's, Xenia




"Traffic Jam"... from 5-year-old Jacob Fox, Xenia





"No Birds Bathing Here!"... from The Morgan Family of Dayton



"Finding Food"... from Erica Mann, Farmersville





"Contrasting Cardinal"... from Chloe Hofstetter, Vandalia






"Path to the Newspaper"... from Bill Schmidt, Farmersville






Does this cat see the bird?? :) "Watching Winter"... from The Mansons, Miamisburg





Wow... that is one brave man! "Lounging in 12 inches"... from Gary Ogg, Casstown





"Winter Scene"... from Kurt and Linda Troutwine, Arcanum





"Don't stand under the awning!" from C. Williams, Miamisburg







"Dare to Come to the Door"... from Jessica Erisman






"Snow Lover"... from Gary Combs, Kettering






"Snow Day!"... Kitty Greek, Centerville






"Little Helpers"... from Ann Aaronson, Bellbrook






"Hard at Work!" Jim Allen, Middletown Weatherchecker





"Burried House"... from Carolyn Morgan, Huber Heights







"Jumping Around" from Ralph and Mary Ann DeVelvis








"Love Birds"... from Eleni Fentress, Harrison Township (formerly of Alaska!)




"Through Rain, Sleet and SNOW"... from Chris Yvette, Dayton




"No Picnic"... from Jen Spurlock



"Ghost Town"... from Ed Oen, Versailles





"Now THAT'S Wind!"... from Dick Paoliello, Xenia




"Happy Travels!"... from Peter Kleysteuber, Fairborn




"Snow Dogs"... from Gidget Hensley, Xenia




"Plowing Through!"... from Cheryl Richter




"Bird Feast!"... from Luanne Baker