7:00 PM Update

Check out this visible satellite shot, which was snapped at 6:30 PM. The clouds that appear bubble-like within the yellow circles are the tops of some pretty intense thunderstorms. They’ve reached the EL or equilibrium level at the top of the troposphere. At this height, some 40,000 feet up or so, the atmosphere begins to warm and the rising air associated with the storm becomes cooler than the surrounding environment, thus loosing its ability to move upward. From the ground looking up at the top of the storms, if upper level winds are fast, the tops get blown downwind from the storm, giving them a characteristic “anvil” shape.

These storms are moving to the north northeast and will begin to weaken as we loose the heat of the day. A stray shower south of I-40 can not be ruled out. As the same upper level Low that we’ve been talking about for the past few days s l o w l y meanders south and eastward throughout the evening and into tomorrow, our rain chances will go up substantially. Most of us stand a pretty good chance of getting some rain tomorrow afternoon. If you happen to get a storm to go over your area, that may translate into quite a bit of the wet stuff.

Posted by Ted Zarras at 5:04 PM