Post Tropical Cindy Brings Even More Rain

Since my last post I have received 1.11"of rain, taking at least my lawn out of the danger territory for drought. But how about we add on to that?

Tropical Storm Cindy made landfall along the Gulf Coast this morning and it's on a track northward that'll actually bring even more rain to us here in Central Ohio.

The NWS has a flood watch out for the entire area, highlighting the threat that the entire area should expect 1-2", but we could see much more in areas where these storms train.

While Cindy is still spinning over East Texas, all of the moisture was on the east side of this storm and is flowing in from the Gulf right toward our area:

Starting sometime this evening we should see just about 24 straight hours of rain and storms. Not only will the threat of drought be completely gone, but I feel pretty strongly that we'll see many area rivers and streams come over their banks.

Let me know what you see in your area and share pictures!

Dry Central Ohio

I haven't seen a drop of rain at my house in 13 days. That's taking its toll on landscaping and lawns, as everything's getting crunchy. Here's a look at rainfall for the past 7 days:

You'll notice a nice little hole in eastern Franklin and northern Fairfield Counties. Parts of the state, like over around Dayton and Cincinnati have seen 2-3" of rain recently. While that's nice for them, there's now part of southern Ohio that's in the Abnormally Dry range on the drought monitor:

The hope is this drought ends today, with rain forecasted all day. I'm actually sitting here looking at a sunny sky with an area of rain just to my west to start the day. The hope is we get a good soaking today. Yes, even though today is Father's Day, the best gift I could get is a wet lawn.

But, as TheHermit mentioned, we always seem to miss out on the rain, even when it's forecasted like today. Does today's soaking verify?

Central Ohio Heat Update

Sunday was supposed to be the first day of our 90 degree run and... well, we fell short. Substantially short, considering 90 was the forecast high. I only got 87.7° at my house, and the airport shows 89.1° (even though Wunderground reports it as 90°).

Another interesting thing to note yesterday was some cloudiness in the afternoon that helped keep things cooler, and also a lower dewpoint in the mid 60's.

Today? I doubt we stay in the 80's much longer. I've already hit 87.7° at my house, and with a dewpoint hovering around 70° it'll also feel worse than it did yesterday.

Overall I think the hot pattern will persist for the foreseeable future, but the 90's may be short lived.

UPDATE: Tuesday, 9:26am
We got to 91.8° yesterday at my house, finally breaking the 90° barrier. Yesterday afternoon and evening was hot and muggy. The overnight brought no relief with lows in the mid 70's and high humidity.

Relief is on the way though, as showers and thunderstorms should keep us below 90° today. Already this morning we have some slow moving soakers:

Again, these are the hit and miss variety, but should bring some much needed rain to some.

UPDATE: Wednesday, 3:23pm

I only hit 85.8° yesterday afternoon, abruptly ending this run of 90's we were supposed to be on. As I wrote yesterday, scattered storms were the reason for the lower temps. I actually said they would be hit and miss, and boy did I fall in to the miss category.

There were parts of Central Ohio under Flood Warnings yesterday, very near my house too, and I never received a drop. I'm still sitting on 0.30" for the month, while some places could be well over 3". 

First Heat Wave of the Season

Here comes the heat. I heard some co-workers grumbling about the 63 degree high we had on Wednesday. Well, I bet they will be wishing for those temps again by the time we get through several 90 degree days coming up.

As of now it looks like we could have three straight days in the 90's starting tomorrow. It looks like Wednesday could end the streak as storms move in.

So what's bringing this heat? This blocking high in the southeast:

Not only is this blocking the flow and sending storm systems north of us, but it's also pumping in that hot and humid air out of the south. By Tuesday, dewpoints could be in the low 70's. When you combine that with air temps of 90+, it'll make it feel nasty outside and bring the heat index up to the middle to upper 90's.

Hope everyone has their AC in working order.

Eventually that high will slide off the coast and allow enough of a break in the pattern to bring back afternoon thunderstorms. Which is good, because we could use the rain. I wouldn't say we're in drought territory quite yet, but with only 0.30" of rain this month, we could use it. If the storms are hit and miss Wednesday through Friday, those that miss could have some crunchy grass by the end of the week.

Prepare for the warmest weather of the year so far!