Weather News, Weather Report

Weekly Wrap Up: February 3, 2018 #ARWX

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Welcome to another Saturday Weekly Wrap Up on WeatherTogether.net. Due to my working on transitioning to another computer, this week’s Weekly Wrap Up will be a little brief. Last week saw temperatures in the 50’s to 60’s, dropping to the upper 40’s as the week wrapped up. The main difference from last week’s forecast is the rain chance on Thursday didn’t pan out (it remained dry in Hot Springs). During the rain event for January 27 I mentioned in last week’s report, my CoCoRaHS gauge received .83″ of rainfall. Here’s a look at temperatures over the past week from my Earth Networks weather station, as well as a look at the current conditions.

Here’s a look at temperatures across the state from both NWS weather stations and Earth Networks weather stations. We’ve also had a few sprinkles of rain across Arkansas today, but not enough to be a major weather event. Here’s also a look at today’s rain gauge totals from Earth Networks weather stations across the state (maps courtesy of Baron Threat Net and Earth Networks Sferic Maps).

Here’s a look at the seven day extended forecast for Hot Springs, Arkansas. Temperatures will primarily be in the 50’s for highs, with rain chances on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday.

Finally, here’s a look at weather news over the past week:

That wraps it up here! Nathan Parker signing off!

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Weather News, Weather Report

Weekly Wrap Up: January 27, 2018 #ARWX

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It’s Saturday and time for another Weekly Wrap Up! Sunday brought a major severe weather event to the Natural State as mentioned in last week’s report. Garland County was under a Tornado Warning for a brief time, and Faulkner County did encounter an EF1 tornado with some tornado damage to the county. This morning also received a nice dumping of rain across the Natural State. The rain total from my CoCoRaHS gauge during today’s event will be posted in next week’s report. Here’s a look at the rest of the rain totals from my CoCoRaHS gauge over the past week, as well as a look at rain gauge totals from across Arkansas from Earth Networks Sferic Maps.

Temperatures this past week were close to what was forecasted in last week’s report, give or take a few degrees warmer or cooler. Here’s a look at the current temperatures this past week from my Earth Networks weather station in Hot Springs.

Here’s a look at the current conditions on my Earth Networks weather station this evening, as well as a look at my Earth Networks HD weather cam from earlier today showing some stormy clouds across the sky this evening. Here’s also a look at temperatures across Arkansas this evening on both NWS weather stations and Earth Networks weather stations. Here’s also a look at the current high-res radar across the region. Northeast Arkansas is also under a Dense Fog Advisory this evening, so here’s also a look at visibility across North East Arkansas (maps courtesy of Earth Networks Sferic Maps and Baron Threat Net).

Here’s a look at the seven day extended forecast for Hot Springs. Sunny for most of the week, partly cloudy for Friday and Saturday, and a 50% chance of thunderstorms for Thursday. Temperatures will start out around 60, then remain around 50, then increse to close to 60 again before dropping to the mid 40’s and mid 50’s.

To conclude, here’s a look at this week’s interesting weather news. I also mentioned I’d be posting an image to see what work of art I best resemble, but I had issues with the Google app getting it to load, so it seems unfortunately I won’t be sharing that this week!

That wraps it up here! Nathan Parker signing off!

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Weather News, Weather Report

Weekly Wrap Up: January 20, 2018 #ARWX

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It’s another Saturday and time for another Weekly Wrap Up! This week brought frigid temperatures to the Natural State, as well as about one inch of snow to Hot Springs (and real snow instead of only ice this time!). My CoCoRaHS and weather station rain gauges froze over during the winter event, so no measurable rainfall (I reported a trace of rain for January 15 along with the one inch of snow). Temperatures for the most part were close or spot on to last week’s seven day forecast, and here’s a look at the temperatures on my Earth Networks weather station over the past week.

Here’s a look at the current conditions on my weather station, as well as a look at my Earth Networks HD weather camera earlier today, plus a look at temperatures across the state and a look at the current high-resolution radar and satellite across the region (maps courtesy of Baron Threat Net and Earth Networks Sferic Maps).

Sunday evening will be showers and intense thunderstorms to the Natural State. Sunday evening around 10PM looks to be the time when the most intense of the severe weather will be moving through Hot Springs, Garland County, and Central Arkansas. Garland County could get up to 2″ of rain through this event although the rain totals will differ throughout the county. Here’s a look at both the Baron forecast model and WSI RPM model for the forecast radar and satellite and accumulated precipitation.

As of now, the SPC has a marginal risk for severe weather for parts of Arkansas for Sunday. If the situation intensifies, the SPC could upgrade the risk. Here’s the latest SPC Severe Outlook graphic.

Here’s a look at the seven day extended forecast for Hot Springs, Arkansas. There’s a 40% chance of rain on Sunday and a 40% chance of evening showers for Friday and a 50% chance on Saturday. Skies will be mostly sunny on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and sunny on Tuesday and Thursday. Temperatures will be in the lower to mid 50’s for most of the week, with lows in the mid to upper 30’s for most of the week.

Here’s also a look at some interesting weather news over the past week:

That wraps it up here! Nathan Parker signing off.

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Weather News, Weather Report

Weekly Wrap Up: January 13, 2018 #ARWX

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Welcome to another WeatherTogther Weekly Wrap Up. Overall, temperatures were slightly warmer in Hot Springs this past week than what was forecasted in last week’s 7 Day Forecast (the data for the forecasts come from Earth Networks). Here is a look at temperatures from my Earth Networks weather station in Hot Springs, Arkansas, over the past week.

This week also brought rain for the first time in 2018 to the Natural State. In addition to rain, Thursday evening and Friday morning saw some wintry mixed precipitation and snow fall across  Arkansas, although not enough to form any major accumulation. Here is a look at the rain totals this past week from my CoCoRaHS gauge in Hot Springs, Arkansas, as well as a map of rain totals across the state on January 7 from CoCoRaHS.

There was a beautiful sunset tonight on my Earth Networks HD Camera, and here’s a look at the camera image as well as the current conditions from my weather station in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Here’s also a look at tempeatures across the state from both NWS stations and Earth Networks stations (maps courtesy of Baron Threat Net and Earth Networks Sferic Maps).

Monday evening could see a wintry mix in Hot Springs, as well as snow across parts of North Arkansas. Here’s a look at forecast precipitation and snow accumulation maps for the regional Baron forecast model and WSI RPM model for around 5PM monday showing which parts of the state could see the most snow. The snow accumulations seem light for most of Arkansas and not a major winter event.

Here’s a look at the 7 day extended forecast for Hot Springs, Arkansas. In addition to the 60% PM wintry mix for Monday, there’s a 30% PM chance for rain, and with a possible low of 9 degrees on Tuesday? Brrr!

Here’s one more look at the beautiful sunset on my weather camera in Hot Springs, Arkansas, this evening.

Finally, here’s a look at some of this past week’s weather-related news:

That wraps it up here! Nathan Parker signing off!

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Weather Report

Wintry Addition to Tonight’s Forecast #ARWX

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In addition to the rain Arkansas is receiving today that I mentioned in the seven day forecast in my Weekly Wrap Up on Saturday, parts of the state may also receive some wintry precipitation in addition to the rain. Here’s a look at the high-resolution current Arkansas Radar, where Northwest Arkansas can already possibly be seeing a wintry mix picked up on Snow Machine (most maps courtesy of Baron Threat Net).

Some parts of the state are under a Winter Weather Advisory, with some under a Lake Wind Advisory and Northeast Arkansas under a Winter Storm Warning.

Here is also a look at the Baron forecast model and WSI RPM model for 11PM when Garland County has the best chance of possibly receiving wintry precipitation tonight.

That wraps it up here! Nathan Parker signing off.

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Weather News, Weather Organization, Weather Report

Weekly Wrap Up: January 6, 2018 #ARWX

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Welcome to my first edition of Weekly Wrap Up, a new weekly blog post series I’ll be posting on Saturdays with a look back at the past week’s weather in Arkansas, as well as a look ahead of the weather to come. I’ll conclude each post with a series of links to weather news I’ve encountered in the past week. I look forward to hearing your feedback on my series, and I hope you enjoy it. If it’s been a bit since you’ve clicked around on my blog, I also recommend checking it out, as I’ve recently added some additional links to it to build it out more into a full-featured mini weather site versus just showcasing my blog entries.

This past week brought in the new year for 2018, as well as a freezing in the new year with temperatures bitterly cold across the state. In fact, we were actually colder than Alaska a few of the days! Most of the nation also experienced bitterly cold temperatures, and people bringing in 2018 are likely going to be saying “Make America Warm Again”. There was no rain and no severe weather events this past week in Arkansas. Here’s a look at the past week’s high and low temperatures from my Earth Networks personal weather station.

Here’s a look at the current conditions from my weather station this evening, as well as current temperatures across the state (maps courtesy of Baron Threat Net and Earth Networks Sferic Maps).

Tomorrow will likely see the first rain in Arkansas for 2018. For those in Hot Springs and central Arkansas, the most intense of the rain will likely hit around 10PM. Here’s a look at FutureCast for tomorrow at 10PM from the Baron forecast model for Arkansas and for the region.

By Monday at 5AM when the bulk of the rain event has moved out of the state, here are the rainfall total potentials across Arkansas from the Baron forecast model.

One question residents of Arkansas are wondering if there is a chance of any wintry precipitation tomorrow for Arkansas. There is a slight chance of wintry precipitation tomorrow for North Arkansas around Harrison, Mountain Home, and Eureka Springs, but it’s likely not to be a major event or cause any major travel issues except for a couple potential ice patches.

Here’s also a look at the 7 day extended forecast for Hot Springs Arkansas. Expect heavy rain chances for Sunday and some rain chances for Monday, as well as a 40% chance or rain on Thursday. Temperatures will be on the increase through Thursday and begin falling off again Friday.

Here’s a picture of the snow event from Chipper McDonald in Purdy, VA from the winter weather event that hit New England this week. Thanks for sharing this Chipper!

Lastly, here’s a look at the weather news over the past week:

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Weather Safety, Weather Tool

Winter Weather Safety: Part 5-Dealing with Power and Internet Outages

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In Part 5 of our series on winter weather safety, I want to cover how to deal with power and Internet outages, as both can cause major inconveniences for residents, as well as cause critical issues for those who rely on continued power for mission-critical services.

The first thing I recommend all consumers do is to download their energy provider’s mobile app, as well as include the phone number for their energy provider’s report outage service. For many customers in Arkansas, Entergy Arkansas is the local energy provider. Customers can download the Entergy mobile app, as well as enroll in text messaging alerts by clicking here. To call the Entergy Arkansas Report Outage service, the phone number is 1-800-968-8243‬. Customers who are enrolled in text messaging alerts can also text out to ‭368-374. Keeping these numbers programmed into your phone contacts makes it easier to report an outage, especially late at night when it is difficult to find your paper energy bill for those who still receive paper bills (which is another good reason to keep the energy provider’s mobile app on your phone in case you need to quickly access your account information). I also recommend using the text option versus the call-in option if possible, as Entergy’s phone lines, as well as mobile service in general, will likely incur a larger volume of calls during a power outage, so using the text option to report an outage will allow Entergy to log and respond to the outage in a more timely manner, as well as reduce overall pressure on a mobile provider’s network. Energy companies should also consider looking into intelligent home energy monitoring solutions such as the sensor from Whisker Labs. Whisker Labs offers a simple, DIY home energy sensor that can transmit data via the web to allow customers to better monitor their home energy usage, as well as allow energy providers to better adjust for demand response during winter weather events and be notified quicker of energy outages when energy data stops flowing to them (Whisker Labs also uses Earth Networks weather data and was a subsidary of Earth Networks). Entergy Arkansas is not currently part of the Whisker Labs program, but I have recommended it to them, and I hope they will join in the future.

I also recommend customers have easy access to their energy provider’s power outage map. For customers in Arkansas serviced by Entergy Arkansas, click here to access the Entergy Arkansas power outage map (it is also available to customers in the Entergy mobile app; another benefit of the map is that it includes a weather radar layer from Earth Networks). The Entergy Arkansas Storm Center link is also a beneficial website to check during major severe and winter weather events for updates from Entergy Arkansas and power-related issues.

If consumers depend on their power for mission-critical services such as medical equipment, then it may be a good idea to consider either a portable home generator or a whole home generator. However, generators come with their own additional costs and safety measures, so I recommend them more for consumers who require power for mission-critical services versus those who merely enjoy the benefits of their home power for their comfort. While I love having the power on at my house, I have been able to adjust through energy outages, and I thankfully live in an area with underground utility lines and near major businesses that rely on mission-critical power needs, so I have not suffered through too extensive of a power outage at my residence yet. A UPS (uninterrupted power supply) can be handy to keep certain devices online during an outage (such as electronic devices), although I’ve noticed the batteries in these devices don’t last an extended period of time, so they are usually not worth the added investment unless one needs to run mission-critical electronic devices.

In addition to power outages, Internet outages can also occur during a winter weather event, either on its own during freezing temperatures, or during a power outage when power is knocked out to homes without a generator or UPS. In most cases, the ISP’s power will remain up, although power outages at the infrastructure of some ISP equipment has been known to occur (for example, my ISP which is a local point-to-point wireless ISP, has installed a backup generator and dedicated fiber connection at the wireless tower that services my home Internet connection, so my Internet will likely stay up during a power outage, although some of their less-established towers are outfitted with battery backup devices, so occasionally one of their towers could go offline). Cellular connections will generally stay online during major power or Internet outage events. For public safety officials who need mission-critical access to  winter and severe weather data in the event of a major network outage as well as poor cellular coverage or a cellular network outage, I recommend Mobile Threat Net from Baron Weather. Baron Threat Net relies on satellite-driven connection versus an Internet connection, ensuring public safety professionals can continue to receive critical weather data no matter what. Mobile Threat Net also includes a full-suite of Baron’s exclusive weather data, including winter weather monitoring, so it is an ideal solution for public safety professionals.

Consumers who use Internet-based home phone service (as well as a home signal booster) will also notice during a power or Internet outage, the home phone service will be knocked offline. For those who still need some form of affordable Internet-based home phone service, I recommend the LineLink from T-Mobile, as the LineLink (as well as all of T-Mobile voice lines) includes free access to T-Mobile DIGITS, which allows one to receive calls with a single phone number across multiple devices. I personally own a T-Mobile LineLink myself. If my T-Mobile LineLink home phone service is knocked offline, calls are routed to my cell phone, so I’ll never miss an important call.

Here are a few additional tips for ensuring you can continue communicating during a power or home Internet outage:

  • Keep all your devices fully charged before a major winter weather event, just in case a power or home Internet outage occurs that requires you to use your mobile devices as your primary means of communication.
  • Consider devices such as a tablet, cellular-connected smart watch, mobile hotspot, or your smartphone’s mobile hotspot feature. T-Mobile makes it affordable to add an unlimited tablet or cellular-connected smart watch onto a T-Mobile ONE plan (especially in the months one doesn’t use much cellular data on a tablet with KickBack), and unlimited 3G smartphone mobile hotspot is included with all T-Mobile ONE plans, with affordable options for 10GB or unlimited mobile hotspot for smartphones. T-Mobile DIGITS integration also ensures you can continue to make and receive calls and messages across multiple devices.
  • Power off your devices completely when you’re not actively using them in order to save on battery life (since they can still utilize battery during sleep mode), as well as enable your devices’ Battery Saver mode feature. Dimming your screen, limiting which apps you run in the background, and limiting data-intensive apps such as social media apps, streaming music and video apps, and apps that rely on your mobile device’s geolocation services, will also save on battery life. Attempt to only use one device at a time instead of keeping multiple devices powered on and operating to extend battery life across all your devices.
  • Use texting over calling when possible, as texting will utilize fewer network resources, extending your device’s battery life, as well as placing less overall strain on the cellular network during a major weather event.
  • For extended power outages and on days when the sun peeks from behind the clouds, a solar charger may also be a benefical investment to power up some of your devices, and external battery packs or battery cases can extend battery life in devices as well.

I also highly recommend investing in a solid NOAA weather radio with battery backup to ensure you can continue to receive winter weather-related information. You’ll want a NOAA weather radio with SAME technology. Here is the list of SAME codes for the United States and for Arkansas. For Garland County, use code 005051 and transmitter 162.550. Getting a phone that is WEA (Wireless Emergency Alerts) capable is also recommended, although WEA alerts are not generally sent during winter weather events.

I hope you have enjoyed this series on winter weather safety, and let us know if you have any additiona winter weather safety questions or comments or would like us to cover any additional winter weather safety topics!

That wraps it up here! Nathan Parker signing off.

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Weather Organization, Weather Safety, Weather Tool

Winter by Degrees Webinar from Baron Weather

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(Image courtesy of Baron Weather)

Earlier this week, I posted a blog post concerning winter weather training as a part of a series of winter weather safety. Included in the blog post is a link to the Winter by Degrees eBook from Baron Weather. Baron has also released a recording of the companion webinar that accompanies the eBook. I highly recommend watching it, as it provides some excellent training concerning winter weather in addition to reading the eBook.

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Weather Safety, Weather Tool

Winter Weather Safety: Part 4-Winter Weather Closings and Cancellations

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In Part 4 of our winter weather safety series, I want to take a brief moment to discuss winter weather closings and cancellations. During winter weather events, wintry precipitation can cause winter weather closings, cancellations, and delays, especially of area schools (and on weekends church events).

The best way to keep a track on winter weather closings and cancellations is through your local television stations. For those in central Arkansas, our Little Rock stations KARK 4, KATV 7, THV 11, and FOX 16 each have their own winter weather closings page on their website, as well as the stations will generally run the closings at the bottom of the screen during television broadcasts.

Schools and churches may also offer their own notification service for school students or church members, and I highly recommend checking in with your local school or church you attend to see if they offer such a notification service. A solid notification service I used in a church I served at in Georgia is One Call Now.

That wraps it up here! Nathan Parker signing off.

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Weather News, Weather Organization

Good Info from CoCoRaHS on Reporting Snow and Winter Conditions

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I received an email today from CoCoRaHS which clarifies some good information about reporting snow and winter conditions to them. For those who haven’t read the email yet, here’s an excerpt from it from Nolan and the CoCoRaHS team:

A good question about reporting snow.

I received this question this morning from a North Carolina weather watcher, and realized it may be relevant for many of us.

“I viewed the videos and PDF presentation on measuring snow, but I’m still a little confused about the recording requirements. Can you tell me if all of the blocks need to be filled out that are related to snow, or, if not, what is the required information that should always be entered?”

Here is how I answered:
The first priority, of course, is the precipitation amount — rain plus the melted water content from any snow and ice that fell. Beyond that it’s at your discretion.  Personally, I try to fill out all values every day.   For example, even on dry days with no precipitation and no snow remaining on the ground,  I type in and submit 0.0 so that it confirms no snow. That is ideal but not required.  The only required field is “rain and melted snow ” (i.e. the water content of the precip)  All other fields (new snow, core sample water content of new snow, total depth of old/new snow, and water content of total snow on ground (the SWE)) are greatly appreciated.  But they are not required.  Measure and report what you can.  Leave the others NA if you don’t take those measurements.

Snow Depth — the depth of snow (both old and new) remaining on the ground at your observation time.

I’ve noticed that quite a few of us skip this measurement, or report it only when new snow has fallen.  But arguably it my be the single most important reading of any of our snow observations since it relates most closely to the impact snow is having on transportation, recreation and public safety in an area.  You can infer a lot about the character of the snow, too, from day to day changes in snow depth.  Many people tell me it’s a difficult measurement.  I would argue it’s OK to start with an estimate — maybe just by looking out your window. With uneven snow it may be very difficult to determine if you have an average depth of 3.0, 4.0 or 5.5″ — but it’s easy to estimate if it’s closest to 1″, 4″, 8″ or 12″. Once it’s more than 12″ it gets challenging again, and you may do best to have a semi-permanent ‘snow stake” mounted in the ground in a convenient location.  For more info on measuring snow depth (as opposed to new snowfall): https://youtu.be/2zbDygoJ2D4

“Condition Reports” —

Are you getting wetter or drier?  Is your winter snowpack greater or less than average?  How about the streams around you?  Are they flowing more or less than “normal” for this time of year?  Add value to your CoCoRaHS precipitation reports by adding weekly “Condition” updates.  https://cocorahs.org/Content.aspx?page=condition

Winter precipitation measurement made easy (or at least easier) — use your kitchen scale

If you’ve got a kitchen scales that reads to the nearest gram, you may be in luck: https://cocorahs.org/media/docs/Training_SnowByWeight.pdf

Freezing rain

Based on historical experience, January and  February are the core months of the freezing rain season.  Do you know how to measure and report freezing rain?  If not, don’t wait until its glazing .  https://youtu.be/rLwlaP_CFl8

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