Recently in Tim Category

There is a ray of sunshine amid the cloudy, cold and damp weather we have been seeing.  CLTV launched on RCN Cable this week!  Sorry, had to get some sort of weather reference in my blog.

This is some of the most exciting news since I started with CLTV way back in 1993, our first year on the air.  If you are a first time viewer, you may only know me from my work on WGN-TV(see picture below) or WGN Radio.

I'd like to hear your comments and feedback on our station.  I want to hear from not only RCN viewers but all our viewers.  You can reach me on facebook by clicking http://www.facebook.com/TimMcGillWeatherGuy.

Gusty west and northwest winds will make it really feel like fall for the next few days.  According to our WeatherBug network, several locations have reported gusts close to 50 mph since midnight.

Here are some of the stronger gusts through 6 AM today:

Gust          Location

49 mph      Chicago Heights

48 mph      Naperville

48 mph      Burlington

48 mph      Geneva

A wind advisory is in effect for most of us from 10 AM until 7 PM today.  A lakeshore flood warning is in effect for Lake and Porter county Indiana from 10 AM until 1 PM today.  Strong winds could produce waves 12 to 15 feet high.  The National Weather Service warns, "DOCKS...PIERS...AND BREAK WALLS WILL BE DANGEROUS PLACES TO BE
DURING THE HIGH WAVES AND SHOULD BE AVOIDED."

French photographers have painstakingly stitched together 1200 digital images to put together an amazing panoramic view of the Milky Way galaxy.

The image was produced by the European Southern Observatory's GigaGalaxy Zoom project.  The original image contains about 800 million pixels.  A zoomable image can be found by clicking here.  It has a measly 18 million pixels.

For you photographers, a Nikon D3 digital camera (50 mm lens open at f5.6) was used for the photos used to piece together this awesome view.

NOAA has just completed the final phase of a nine-year, $180 million plan to upgrade the computer system that powers our nation's forecasts for the National Weather Service.  These aren't your parent's computers.  These IBM supercomputers would fill about half of a tennis court and are 34 times more powerful than the most powerful supercomputer that existed just 10 years ago.  According to NOAA, it would take someone with a calculator 3 million years to match the number of calculations the new "Stratus" supercomputer system can whip out in one second.

All this extra power should enable the use of more complex weather models that should improve accuracy and lead to more lead time for severe weather warnings.

Check out NOAA's article for more information.

It was just last week when we lamented the lack of rain from mid-July through mid-August.  The first half of this month started out with about half the rain we normally see.  We made up for that a bit yesterday, some areas more than others.  O'Hare's .31" or rain yesterday brings the months total to 1.91".  That's better but still about an inch below average for the month so far.

Here are some heavier rainfall amounts from Wednesday according to our WeatherBug network:

1.90"  Flossmoor

1.11"  University Park

1.00'  Burlington

.98"   Markham

However, the rain was accompanied by some severe weather.  Spotters reported tornadoes near Elburn and Chesterton.  There were almost a dozen tornadoes reported across the midwest according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. 

We are not out of the woods yet.  The SPC has a portion of our area outlooked for a slight risk of severe weather today.

Smooth sailing today with more sun & less humidity.  Tomorrow is another story.  The Storm Prediction Center has outlooked the southern half of our area for a slight risk of severe weather.  A warm front will be pushing northward toward Chicago during the afternoon and good trigger some strong storms.

Snakes, not storms, are the problem down in Texas.  The southern third of Texas is in an "extreme" to "exceptional" drought.  There has been an increase in poisonous snake bites that may be attributed to the dry conditions.  It seems the snakes normal sources of hydration have evaporated so they now are venturing onto watered lawns.  A rattlesnake can bite twice.  There is the initial bite then the bite in the wallet.  A vile of antivenom can cost over $1000.

One good byproduct of our cool summer is a relatively quiet severe weather season.  According to the Storm Prediction Center, there have been 21 deaths from tornadoes so far this year.  That compares to 122 at this point last year.

It was two years ago that an EF5 tornado struck Greensburg, Kansas.  The storm decimated the town.  To view a full length documentary on the Greensburg tornado, check this out.

It may seem like we skipped summer this year.  We have had only three days so far with highs in the 90s.  This July ranked as the second coolest since the official weather station for Chicago moved inland from the lakefront in 1942. 

Summer will surge back though this weekend.  If we hit the predicted 95 on Saturday, that would make it the hottest day since August 2nd, 2006 when O'Hare hit 97.

Today won't be quite as hot but it could be the warmest day since June 25th when we hit 94.

For more information on how to handle the upcoming mini-heat wave, click here.

That is the question everyone seems to be asking lately.  So far this year, there has only been 26 days with highs of 80 or warmer.  That ties 1942 for the 2nd fewest days of 80 degree or warmer highs.  We should normally have around 40 by now.  No 90 degree days yet this July either.  The warmest day this month occurred on July 6th when we hit 86.  Every July since 1942, when the official recording station for Chicago was moved inland from the lakefront, has seen a high of at least 89 degrees.

There is one good byproduct from this cool summer.  There is less of a threat of the West Nile virus.  The breed of mosquito that carries the virus likes their summers hotter and drier.

If it feels like this has been an unusually cool July so far, you are right.  This is the coolest July in 25 years, at least so far.  That will change though by Friday.  Watch for the return of some heat and humidity for the end of the week.  We could hit 90 in a few southern suburbs Friday.  Along with the return of heat and humidity comes an increased risk for severe weather.  The Storm Prediction Center has outlook northern Illinois & northwest Indiana for a risk of severe weather this Friday.