Memphis / Shelby County Weather Blog

Update on major changes

2007-06-27T07:53:00.000-05:00

All right, since you asked...

I am still working on the new website. I am presently waiting on the new weather station parts to get here before I make the site officially open, but I already have some pages up if you would like to see what the final version will look like.

The website is http://www.germantownwx.com.

Be watching for more updates in the future!

Major changes ahead

2007-06-22T13:18:00.000-05:00

Yes, everyone, by next week, there will be major changes to this blog (hint: new website!). Stay tuned for details.

Rest of weather station on its way

2007-06-21T22:24:00.000-05:00

Well, the One-Wire station is almost finished. I now have the temperature, humidity, and wind sensors, and I just ordered the barometer and rain gauge today. Hopefully, by the end of next week everything will be up and running!

Stay tuned for updates.

WREG: Drought causes lakes' draining

2007-06-14T23:00:00.000-05:00

Story by Dennis Turner

Arkabutla Lake, Miss - Most of us like to beat the summer heat in the water. That's why local lakes and reservoirs are so popular. But this year, you're likely to find more heat... and a lot less water.

Ann Betterton spends hours at Arkabutla Lake in the summer... but this year she says you might as well call it the "Arkabutla desert". "This is the second time I've seen it like this, but not this low."

The lake is so low swimmers say it's not easy to have fun here. "Very low, it's not usually low like this." said Melinda Gould who came to the lake to swim with friends.

The same conditions plague almost all the area lakes. Arkabutla, Grenada, Sardis and Enid all sit at record low levels. Lake levels here read from nearly 7 feet to more than 16 feet below normal. We're told even Pickwick is low, though not quite as bad, and Horseshoe lake in Arkansas is drier than normal.

All these reservoirs, are supposed to regulate flooding and conserve water. "We operate sorta like your bathtub, ok? On the lake, we draw it down to make way for the spring rains. When the spring rains come we have water in the lake and we can also let water out for the farmers." said Ernie Lentz of the Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District, which operates the major North Mississippi lakes.

But this year the rains didn't come, and we'll soon find ourselves in the dry months of July, August and September.

How bad is it? More than half the boat ramps here look high and dry. What will it take to fix this? You won't believe the answer. Rangers here tell me it would take a hurricane or tropical storm to hover over us for a day or so to get this lake where it needs to be.

And as much as folks here want their lake back.. they're not ready for anything THAT drastic. "I don't wanna see no hurricane but I know we need some water, bad. ‘Cause the ground's so hard you can't do anything. Our garden's not doing good at all." said Betterton.

In fact, the lakes have had dozens of events like fishing tournaments cancel because of the lack of water.

But believe it or not, this dry spell does have a silver lining. "Next year fishing should be excellent because all these areas tthat [sic] are exposed where vigitation [sic] is growing and that's food for the fish." said Lentz.

But that's NEXT year. Now, you might think the low water might prevent more drowning problems, but rangers tell me they have the most drowning cases when the water's unusually high... or unusually low.

Source URL: http://wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=6654613

Rain?

2007-06-14T16:51:00.001-05:00

Short Term Forecast from MEG:

.NOW...
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND MOVE
ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTH MISSISSIPPI...WEST TENNESSEE AND EASTERN
ARKANSAS THIS AFTERNOON. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL AVERAGE BETWEEN A
TENTH TO A HALF OF AN INCH THROUGH 500 PM CDT.

Surely not.

Oops! I'm still alive

2007-06-12T20:32:00.000-05:00

Well, if anyone is still out there, you may have noticed that this blog has not been updated in over five months, nor has my ChaseBlogs blog. Sorry. I have since gotten a job (and been fired from it) and many other major events have happened since January. Well, now I am going to try to revive this blog with its normal content. Additionally, I will be merging the ChaseBlog with this blog to help organize everything.

As you also may have noticed, the station has been down for several months. This is due to an almost complete hardware failure to the rain gauge and anemometer. And, because of that, Weather Display, my new weather station software-of-choice, won't let me upload incomplete data. Thus, the station has been down.

I have not attempted to fix that station, because I am soon going to be setting up the Hobby-Boards/One-Wire weather station. In my post below, I thoroughly described receiving the first components of the station. Well, today, I ordered the second phase of the new station from Hobby-Boards. I ordered the Wind Instrument, and various cables and connectors. I will let you know when it arrives here.

Additionally, a volunteer organization named CoCoRaHS has become active in TN, with help from the NWS. CoCoRaHS stands for "Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network". The organization seeks volunteers who will commit to report precipitation amounts from their home on a daily basis. All it requires is a manual 4" rain gauge (which can bought from a partner site). The NWS is a big sponsor of CoCoRaHS, and uses many of their reports. I joined in April and have been reporting almost every day. I would encourage anyone who likes to observe the weather daily to sign up! By the way, I am station TN-SH-4.

In other weather news, not much is happening weather wise, except for the major drought we are going through. Shelby County is listed on the US Drought Monitor as having a moderate drought, while the surrounding areas have a severe drought.

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to post tomorrow.
Jake

Station offline for a few minutes today

2007-01-28T14:30:00.000-06:00

The weather station will be offline for the next few minutes as I move my computer to another part of the room. It shouldn't take very long.

It's here! New 1-wire sensors in operation

2007-01-19T21:24:00.000-06:00

Yes! The 1-Wire sensor that I ordered arrived today. In the box from Hobby-Boards, which got here quickly thanks to fast (and cheap) shipping, included the following:

The DS9490 1-Wire USB Adapter (in blue), the Humidity/Temperature sensor and case, a RJ-45 coupler, and a special RJ-12 to RJ45 cable to interface between the sensor and USB adapter.

Here's a few photos of the inside of the Humidity/Temperature sensor.

As you may know, I am using the book Weather Toys: Building and Hacking Your Own 1-Wire Weather Station (Amazon link). In that book, author Tim Bitson takes you step-by-step in building the entire station, but he gives you the source code to the software so that you can modify and hack to your needs. Also, he set up a website for support and other ideas for the network. After setting up a mini 1-Wire network, I tried out the software, and this is what I got:

init:
deps-jar:
compile:
run:
Starting SimpleWeather 1.0
Stable Library
=========================================
Native lib Version = RXTX-2.1-7
Java lib Version   = RXTX-2.1-7
Found Adapter: {DS9490} on Port USB1
Resetting 1-wire bus
Time = Fri Jan 19 21:09:06 CST 2007
Temperature = 72.5degs F
Humidity = 29.719664%


Time = Fri Jan 19 21:09:09 CST 2007
Temperature = 72.5degs F
Humidity = 29.721657%


Time = Fri Jan 19 21:09:12 CST 2007
Temperature = 72.5degs F
Humidity = 29.35742%


Time = Fri Jan 19 21:09:15 CST 2007
Temperature = 72.5degs F
Humidity = 29.35742%

Pretty cool, huh? I kind of changed the code to refresh every 3 seconds, instead of the default one minute. Soon, I will order some more parts to expand this network into a fully functional weather station! Watch for more details.

Data outage

2007-01-17T06:55:00.000-06:00

Well, WUHU messed up around 4 PM Monday and stopped uploading. Thus, no data is available from 4 PM Monday to about 7 AM Wednesday. Sorry.

More 14 mph spikes

2007-01-14T08:43:00.000-06:00

14 mph wind spikes are still being recorded due to the wiring problem of the anemometer. I will delete these entries from WU this afternoon. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Update (1:30 pm): The wrongful entires have been deleted.

Stupid wind spikes!

2007-01-13T21:45:00.000-06:00

The WS-2310 has been malfunctioning all day today due to the rainfall. Several 14 mph wind spikes were observed at different times today. I have deleted all the wrong data on WU, but I can't delete it on CWOP or AWEKAS. Sorry.

First phase on OWS ordered

2007-01-13T21:31:00.000-06:00

I have taken a huge step in the construction of the OWS (One-Wire Station) by ordering the parts for the first phase of the project. Today, I ordered the Temperature/Humidity sensor, the case for it, the USB Adapter, and various cables and connectors from Hobby-Boards. It should be here sometime next week, and of course I'll let you know when it comes in.

Of course, all of the information for the OWS comes from the book Weather Toys: Building and Hacking Your Own 1-Wire Weather Station by Tim Bitson, and the companion website, www.weathertoys.net.

For information on the phases of this construction, see this Google document.

Major update

2007-01-13T20:04:00.000-06:00

Howdy everyone! I figured it was time to reinstate this blog again. I currently operate the Mid-South Weather ChaseBlog, and I don't update it very much. The ChaseBlog is used for discussing weather conditions only, so I figured that I would use this blog for status updates for my weather station. Whenever something goes wrong or a new feature is added, you'll see it here first.

Also, I am currently planning and constructing a brand new weather station - stay tuned for more details later!

Note some of the new features:

At the top of the page, the current version of WUHU I am running will be displayed.
The live Java applet of the weather station's data, to the right.

There will be more to come, so stay tuned for the latest information!

Jake

Two tropical systems active in the Atlantic

2006-08-24T18:44:00.000-05:00

Again, I'm sorry for not posting in the past few days. The last week and a half has been extremely hectic and busy.

Anyway, Tropical Storm Debby is currently located in the North Central Atlantic, and poses no threat to land in the immediate future. As of 4 PM CDT, maximum sustained winds were up to 50 mph, with higher gusts. It was moving toward the WNW at 20 mph. In the coming days, Debby is expected to curve toward the north, thus avoiding all land.

Though Debby will (likely) not harm land, the newly formed Tropical Depression Five might. As of 4 PM CDT, TD 5 was located 155 miles SW of Martinque. It was moving toward the west at 22 mph. Max sustained winds were 35 mph, and the winds are expected to strengthen to tropical storm status in the immediate future. As of right now, TD 5 is not headed for any land, but rain/wind bands could affect the Windward Islands, and Trindad and Tobago.

Use the links above for the latest information direct from the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service.

First case of West Nile reported in Shelby County

2006-08-18T21:04:00.000-05:00

According to a press release from the TN Department of Health, the first case of the West Nile Virus in Tennessee has been reported right here in Shelby County. According to the release, "the patient (who according to WREG's story, is over 50) is hospitalized and expected to make a full recovery." WREG says that the victim first realized something was wrong when they started having headaches and memory loss.

Here are a few reminders from the Dept. of Health on how to protect yourself from this disease:

Use a mosquito repellent containing DEET, Picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus whenever outdoors. Even spending a short time outdoors can be long enough to get a mosquito bite. Follow use instructions on the product.
Wearing the right clothing can help reduce mosquito bites. When possible, wear long-sleeves, long pants and socks when outdoors.
Be aware of peak mosquito hours. Peak mosquito biting times are between dusk and dawn for many species of mosquitoes.
Limit the number of places around your home for mosquitoes to breed by getting rid of items that collect water, including toys, bird baths, old tires, buckets and other items that might hold standing water.
Make sure doors and windows are screened if you keep them open and repair any damage to screens.

Severe weather rolling through this evening

2006-08-14T22:17:00.000-05:00

UPDATE #5: SVR just issued for Chester Co until 11 PM. I'm going to bed now. Good night, everyone.

UPDATE #4 (9:50 PM): SVR for Fayette Co is cancelled, Hardeman's warning still continues. Significant Weather Advisory was just issued for Madison Co; this storm could become severe soon. Watch this one.

UPDATE #3 (9:37 PM): Severe T'storm Watch is cancelled.

UPDATE #2 (9:32 PM): SVR just issued for Fayette and Hardeman Counties until 10:15. Also, the SPC has cleared out all of the counties in the Severe T'storm Watch except for the MEG counties (expires at 10 PM CDT). I wonder if a new watch will be issued soon? Probably not - thanks to the loss of daytime heating, we have lost a lot of the energy in these storms, so they will likely weaken. But, some redevelopment is possible. Just have to wait and see.

UPDATE (8:59 PM): LSRs issued a few minutes ago...here's what it said:

(20:51:21) iembot: 4 S Annieville [Lawrence Co, AR] fire dept/rescue reports TSTM WND DMG at 05:47 PM CDT -- trees down
(20:51:21) iembot: Bono [Craighead Co, AR] broadcast media reports TSTM WND DMG at 06:20 PM CDT -- roof damage to home and cars blown off road
(20:51:21) iembot: Jonesboro [Craighead Co, AR] law enforcement reports TSTM WND DMG at 06:50 PM CDT -- trees down along hwy 141
(20:51:22) iembot: Corning [Clay Co, AR] trained spotter reports TSTM WND GST of E65.00 MPH at 07:10 PM CDT -- estimated wind gusts 65 to 70 mph
(20:51:22) iembot: Trumann [Poinsett Co, AR] law enforcement reports HAIL of penny size (E0.75 INCH) at 07:36 PM CDT --
(20:51:22) iembot: Harrisburg [Poinsett Co, AR] law enforcement reports TSTM WND DMG at 07:58 PM CDT -- trees down on hwy 163
(20:51:22) iembot: Joiner [Mississippi Co, AR] fire dept/rescue reports TSTM WND GST of E60.00 MPH at 08:00 PM CDT --
(20:51:22) iembot: Harrisburg [Poinsett Co, AR] law enforcement reports TSTM WND DMG at 08:00 PM CDT -- powerlines down on rayburn road
(20:51:22) iembot: Keiser [Mississippi Co, AR] nws employee reports TSTM WND GST of E60.00 MPH at 08:10 PM CDT --

ORIGINAL POST (7:59 PM): Lots to talk about, so little time...

There is a Severe Thunderstorm Watch in effect for the MEG counties of Dyer, Lake, Obion, Dunklin, Pemiscot, Greene, Mississippi, Craighead, Poinsett, Clay, Randolph, and Lawrence until 10 PM CDT.

Additionally, there are Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in effect for Mississippi Co. (until 8:30 PM), Greene and Clay Co. (8:15 PM), Dunklin (8:15 PM), and Pemiscot (8:45 PM). Refer to local media or the NWS website for the latest.

Stay with us for the latest.

Working on major changes for blog!

2006-08-12T20:37:00.000-05:00

Howdy everyone...sorry I haven't posted recently.

This morning, as I lay in bed, I got a brilliant idea to incorporate live weather data into this blog. So, 12 hours later, after spending about 10 at the computer, I have a little work to show for it.

Some people around here may have heard of HamWeather, a great thing for websites to add for weather info. Plus, it's ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!!!!!!! I have been working on this, and hope to have it up and running before the end of the coming week.

You can see my work so far by clicking here. Do remember, however, that this software is in the alpha stages, so a lot of it doesn't work (especially the images). If you know of any obvious bugs, please post about it here.

Heat Advisory in effect today and Monday

2006-08-06T16:09:00.000-05:00

The NWS has issued yet another Heat Advisory for all of North MS, Shelby County, and the following counties in AR: Crittenden, Cross, St. Francis, Lee, and Phillips. This advisory is in effect until 7 PM Monday.

Additionally, a Code Orange ozone air forecast is in effect today. This means that "active children and adults, and people with lung disease, such as asthma, should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors." (Airnow.gov)

Please take many water breaks if you have to be outside and stay cool if you are indoors. Refer to previous posts about what to do during a heat wave.

Tropical Storm Chris poses a threat

2006-08-01T16:45:00.000-05:00

I have been watching this system for a while (at least 5 days). I have seen the NHC say that it was possible that it could form, then say that it was unlikely to form, and then watch them declare it a tropical depression. All along, I secretely thought that this may become something big. And, it is slowly becoming that way. At 5 PM AST, the NHC put out an advisory saying that Chris had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. Five minutes later, they put out an update saying that based on recon data, "the maximum sustained winds in Chris have increased to near 60 mph" and that a special advisory reflecting these changes would be released. Keep an eye out for this storm.

Great blog on Middle TN weather

2006-07-31T14:39:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! Go and check out the new, handy-dandy Southern Tennessee Weather Blog! This blog was just created today by one of my friends from the TN WX Zone forum, and I am sure it will have some great weather info from that area. The counties covered in that blog are: Marshall, Maury, Giles, Bedford, Lawrence, Lincoln, Moore, Franklin, Wayne, Coffee, Perry, and Lewis (all in TN). Be sure to stop by!

The address is http://southerntnwx.blogspot.com/.

Heat Advisory extended until Tuesday

2006-07-30T20:19:00.000-05:00

The Heat Advisory that was in effect has been extended until 7 PM Tuesday. According to the notice, actual high temperatures on Monday and Tuesday will be in the mid-upper 90s. With the high humidities we will have this week, heat indices will be 105-110 degrees. Once again, here are some heat safety tips from the Red Cross:

Slow down. Avoid strenuous activity. If you must do strenuous activity, do it during the coolest part of the day, which is usually in the morning between 4:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.
Stay indoors as much as possible. If air conditioning is not available, stay on the lowest floor, out of the sunshine. Try to go to a public building with air conditioning each day for several hours. Remember, electric fans do not cool the air, but they do help sweat evaporate, which cools your body.
Wear lightweight, light-colored clothing. Light colors will reflect away some of the sun's energy.
Drink plenty of water regularly and often. Your body needs water to keep cool.
Drink plenty of fluids even if you do not feel thirsty.
Water is the safest liquid to drink during heat emergencies. Avoid drinks with alcohol or caffeine in them. They can make you feel good briefly, but make the heat's effects on your body worse. This is especially true about beer, which dehydrates the body.
Eat small meals and eat more often. Avoid foods that are high in protein, which increase metabolic heat.
Avoid using salt tablets unless directed to do so by a physician.

Also, you need to know what types of illnesses heat can cause:

Heat cramps: Heat cramps are muscular pains and spasms due to heavy exertion. Although heat cramps are the least severe, they are an early signal that the body is having trouble with the heat.
Heat exhaustion: Cool, moist, pale, or flushed skin; heavy sweating; headache; nausea or vomiting; dizziness; and exhaustion. Body temperature will be near normal.
Heat stroke: Hot, red skin; changes in consciousness; rapid, weak pulse; and rapid, shallow breathing. Body temperature can be very high-- as high as 105 degrees F. If the person was sweating from heavy work or exercise, skin may be wet; otherwise, it will feel dry.

What to do if these illnesses occur:

Heat cramps: Get the person to a cooler place and have him or her rest in a comfortable position. Lightly stretch the affected muscle and replenish fluids. Give a half glass of cool water every 15 minutes. Do not give liquids with alcohol or caffeine in them, as they can make conditions worse.
Heat exhaustion: Get the person out of the heat and into a cooler place. Remove or loosen tight clothing and apply cool, wet cloths, such as towels or sheets. If the person is conscious, give cool water to drink. Make sure the person drinks slowly. Give a half glass of cool water every 15 minutes. Do not give liquids that contain alcohol or caffeine. Let the victim rest in a comfortable position, and watch carefully for changes in his or her condition.
Heat stroke: Heat stroke is a life-threatening situation. Help is needed fast. Call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number. Move the person to a cooler place. Quickly cool the body. Immerse victim in a cool bath, or wrap wet sheets around the body and fan it. Watch for signals of breathing problems. Keep the person lying down and continue to cool the body any way you can. If the victim refuses water or is vomiting or there are changes in the level of consciousness, do not give anything to eat or drink.

Thanks to the Red Cross for this information. For more information on heat waves, visit the Red Cross page or this page from the NWS.

Heat Advisory in effect today

2006-07-30T08:48:00.000-05:00

The NWS in Memphis has issued a Heat Advisory for the entire Mid-South today. It is in effect from 11 AM - 7 PM. Heat indices could reach 110 today. Please take the proper precautions and limit your outdoor activity.

Flooding reeks havoc on Tennessee this afternoon

2006-07-29T18:57:00.000-05:00

You probably weren't aware, but it rained in the northwestern portion of the Memphis CWA today. And it rained a lot. Radar estimates show almost 8" of rain over that area, and that is probably under the real amount. Now, before Noah opens his ark, let me tell you about some of the incidents in our area.

Near Clarksburg, TN (12:35 PM): Many county roads flooded
Chesterfield, TN (12:39 PM): Caramel Cove Road flooded
Parsons, TN (12:41 PM)

Four businesses have 4" of flood water
One home has 6" of water, and another has nearly a foot of water
Sections of almost every road in town is flooded with almost two feet of water

Forum looking for Mid-South members

2006-07-26T08:16:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! TalkWeather, a great weather forum, is looking for more Mid-South members. We already have two people from the local NWS, and a few others (including myself). We would greatly appreciate if you could join.

The address is www.talkweather.com.

Heat advisory in effect Friday

2006-07-13T23:13:00.000-05:00

The NWS in Memphis has issued a Heat Advisory for the entire Mid-South Friday, from 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM CDT. Heat index values could reach 105 degrees tomorrow with actual highs in the mid-90s. Here are some safety tips on how to deal with hot weather from the Red Cross:

Slow down. Avoid strenuous activity. If you must do strenuous activity, do it during the coolest part of the day, which is usually in the morning between 4:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.
Stay indoors as much as possible. If air conditioning is not available, stay on the lowest floor, out of the sunshine. Try to go to a public building with air conditioning each day for several hours. Remember, electric fans do not cool the air, but they do help sweat evaporate, which cools your body.
Wear lightweight, light-colored clothing. Light colors will reflect away some of the sun's energy.
Drink plenty of water regularly and often. Your body needs water to keep cool.
Drink plenty of fluids even if you do not feel thirsty.
Water is the safest liquid to drink during heat emergencies. Avoid drinks with alcohol or caffeine in them. They can make you feel good briefly, but make the heat's effects on your body worse. This is especially true about beer, which dehydrates the body.
Eat small meals and eat more often. Avoid foods that are high in protein, which increase metabolic heat.
Avoid using salt tablets unless directed to do so by a physician.

View more about what to do during heat waves from this Red Cross page.