AccuWeather's Fall Outlook

AccuWeather has released their Fall Outlook.  They are predicting a warm and dry fall for our region with cold air returning late.  They also said an early frost is unlikely.  Fall begins September 22 and runs through December 20. 

More can be read here:  http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/accuweather-2012-fall-forecast/68844

Fall 2012 Outlook from AccuWeather.
Image from AccuWeather.com

Meteor Shower Event Coming Up

Image: NASA

The Perseids will put on their annual show this year, peaking on August 11th at 2 AM.  These occur every year starting in late July and going through August and typically produce 50-60 meteors per hour at the peak.  They are seen in the northeastern part of the sky.It will be a great time to view them this year due to the moon being in a waning crescent phase so it won't be a nuisance in trying to view them.  The only thing to worry about is cloud cover which right now is looking to be an issue. Hopefully the weather changes between now and then  but a large weather system is expected to move up the eastern coast which could ruin the event for our area.  

Mars Rover Successfully Lands

One of the first pictures Curiosity sent back to Earth.
Image: NASA

Mars sunset taken by Spirit. 
Image: NASA

Curiosity, NASA's latest Mars Rover, successfully landed on Mars last night and sent its first pictures within minutes of landing, making it a very successfully mission.  Many more pictures will be received in the next two years as Curiosity roams a huge crater on Mars, searching for the key essentials for life.  Curiosity actually has 17 cameras equipped on it so more, and better pictures will be sent.  Curiosity joins Opportunity, another NASA rover that is currently still roaming the martian planet.  Spirit, another rover launched around the same time as Opportunity, became stuck a couple years ago and NASA ended up losing communication and scrapping that mission.  Both of those rovers were very successful as they gathered useful data, took amazing pictures, and outlasted their expected lifetime.  This may be one of the last missions you'll see from NASA due to funding cuts. It's very unfortunate that funding was cut to them. This is one of the better things we Americans pay for. 

Mars Rover Will Land Monday

Image from NASA

NASA will be attempting to land their latest rover named Curiosity on Mars.  Definitely worth staying up and watching on the news.  Curiosity is scheduled to land at 1:31 a.m. ET Monday.  Spirit and Opportunity were the last 2 rovers sent to Mars back in 2004. They lost communication with Spirit and gave up on it in May 2011. However, Opportunity is still going strong and has exceeded its mission length tremendously.

Good article:  http://news.yahoo.com/excitement-builds-mars-rovers-landing-sunday-185857943.html

Severe Weather Likely For Sunday

SPC Outlooks for Sunday.

SPC Statement Sunday Morning:

...NY/PA INTO THE UPPER OH VALLEY...
   SEVERAL BANDS OF THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE
   REGION THROUGH THIS EVENING ALONG/AHEAD OF THE ADVANCING COLD FRONT
   WITHIN A WARM/MOIST AND WEAKLY CAPPED ENVIRONMENT.  STRONG STORMS
   MOVING OVER PARTS OF WRN/CENTRAL OH THIS MORNING ARE LIKELY TO
   SPREAD EWD/NEWD THROUGH THE DAY...WITH MODEL GUIDANCE /INCLUDING
   HIGH RESOLUTION CONVECTION-ALLOWING MODELS/ SHOWING ADDITIONAL
   DEVELOPMENT OCCURRING NEWD ALONG THE LEE OF LAKES ERIE AND ONTARIO
   BY EARLY AFTERNOON.  
   
   VISIBLE IMAGERY SHOWS EXTENSIVE AREAS OF CLOUDS THIS MORNING WHICH
   ARE EXPECTED TO INHIBIT DIURNAL HEATING AND REDUCE THE RATE OF
   DESTABILIZATION TODAY.  SOME BREAKS/THINNING OF CLOUD
   COVER...ESPECIALLY FROM ERN LAKE ERIE ENEWD INTO NY...WILL PROMOTE
   AREAS OF GREATER HEATING.  HOWEVER...GENERALLY WEAK LAPSE RATES ON
   12Z REGIONAL SOUNDINGS SUGGEST INSTABILITY WILL REMAIN MODEST WITH
   MLCAPE UP TO 1000 J/KG.  STRONGER SWLY FLOW IN THE LOW-MID LEVELS
   ALONG THE SRN EDGE OF THE UPPER SHORT WAVE TROUGH WILL ENHANCE
   VERTICAL SHEAR ACROSS THIS REGION AND SUPPORT ORGANIZED LINE
   SEGMENTS AND CLUSTERS OF STORMS...WITH MORE INTENSE CONVECTION
   CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL.
    THE ACTIVITY WILL SPREAD EWD THROUGH THE EVENING WHEN GRADUAL
   WEAKENING OF THE CONVECTION IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR.

Drought Monitor Update

Here is the new drought monitor.  We have been downgraded from "moderate drought" to "abnormally dry".  Our region saw a decent amount of precipitation towards the end of July which helped solve some of our drought issues.  July actually ended up being above average in terms of precipitation.

July In Review, A Look Into August

July has finally come to an end. Let's take a look how July 2012 turned out.

July 2012 Summary
Avg High (°F)	Avg Low (°F)	Total Precip (in)
83	65	4.73
Average Values
Avg High (°F)	Avg Low (°F)	Total Precip (in)
80	60	4.26
Difference
Avg High (°F)	Avg Low (°F)	Total Precip (in)
3	5	0.47

July 2012 turned out to be above average for high and low temperatures and precipitation which is good news for the moderate drought that we have been in. 

So how does August look?

Temperature outlook for August. Forecasted to be above average
for temperatures in our region.
CPC

Precip outlook for August. Expected to be around normal for our region.
CPC.

According to the CPC, it looks like we'll be above average for temperatures and about normal for precipitation.  The average high for August is 78°F, while the average low is 59°.  Precipitation is usually around 3.60 inches.