Saturday Night Backyard Astronomy

The clear sky for Saturday night will give us ideal conditions for some backyard astronomy.  Look to the western sky around dusk to see the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus aligned together.

Behind the Moon and the Sun, both Venus and Jupiter are the brightest objects in the night sky.

I read an interesting explanation from earthsky.org

“ Venus has the highest albedo of any planet in our solar system. Venus is so bright partly because it reflects over 70 percent of sunlight striking it. It owes its reflective ability to the fact that it’s blanketed with clouds. Sunlight bouncing from these clouds is what makes Venus so bright.”

You learn something new everyday!

Drew Michaels

Follow us on Twitter at “4029weather”

Cold Front Moves In Tonight

Our next weather maker moves in tonight in the form of a cold front. High clouds will move in this morning to mix with sunshine. The sky will become partly cloudy this afternoon. The front itself will move in around 7pm tonight. This will allow temperatures to warm up nicely today. A sprinkle or two is possible this evening along and north of US 412, but the chance of rain is only 20%. Tomorrow will be cooler with highs in the upper 40s and low 50s. However, the dry air will keep the weekend sunny and highs will warm back into the 60s early next week.

Ross Ellet

Follow us on twitter “4029weather”

Storm Spotter Classes……

I just want to get some of these classes on your radar, yes, pun intended!  These classes from the National Weather Service are a great way to learn more about storm spotting safety and storm structure. 

The first class is scheduled at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.  The class will be held at the Engineering Building Room 282.

The second class will be held at the Emergency Management Building in Fort Smith.   

Classes are free and they usually last a couple of hours.   

Drew Michaels

Follow us on Twitter at “4029weather” 

Rain Moving Out

Light rain showers and patches of drizzle continues across the area this morning. This is the last batch of rain before the upper level low moves out of the area. Rain will move out by noon today and sunshine will quickly develop. As a result temperatures will rebound into the mid to upper 50s later today. Friday will be even warmer with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s.

Ross Ellet

Follow us on twitter “4029weather”

Updated Rainfall Totals…..

On average we pick up between 2.00″ to 2.50″ of precipitation for the entire month of January.  Thanks to last night’s heavy rain, many locations doubled their monthly average in a matter of 24 hours.

Thankfully the flooding threat will diminish tonight.  Isolated showers are in the forecast, but accumulations will be less than a tenth of an inch.  Clouds will clear during the afternoon on Thursday with highs in the middle 50′s.

Drew Michaels

Follow us on Twitter at “4029weather” 

Rain rates have slowed a little through the river valley and have stopped for the time being in northwest Arkansas. However, another band is slowly pushing back to the north. Scattered showers will be likely through early afternoon. Rain totals will average 2-4″ by the time this upper level low moves out on Thursday morning.

Ross Ellet

Follow us on twitter “4029weather”

5 AM Wednesday Rain Update

Severe weather is not an issue this morning but heavy rainfall is making for a challenging morning commute. Rain totals are already in the 1-3″ range and another 1-2″ is expected with locally higher totals possible. The heaviest of the rain will fall between now and 11am today. Rain will become scattered by late morning and early afternoon. Another band of moderate to heavy rainfall is possible later this evening.

Ross Ellet

Follow us on twitter “4029weather”

10:30 P.M. Update….

Tha rain has arrived across eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas.  1″ to 3″ of rain is expected across the area.  Here are the RPM rainfall forecasted totals.

The rain will linger across the area through Thursday morning.

Drew Michaels

Follow us on Twitter at “4029weather”

Flood Watch Through Wednesday

The National Weather Service in Tulsa has issued a flood watch for all of the counties in green.  This does not include the NWS Little Rock counties at this point.

Widespread rain and some embedded storms will move into the area late tonight in response to a vigorous upper  level storm system to our south.  Locally heavy rainfall over the next 24 hours could cause some localized flooding.

Lingering showers are possible into Thursday morning with dry weather to follow by Thursday afternoon.  Widespread 1″ to 3″ rain totals are expected.  Some isolated spots across the Ouachitas could see locally higher amounts.

Drew Michaels

Follow us on Twitter at “4029weather”

Timing Out The Rain

Rain totals are still expected to add up between 1-3″ between Tuesday and Thursday. Rainfall is still expected to arrive around 10pm tonight in the river valley. Rain will begin around midnight in northwest Arkansas. Rain will be heavy at times overnight and for the morning commute on Wednesday. Another band of heavy rain could develop for late Wednesday afternoon and evening with lighter rain expected on Thursday morning.

Ross Ellet

Follow us on twitter “4029weather”