Heavy Rain in the Appalachians and Central Gulf Coast; Heat Continues in the West; Monitoring the Tropics

Heavy to excessive rainfall over the southern Appalachians and portions of the central Gulf Coast may bring areas of flooding today. Hot temperatures are in place through today across much of the western U.S. and New England. Tropical Storm Erin is forecast to become a Major Hurricane this weekend as it moves across the central Atlantic Ocean. Monitor future forecasts for any East Coast impacts. Read More >

On Monday, August 21st, 2017, all of of North America experienced a solar eclipse of the sun. The path of the total solar eclipse was from the Plateau to much of southeast Tennessee to southwest North Carolina. The maximum solar eclipse occurred between 233 and 236 pm ET. Due to the moon’s blockage of the suns solar radiation, temperatures (red line) dropped as much as 10 degrees between 2 and 3 pm Monday afternoon. However, the temperature drop varied greatly across east Tennessee, southwest Virginia, and southwest North Carolina. The dewpoint temperature (green line), which is measure of moisture in the air, generally increased during the eclipse. The graphs below show the different temperature and dewpoint observation traces across southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, and southwest North Carolina.