Heavy Rain From the Central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic; Heat Wave Begins This Weekend

Strong to severe thunderstorms and heavy rain will impact portions of the central Plains into the Upper Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic through the weekend. A stretch of unusually hot and humid weather is expected across portions of the central U.S. and the Southeast beginning this weekend and continuing through next week. The heat may reach dangerous levels, particularly mid to late next week. Read More >

NASA astronaut Scott Tingle, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov and JAXA astronaut Norishige Kanai landed Sunday returned from the International Space Station today. Their Soyuz capsule touched down southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan at 12:39 UTC June 3 under clear skies, breezy west winds and temperatures in the low 60's Fahrenheit.

The NWS Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) provides real-time weather analysis and forecasts to the NASA Mission Control Center flight control team for their situational awareness during Soyuz landings. SMG provides en route forecasts for the NASA aircraft returning Scott Tingle back to the USA.

Another three will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome headed for the International Space Station on June 6 including NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor.

METEOSAT 8 Visible Image 13:30 UTC June 3 (near landing time)

Image courtesy EUMETSAT

Heavy Rain From the Central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic; Heat Wave Begins This Weekend

Soyuz 53S Landing