The heat is on in our area this week as we are soaring into the middle 90s on some afternoons so be sure and take it easy during the heat of the day.
A front could bring some thunderstorm activity on Thursday and cool us into the 80s for the weekend, but then we would pop back into the 90s by Monday. Storms could become quite strong Wednesday and Thursday with all of this heat and humidity that we are going to have around.
Do you know the difference between a watch and a warning? A watch means that conditions are favorable for severe weather to develop but you can continue to go about your normal activities just be sure to monitor conditions in case a warning is issued. It is time to seek shelter immediately when you hear that a warning is in effect for your area. This means that severe weather is occurring and has been reported by the public and indicated by radar.
School students often ask me how does hail form and why is it different sizes? Hailstones form when raindrops are carried higher and higher in the atmosphere by strong updrafts that are in a thunderstorm. The stones grows larger as they go through up and down cycles many times in a severe storm. The hail falls when the thunderstorms updraft can no longer support the weight of the hailstone, which can occur if the stone becomes large enough or the updraft weakens. A thunderstorm is considered severe if it is producing dime sized hail or larger.
