Watching The Pattern Like A Hawk

Photo Friday on Channel 3 Eyewitness News Today and this picture was taken by Steve Felts, our Channel 3 Skywatcher in Murphy, NC. He saw this guy near his house while on a walk. You'll see quite a few red-tail hawks this time of year with fewer leaves on the trees. But getting close enough to get a picture of one is a different story. I've tried several times but usually they take off long before my camera is ready. There has been a pair of red-tail hawks in the woods at my in-laws house. For years I would only see them one at a time. Then this past summer both of them were on the edge of the woods. There was a lot of squawking going on back in the trees. There were a total of five hawks. Three appeared to be juveniles so maybe they had a very successful clutch. They are very neat birds to watch, especially when they are fledglings.
And we're watching the computer models like a hawk for this weekend and next week.
This weekend's set-up features rainy periods beginning Saturday morning and lasting through early Monday. There will even be a few flashes and rumbles as thunderstorms move through as well. Three day rainfall amounts will likely average more than 1 1/2" by the time it wraps up on Monday. And as the precip. ends, there will likely be some snow flurries or snow showers in the higher elevations.
Then much of next week we'll see colder than normal temperatures. In fact Thursday's high might not get out of the 30s in some spots. So our hawk eyes look for any moisture and there's still some potential for shenanigans late Thursday and into Friday. A lot could change before we get there, but this morning's GFS model suggests an accumulating snow for most of the area early Friday. It bears watching given the overall pattern. Stay tuned to the Channel Storm Alert Team for the latest on this situation. See ya on Monday!