Spring About To Break Loose

I still have some snowy shots left from Feb. 11th. So while we are inbetween Winter and Spring color returning I'll post as many as I have. Besides, snow is so fleeting around here it's nice to look back at how the area was decorated. This is the historic Conner Toll House atop Signal Mountain.

We are off to another windy morning, with north winds running between 10 and 20 mph with gusts over 20. These will begin to settle down later this afternoon as high pressure moves on top of us. The fire danger remains high, and once again Red Flag Warnings have been posted across most of Georgia. We have been drier than average since December, and the relatively small fires that have been dotting the area are evidence of that. But around here there's plenty of time to turn this into a sloppy situation.

In the Western U.S. however it's a different story. Look at Phoenix, AZ for example. From the NWS Phoenix: "The record dry spell continues at Phoenix Sky Harbor. The end of today will be the 139th consecutive day with no rain....not even a trace. Record keeping in Phoenix began 6 August 1895." Reports from parts of Arizona have some residents literally watering cactus to keep them alive. And real drought conditions exist from Texas and Oklahoma into parts of Arkansas and Missouri. This will be interesting to watch heading into Summer if this Spring doesn't wet the Plains States down some. They'll have several rounds of storminess the next couple of weeks though.

Here at home look for dry and increasingly warm conditions through Thursday. Thursday we should see south winds really starting to howl, bringing up Gulf moisture to fuel some storms Thursday night into the early hours of Friday morning. Much of Friday looks dry, but this weekend could be unsettled with one round of storms possible on Saturday and another possible on Sunday. Spring may be about to break loose across the area bringing some welcome rainfall.

I sure would hate to start watering the cactus in the parking lot here at Channel 3!