Divers Make A Difference.

Hats off to members of the Chattanooga Underwater Divers Association for their work on Earth Day. CUDA volunteers worked below the waves and along the shoreline at the swimming area near the Highway 153 dam. This particular spot was chosen to maximize the benefit of the clean-up. With warmer weather just around the corner, people will be flocking to this popular spot. And even though most won't know it, the CUDA club took the time to make sure their first trip into the water won't start with a trashy view or a cut foot from broken glass. More on this effort in the next couple of posts.
Cooler air is diving into the area today helping to plunge readings a little below our average highs this afternoon. Lots of sunshine with highs around 72 today, this will be an opportunity for you to open up the windows and let the breeze flow through the house. But if you do that be aware that you may scramble for a blanket in the morning. Here in the city lows will drop to around 46, but many spots will dip down to between 40 and 45. April sunshine will boost readings back into the upper 70s Friday afternoon.
This last system gave us another round of rain that has helped push April into the rainfall surplus category. And with only a couple of days left in the month this will be the first month of 2006 with above average rainfall. Here's a look at 2006 rainfall compared to average:

• Jan. -.21"
• Feb. -2.8"
• Mar. -4.25"
• Apr. +2.0"
• So we are now -5.00" Below Avg. Since Jan. 1st

This last system was also more sluggish than the models forecast, and they seem to be leaning towards the next system moving slower as well. That's good news for the start of the weekend. Right now I look for increasing clouds Saturday morning with showers arriving Saturday evening. Rainy periods with embedded thunderstorms will stick around Saturday night through Sunday. And while there may not be heavy rain on Monday, I think there's potential for clouds and occasional light showers rotating through the area during the day on Monday.