Some Lucky Dogs Yesterday...Dog Days Go On

It seems like the construction on the Market Street Bridge is moving along pretty well. Of course I didn't use Market street on a daily basis before the work began, so I don't know what others are going through during rush hours in the morning and afternoon. But when I have been driving around that area lately, it feels like things are moving almost as well as they have in the past. And if there's one bright spot to the dry weather, it's that construction crews have been able to keep plugging away on projects like this one.
The other side of the drought hitting 50% of the nation is lower than average tornado numbers this year. After a devastating start to the year, since May twisters have been drying up. Take a look at the Storm Prediction Center's 2006 count versus the 3 year average:

• Jan 2006 - 45 Avg - 12
• Feb 2006 - 15 Avg - 12
• Mar 2006 - 226 Avg - 52
• Apr 2006 - 324 Avg - 138
• May 2006 - 168 Avg - 392
• Jun 2006 - 137 Avg - 292
• Jul 2006 - 68 Avg - 143
• Aug 2006 - 29 Avg - 115
• Total Count: Jan-Aug 2006: 1012
• 3 Year Avg Jan - Aug: 1156

Some lucky dogs got quite wet yesterday afternoon. The line started forming around 12:30 pm from Chattanooga to Knoxville. And south and southeast of the city the rainfall was more generous. If it wouldn't have been for overnight rain earlier, I would have nada.

Officially the "Dog Days" are over. But the heat goes on giving us all something to growl about. So here's all the rrrrrrruff details of the next few days:

Today: Partly cloudy and steamy with a 20% chance for an isolated storm, mainly east of I-75. High: 92

Tonight: Fair skies, warm and muggy. Low: 73

Thursday: Hazy sunshine, hot and humid. High: 93 Heat Index: 99

Friday: Partly cloudy with a 20% chance for an isolated storm. High: 93

Saturday: Partly cloudy with a 30% chance for scattered storms. High: 92

Sunday: Partly cloudy with a 40% chance for scattered storms. High: 89

A weak front will likely slip into the area this weekend and stall into early next week. So scattered storms should be popping up from time to time Saturday through Monday.