Some Rain, But Not Nearly Enough. Chilly Though.

Here are a few pictures taken during the Paddlefish Project's first stocking at Loch-Low-Minn near Athens, Tennessee. 70 of these "living dinosaurs" were delivered to this inland diving mecca in late September. This project is part of the Junior Advanced Open Water Class at Choo-Choo Diving. Some of the young scientists were on hand for the big day to release the fish. They have been testing water quality for months as seen in the middle picture. Pictured are Kevin Brown, Kristina Fusco, and Jamie Fox. The Tennessee Aquarium's Rob Mottice brought the paddlefish to McMinn County from a fish farm in Kentucky. He's shown here explaining (To our Matt Johnson, manning the Channel 3 camera.) the electrical receptors the fish have on their paddles that help them locate the plankton they eat. Paddlefish swim with their mouths wide open while they are filter feeding. I hope you got to see the story that ran on Channel 3 Eyewitness News. By the way there is a strong tie-in for this blog fishy weather. Rob and the crew had an very stormy night in Kentucky before they brought the fish here. And they had to slowly drive through several blinding downpours on I-75 as well. We dodged the rain that Saturday that doused McMinn County west of I-75 with more than 4". We were very lucky to stay dry.
Even though we need more rain, there's not a lot of it coming in the next 5 days. Some scattered showers this morning brought only a trace of rain to Channel 3. We should see a bit of sun through the clouds and make it into the mid 70s this afternoon. And our first front arrives later today with some scattered storms. There is some limited potential for a strong to severe storm this afternoon. We clear out tonight and see partly cloudy skies to start Thursday. Late Thursday afternoon into Thursday evening a few more clouds and maybe a sprinkle or two. Then mostly sunny breezy and cooler on Friday. I still don't think we'll see a widespread frost Saturday morning, but it will be pretty cold. Then we warm up Saturday and Sunday. Our next chance for soaking rains comes up Monday through Wednesday next week.

Today: Mostly cloudy with some peeks of sun. Scattered storms this afternoon. High: 76

Tonight: Clouds decrease, and turning a bit cooler. Low: 53

Thursday: Partly cloudy, cool and breezy. A few sprinkles possible Thursday afternoon. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph and gusty. High: 67

Friday: Mostly sunny, cool and breezy. High: 63

Saturday morning low: 37

Saturday afternoon: Partly cloudy and cool. High: 69

Sunday: Partly cloudy and a bit warmer. High: 74