Hello everyone!  I’m Phillip Williams, Chief Meteorologist for Storm Team 9 at WNCT. 

It is Friday and I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for the weekend.  Highs were above 60 today and that is just enough to give me a little spring fever.  It is about time to do all of those spring chores around the house.  They are usually relegated to the weekends.  I expect the local plant nurseries are about to swing into to full production.

We have video I’m using tonight that shows the daffodils on Old Tar Road just south of Winterville in full bloom.  This is certainly an early sign of spring.  So, what should I do this weekend?  Well, it’s going to be cooler Saturday with highs near 53 and a northeast breeze.  For me, that cuts out some outdoor chores.  I could wash windows, but that doesn’t sound like fun.  Maybe I’ll be one of the many that will trek to the local nursery to see what plants I could add to my rather baron yard.  I tried a dogwood tree once, but my yard didn’t like it.  I should find out what soil I have as not all types will support dogwoods.

If you have any good ideas for the weekend, let me know.  I’m sure other readers will appreciate fun weekend ideas too.

take care,

Phillip Williams

Great to see you, soaking rain!  Thanks to a WIDESPREAD 1 to 2 inches of rain last night and this morning, dry forest and brush fuels will be sopping wet today and the wildfire danger - which had been sky high lately - will be near zero today.  Scattered showers that will continue for the rest of the day will help, too.  Certainly, an elevated fire danger could return to the East as early as late tomorrow or Friday as forest fuels become dry, but at least for now, today’s wet weather is a huge break for firefighters!

As for our long term drought… Today’s 1 to 2 inches of rain will only ding the enormous 12 to 24 inch rainfall deficit that exists for most spots in Eastern North Carolina.  Still, it was badly needed and welcome rain!  Now if we could just have a soaker like this every week for the next few months…

Just wanted to share a few weather thoughts with you on this drippy day.  Thanks for checking into my blog!  I invite your comments, questions, or weather reports.  Share them here!

The 11:20am observation at Elizabeth City is SMOKE reducing visibility to 1/2 MILE!  Visibility that low rivals that of dense fog, so while most of the East is enjoying blue skies and nearly unlimited visibility this midday, poor Elizabeth City Airport is socked in with nasty smoke!
A brush fire is occurring north of the airport terminal.  I attached a satellite image of the smoke plume. 
The top image is the raw satellite photo taken at 11:30am, and in the second image, I circled the smoke plume (it shows up as a faint white streak over Northeastern NC).
Image found at http://www.meteo.psu.edu.

The warning has become something of a broken record in these dry times: Be cautious with flame!  Still, it’s worth repeating, since brush fires have popped up all across the East for days on end.  Please go to extra means to make sure you don’t spark a fire!

Forecasters look for three factors for high fire danger days: high winds, low relative humidity levels, and dry fire fuels like grass, brush and trees. 

Today, I expect the wind to be, thankfully, less conducive to brush fires than this past weekend.  Wind speeds will mainly range between 5 and 15mph today, whereas this weekend, wind speeds regularly topped 20mph and gusts exceeded 40mph! 

Still, today’s fire danger will remain high becuase the other fire weather factors - humidity and fuel moisture content - will be at critical levels.  Humidity levels will hover in the desert-like 15 and 30 percent range all day and fire fuels remain bone dry given the continued lack of rainfall. 

So, even though you’ve heard it before, it’s worth repeating: Be cautious with flame in these dry times! 

It’s not even the middle of February, but the early signs of springs are here.  Have you seen any?  Did you notice the return of the Red Breasted Robin?  I saw the first of them January 17th.  I’ve kept a note of when they return and for the last several years they have returned between January 15th and 24th.

Daffodils are sprouting up all over the East.  They usually grow quickly in February as they sense the days getting longer.  Tulip trees and crocuses are beginning to bloom also.

Have you noticed the days getting longer?  The sunset is now 46 minutes later that it was in early December.  The sunrise is several minutes earlier than it was in early January.  Because the Earth isn’t an exact circle is why the sunrise and sunset don’t grow and shrink at the same rate.  December 21 or 22 is our shorter daylight day, but earliest sunset is December 5th or 6th while the latest sunrise is January 5th or 6th.

If you’ve seen other signs of spring, please share them by leaving a comment.

Thanks,

Phillip Williams

Yesterday, thunderstorms spawned nearly 70 tornadoes in the Mississippi Valley including, unfortunately, some deadly twisters.  The ingredients for a high risk of tornadoes were certainly in place there yesterday:

- warm, moist Gulf of Mexico air surging into the region (unstable air upon which thunderstorms like to feed)
- an approaching cold front (often a good trigger for thunderstorm initiation)
- strong jet stream winds ideal for providing lift in the atmosphere for thunderstorms and wind shear for said storms to rotate and produce tornadoes

In the East, we will hear from this cold front this (Wednesday) evening.  As it slices across our state, it will run into unseasonably warm and moist air.  In response to this, I do expect showers and thunderstorms to develop and sweep across Eastern North Carolina - mainly between 6pm and 12am.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AND SOME COULD PRODUCE DAMAGING STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS - EVEN AN ISOLATED TORNADO.

Here’s some good news, though…  I DO NOT expect the jet stream winds to have quite the perfect strength or orientation, relative to the cold front in Eastern NC, as they did yesterday in the Mississippi Valley.  Thankfully, this will lessen the threat of widespread severe weather in the East.

Even still, don’t turn your back on the weather this evening!  I invite you to stay weather-aware, and if you can, stay tuned to WNCT-9 or wnct.com.  Should any severe weather watches or warnings be issued, Storm Team 9 will pass them right along to you.

Tonight we will finish introducing you to a group of three siblings. Jasmine’s story will air tonight. She is the oldest of the 3 and truly a very sweet girl. Jasmine was one of our harder interviews to do because she doesn’t talk a whole lot but when you sit down with her it’s funny how you can really feel her spirit and what a wonderful person she is. Both Jasmine and James have special needs but this is a perfect example of the plenty of resources and financial assistance that are available. I didn’t have time to put this is my story tonight but as I was interviewing their social worker I thought she made a very interesting point. Even if a child has special needs to the point that they will have to live in an assisted living facility once they are 18… Shouldn’t they still have a family? Someone who will visit them, take them out and spend time with them and celebrate birthday’s and holidays with. Just a thought and once again please don’t let the fact that a kid may have special needs deter you from asking about them!

Hello, I’m Storm Team 9 Chief Meteorologist Phillip Williams.

If you were like me, you watched the superbowl yesterday.  If you were like me, your television signal was interrupted several times causing you a lot of frustration.  The culprit of the bad television signal is said to be “atmospheric conditions.“  I believe this is code for a weather phenomena that happens here quite a bit during the evenings on clear, calm nights.

A temperature inversion forms when air near the ground cools faster than air a few hundred feet above the ground.  This causes a slightly warmer layer of air a few hundred feet up.  The temperature of the air usually decreases as you go higher in the sky.  Since this warmer layer is “inverse” or opposite of what usually happens, it is called a temperature inversion.

Inversions are known to bounce radio and some television signals around.  If you’ve ever heard a distant radio station at night, then you’ve probably heard that because of a temperature inversion.  I once got a letter form someone in New Brunswick, New Jersey who was able to see me during an evening weathercast on their television.  An inversion had bounced our television signal all the way up there.

So, this atmospheric condition doesn’t make anyone feel better about missing parts of the superbowl, but I hope it helps to understand the phenomena.  Now, most television stations have powerful signals that can get through inversions, but some must relay their signals more than once and there is where the problems can mount.

WNCT shouldn’t have this problem because of the strength of the signal from WNCT.  Feel free to add your comments here.  Also, realize that WNCT had nothing to do with the broadcast of the superbowl.  It was on a different network.

Take care and thanks for your comments.

Phillip Williams

Hello, I’m Storm Team 9 Chief Meteorologist Phillip Williams. 

Friday will be an active weather day with strong southerly winds covering all of the East.  A band of showers and thunderstorms will move through during the afternoon.  Some severe winds are possible with this line so stay in tune with Storm Team 9 either by watching WNCT television or here on the web. 

Temperatures will be in the mid to upper 60’s Friday.  Once the showers or storms moves through, skies will clear Friday night.  Lows will dip to near 38 on brisk westerly winds.

Saturday will be a nice day with sunshine and highs near 60.  Winds will diminish.  Sunday should be a beautiful day as well with highs near 64.

Join us on WNCT channel 9 for an update on the potentially stormy Friday forecast with Live VIPIR Net 9.

Hello, I’m Storm Team 9 Chief Meteorologist Phillip Williams.  Tonight will be cloudy with showers forming late.  Lows will be near 42 with easterly breezes.  Friday will be an active weather day with strong southerly winds covering all of the East.  Showers will blow by quickly with a band of showers and thunderstorms moving through during the afternoon.  Some severe winds are possible with this line so stay in touch with Storm Team 9 either by watching WNCT television or here on the web. 

Temperatures will be in the mid to upper 60’s Friday.  Once the showers or storms moves through, skies will clear Friday night.  Lows will dip to near 38 on brisk westerly winds.

Saturday will be a nice day with sunshine and highs near 60.  Winds will diminish.  Sunday should be a beautiful day as well with highs near 64.

Join us on WNCT channel 9 for an update on the potentially stormy Friday forecast with Live VIPIR Net 9.