Thursday, August 28th, 2008: 5:30pm

Code YELLOW is here to stay for a while...



The CPC drought monitor has declared extreme southern Indiana and all of northcentral Kentucky under abnormally dry conditions. A moderate drought is ongoing in southeast Kentucky.

Simply put, we need some rain. If we are going to get some, then it will be tomorrow. I still think there is a 40% chance of showers/storms over our area tomorrow afternoon and evening. Temps will be in the upper 80s, and there will be sufficient humidity to produce some rain. However, this will not put an end to the dry period we are having. Also, please note that NOT EVERYONE will get rain, even though we'd like it that way...

Saturday-Thursday all look to be dry as well. Temps will be in the upper 80s to lower 90s, with humidities not that uncomfortable through Tuesday. However, humidities will increase towards the middle of next week. But, the dry weather continues no matter what the humidity...

You might be wondering what happened to the chance of rain we could have from Gustav. To see why I took the chance out, take a look at this map...



I took the rain chance out primarily because it appears as if the storm is heading northwest moving inland over Louisiana. If it continues this track, we won't get rain. Basically, it is way too far out for me to put a rain chance in if there's no clue where the hurricane is going...

Tropical Storm Gustav is currently pounding Cuba with heavy rain and 70mph. The NHC predicts landfall in Louisiana, though I think that anywhere from Louisiana east to Panama City, Florida, could see a landfall. The track of a hurricane is just entirely unpredictable, especially this far out. See the map above as a projection, not the actual track. This is where the NHC thinks the storm will go, but 90% of the time, a track made this far out is wrong!!! Anyway, the NHC is still predicting a landfall as a Cat. 3, with 115mph winds.

Also, there is now Tropical Storm Hannah, with 40mph winds. This storm is far away from any immenent landfall in the US, and I'm not sure if this one can hold together to cause any major damage to the US. Here's the track of this one...

Hannah is anticipated to gain winds of 80mph by Sunday.

We will simply have to see how all of this plays out, so keep checking the blog for more on our dry period and these two storms...

Alex C.