WLOX Digital Desk: Rare lack of tropical activity, recent beautiful moon

e e all right everyone this this is meteorologist senior meteorologist I should say Wesley Williams with your digital desk update for this Friday August 23rd 2024 and what we're going to be talking about today taking a look at the tropics or rather a lack thereof which is pretty rare for late August we'll also take a look at your weekend weather preview and of course my favorite part a check in on the viewer submitted pictures and videos over the last week because we've had some pretty nice looking conditions we had a full moon and some pretty stunning sunsets too so let's get right to the weather graphics and take a look at what we've got going on across the tropics like we said it's rare in late August to track no tropical activity and that's actually exactly what we are looking at uh today where the Atlantic the Caribbean and the Gulf all feature no tropical activity to track so you're looking at that map there and you don't really see any areas or zones that are being monitored for tropical development and so the National Hurricane Center is saying that we are not going to see any new systems for the next seven days no new depressions no new storms that would get us all the way through August 30th so uh that gets you right past that Infamous day of August 29th so hopefully this forecast this Outlook from NHC will play out in reality here's the thing though what I'm watching in the Gulf is uh just some unsettled weather that's happening it's been happening for a few days you see we had a front that moved through the area earlier this week remember when it felt so nice that was a cool front that pushed south of us and now it's sitting out in the Gulf but in Hurricane Season you watch these fronts as they just kind of sit there sometimes somewhere on along the front you can get this little spin up trying to happen and I think that's what we're seeing here not something that becomes a storm but uh something more aoft more upstairs in the air that could cause rain chances and maybe a little Breezy weather along parts of the coast we call it an upper disturbance maybe an upper low maybe an upper trough there's various terms that meteorologists use to to describe this feature whatever you want to call it I think that the rain potential with this is going to stay south of our Mississippi Coast uh so we only could get brushed by the northern Edge uh as this moves from Florida to Texas this weekend uh it's moving from east to west it's not coming up to our Mississippi Shore but instead just kind of staying south of us and so it's something we'll watch because our models do show a circulation abroad not a tight but a broad circulation and it's not at the surface but it's upstairs in the air so that gives us confidence that we are not expecting something to kind of quickly spin up into a depression or storm here but just kind of give an unsettled weather pattern to parts of the region now if you're a land lber like me then the forecast doesn't look all that wet because you look closely at this map and where do you see the rainiest weather is it on our Mississippi Shore or is it south of us and that's what it looks like that those Purple colors there indicating rain amounts greater than two and three in that's primarily offshore what I've done here is I've turned off all of the rain that happens over water and so we can focus on the rain that could happen over land and when you look at this you see that really there's not that much right especially for our Mississippi Coast you go south of us to the Louisiana coast a little bit more they have a blue color showing up there but on the Mississippi Coast it's mostly a green color this is over the next five days days worth of rain so that's the general Trend here while we can't rule out some rain in a few places it does appear that most of the rain over the next three to five days is likely going to take place south of our Mississippi Coastline and let's talk more about Tropics right because like we said okay sure that's not going to be something that spins up into a system but this hurricane season has not been completely quiet in fact there have been four landfalls in the Gulf Coast region so far in 2024 six systems uh excuse me five systems and four of them made landfall on the Gulf Coast we're just lucky in Mississippi we were spared but Texas took a hit from Hurricane barrel and Florida took a hit from Hurricane Debbie so there has been activity this hurricane season even before we get to the peak as far as the systems that we've seen some of them were pretty strong Barrel actually reached major category five strength when it was out in the Caribbean whereas Debbie was a category one storm and Ernesto that was one that didn't come into the Gulf thank gosh we finally ended that Trend uh Ernesto was a category two storm that thankfully spared all of the gulf coast region now this is a little something I put together and I'm going to make this go full so you can take more look at the information there uh that shows how many August specifically to August storms have formed each year this year we've seen two Debbie and Ernesto one of them that actually made a landfall in the Gulf Coast Debbie hit Florida uh but last year there were six storms that were named in the month of August uh 2022 no storms were named in the month of August and in 2021 there were seven that was the highest 2021 had even more August storms than 2005 of course we remember that year in infamy with Katrina but even 2021 uh that had Ida if you remember that storm that also gave uh our local area some impacts 2020 was the year that we had impacts from Christoval and Zeta and that year had five that was actually the Record highest season uh as far as number of storms that year uh 2020 so I just wanted to put into perspective that okay we've had two when you look at all of those years over the last decade that is on the lower end but we've actually seen some years where there were even fewer storms back in 2022 uh it's not that far from the average if you added up all those numbers and divided by the number of numbers or number of years um you'd actually come out with a number that is not too far from three or four so to get a two when the average is about three or four in August is not that far below normal for activity for the month of August in the Gulf in the Caribbean and the Atlantic and I want to Friendly remind you that look September is nearing and that is the peak of hurricane season so of course we're always going to keep a close eye on the tropics I hope that maybe the forecast is wrong because the forecast calls for us to get at least 17 storms somewhere in the Gulf Caribbean and Atlantic by November 30th um and if that is the case November 30th is getting closer and if we get all of those storms it could be a a pretty rapid thing in a short amount of time okay so that's the tropical section of the video now we're going to talk about how this week we've been treated to some nice mornings and some hot afternoons and uh look this is a look at how hot it has felt over the last seven days at 4 p.m. and you'll know noticed that we had a high rather a heat index of 97° uh yesterday afternoon at 4 but we've not had too many days with the heat index in the triple digits and that's a really good thing so yes it was hot yesterday afternoon but it was way worse this past weekend so that's uh one thing is that yes it's hot but it could be worse as we take a look at the beautiful sunrise we saw this morning that was a time lapse over in buuy showing that sun taking to the sky it will heat us up uh we are no longer in the coolest part of the weather pattern in the gulport buuy area that was actually a few days ago when we hit 71 on Wednesday morning that was the coolest we were able to go we were not able to get any 60s in the gulport buuy area even though many other spots in south Mississippi did get some 60s and there's a look at the lows this this morning we had 70s which is slightly above normal but if you're hankering for a little bit more of that pumpkin spice a little bit more of that fall feel this is a look at the history last year we had 60s in Gulfport vuy on September 9th we also did that two years ago on September 8th so maybe if the trend continues from the last few years maybe we are just a few weeks away from actually getting some 60s not just a close call but a real deal round of Mornings in the 60s for the gulport buuy area so could be uh not too far away but here's the thing our trend is going to begin to increase as we go into the next few mornings we'll notice each morning uh kind of increasing those mornings in the lower 70s for now but getting into the mids maybe even upper 70s by the time we get to next week the final week of the month of August so something that will monitor but there's some Nuance to that right we're calling for 73 tomorrow morning in coastal spots like Bay St Louis and pasula but if you're north of I 10 you might actually get a few uh upper 60s in places like wigin soer and Vancleave on Saturday morning so uh but after that not really too many upper 60s showing up by the way do you have some plans to head down to the beach today on Friday it could become a bit breezier what we're watching is of course that Gulf disturbance that we showed you earlier in this update and while it's not a depression or a storm it is enough of a little feature to kick up some wind that could be Breezy at times so you can see that wind forecast there showing a East Wind that will be around 10 to 15 miles an hour and some of the gusts could go up to 20 mil an hour at times the breeziest weather will likely be down along the coast that's where we'll see also the higher chance for rain today there's a range of rain chance uh it will be about 10 to 30 % here's a look at how I break that down in my forecast places north of I 10 slim slim chance of rate you basically are going to be dry all day but if you are south of I 10 a little bit higher chance there those 30% and it gets even higher if you go south of our Mississippi Coast you can see some of those numbers showing up um along the Louisiana coast where their rain chances are in the 50 to 100% range in places near H and places near LEF Louisiana uh because they Louisiana coast pokes out a little bit farther into the Gulf of Mexico and uh the Mississippi Coast sits up a little bit higher off the Gulf so the farther south you are the better chance you have to see some wet weather from that disturbance that we've been tracking so you can see this future cast shows some of those showers mainly south of our Mississippi Shore they're not moving up they're moving from east to west so that's why the Louisiana coast kind of has those better rain chances today and we might be just a little bit too far north to really get to break out our umbrellas in Earnest today I'm not ruling it out though that's why we don't have a 0% maybe we'll get one of those showers to just come right up to one of the beaches but overall it looks like it'll be primarily south of us so as far as your headlines today hot with highs in the 90s and for most of us Friday is a dry day however if right along the beaches right along the coast I'm not ruling it out there might be one or two little stray showers and the same Trend will likely continue into the next three days where we are going to see slim to no rain chance north of I 10 and then slightly higher rain chance for areas that are closer down along the shoreline here's a look at the next three days worth of rain so not just one day but it's Friday and Saturday and Sunday is rain stacked all on top of each other on one map and you can see this color showing up green on our Mississippi Coast which is not completely dry but it's really light three days worth of rain and we might not even measure a number of an inch in our rain gauges over the next three days meanwhile where's the heavier stuff south of our Shoreline so that's the main takeaway here yeah it might not be completely bone dry here every day everywhere for the next three days but it will pale in comparison to the rain showers that will likely exist south of our Mississippi Shoreline mainly over the Waters of the gulf as well as portions of Louisiana's Coast so that's kind of that rain Trend that we're going to be monitoring for you as we go through the next few days and your 7-day forecast actually shows a 40% chance as we go from Saturday to Sunday that 40% continues on Monday so maybe a little bit more of our area could see rain on those days but not looking like a wash out any of those days and you'll see those afternoons remaining in the 90s each day okay so finally to wrap up the video update we do want to take a look at some of the viewer pictures that have been submitted we've seen so many nice views locally this week of a full moon if you recall earlier this week the full sturgeon Moon took to the sky and that's what we call August full moon the sturgeon Moon a type of fish because this is the time of year that folklore says that fish uh surgeon fish were more readily caught this time of year um but it was also a blue moon in name only not in color uh and it was a super moon so it actually appeared noticeably brighter uh and we noticed it appearing full to the naked eye for multiple nights Sunday night and Monday night and Tuesday night so that gave our viewers many opportunities to send dust pictures in the WX weather app and we're going to take a look at some of them now this is a sunset picture uh I've got my um device open to our WX web website um so you can see these pictures this was sent to us yesterday from Benny in Ocean Springs and uh we'll blow this up a little bit bigger so you can see it full on your screen and blow it up with our weather Graphics so it can take up even more of your screen give me a second and that might there we go so uh yeah this is a picture of a sunset uh great shot by the way from Benny in Fort Bayou in Ocean Springs um and I'm going to he actually sent multiple picture so we're just going to kind of roll through them there's another one just a kind of almost an otherworldly view to this sunset in Ocean Springs area on Thursday evening and so I'm so glad that you expertly captured that image uh in your camera lens and submitted it and shared it so all of our viewers could see that natural beauty of our Mississippi Coast uh showing off that Sunset there there was another Sunset picture this was from see penny in Henderson point and you can see wow just check that out a gorgeous shot on our Mississippi Coast of the sunset yesterday evening and interesting coloring to that sun set by the way might be some Haze in the sky leading to that um this is buuy from Summer and you can see wow I would love to be on the boat to get that view right on the waters look how nice that view looks uh from the buuy area of last night's Sunset just another gorgeous shot there let's take a look at uh let's see we got Jazz with the coastal Mississippi sunset oh how cool is this I love that you framed it right between the palm trees um I bet this is probably an Ocean Springs from my guess you can see the bridge there in the background buuy Ocean Springs Bridge uh this is probably on Front Beach and um man I wish I was out there laying in the sand watching that view maybe I'll plan to do that tonight if we can get another one like that so Tina sent us this picture sunsets and flower gardens um and you can see looks like we're on a road somewhere it didn't give a location but uh looks like a nice picture of a Sunset and I know that there were some more that were the moon so now we're getting to the Moon pictures this was Daniel earlier this week with the moon he said over a Gulfport so this is such a big image that I'm actually going to switch it back to the the boxes so you can see a little bit more on your screen that stunning view I mean just look at the detail I can see like all the little bumps and ridges on the moon's surface I mean you got to have a really good camera to take a picture like that so awesome stuff it's exciting to see it and right here from south Mississippi Missippi looks like you sent multiple oh so okay we're showing off now so yeah you sent multiple pictures Daniel did and uh it wasn't detailed enough so he sent us an even more zoomed in picture let me see if I look closely do I see any astronauts walking and planting an American flag or anything like that I mean what detail I don't think I've ever seen a moon picture with this much detail certainly not from our local area that's awesome um let's see you got some more okay wow pretty cool stuff I'm kind of like speechless here just kind of takes your breath away to witness that natural beauty there okay let's see what else we got here we'll go through a few more Moon pictures before we wrap it up um again this was the blue moon and the super moon and the surgeon Moon all of those Paul sent this picture from Gulfport oh my gosh it looks like a sun okay wait let me see how do I I might have to zoom this out a little bit so you can see a little bit more because it's a vertical picture I'm going to have to zoom out even more and you know what we'll just go back to the other crop so that this this helps you see a vertical pick a little bit better so yeah check out that view that's it looks like a sun but it's actually the moon um and you when you get a good camera I guess you can kind of pull this off where you get that gorgeous shot all in focus with the beach front there and then the coastal Waters in the background just absolutely uh stunning stuff there we got some talented photographers in the local area seems it's exciting that you are willing to share your um your work with our viewers I'm sure everyone's appreciative of it hey Jeff I see a lot of pictures from Jeff all the time and you got this one showing that full moon view there as well just a nice color to the full moon there okay Williams calling this one once in a super for a Blue Moon by the way you can do this anytime what I'm doing here just go to our website wlox.com WEA you can see the whole photo gallery right there you can also open the WX weather app and we have a picture gallery there too it's also the way that you submit pictures maybe just like two or three more because um I know there's one I'm trying to get to so I'll stop when I finally make it there Charlie you got something for us Oak Lawn and I 10 whoa Okay so so I see you're showing off with your framing of the shot there you got the American flag and the full moon at the same time that's really cool wait you got multiple pictures what else you got for us oh look at that that's cool okay yeah the American flag there really nice and tall and um we do have some little um you might always see pictures like this and wonder oh my goodness what are those shapes in the sky it's just a camera lens effect some you sometimes you can call it a lens flare uh that's all that is all those shapes are in the sky but pretty cool shots you got for us there got one more okay yeah back to the vertical picture with the flag in the moon and we got Amanda on the beach in buuy that's cool I like that shot A+ for that oh you got some more let's see what else you got there okay pretty neat oo look at that you got the borage there on the left man that's so cool and stunning to see I love that I love it when you include some local landmarks gives you a way to get your bearings okay finally I had I promised to show this one dejanna uh one of our fellow uh woxers here sent a video of the full moon now I'mma hit play on this and fingers crossed maybe we don't get an advertisement but yes there you go you can see a video of that full moon right there it looks so small in the camera lens but it's pretty cool when you can get that picture she also sent us this picture which I think is so cool look at all that detail you can see right there on that full moon and then you get that uh Moonlight reflection along the water so that was the one I wanted to get to since uh dejanna is one of our friends here at the station she works in that glass room you see behind me there and she's one of the people that tells us in the studio our time cues that we hear in our ear and helps to run the show along as she directs things so shout out to you d on so yeah those are all of those pictures that I wanted to show you and like I said I will remind you that you can submit your own weather pictures by heading to the wox weather app or by going to our website wlox.com go to the weather portion of the site and you'll see that picture gallery there so it's been a great update we've covered a lot this morning in regards to the lack of tropical the rare lack of tropical activity in late August we also took a preview of your weekend weather outlook and we enjoyed some pretty beautiful pictures uh courtesy of our amazing viewers that uh were so gracious to share their work with us well that'll wrap up today's digital desk update I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and we'll catch you on the next one take care everyone