Seasonable Today, Winter Makes One Last Run Before A Big Warmup


JAMESTOWN – A few rain showers will develop across the region this afternoon, with around average temperatures.
Rain today will be in the spotty form, nothing of a deal deal there. But the bigger story is the weekend. 
A Cold front will push through Western New York over the weekend, dropping our temperatures into the 40s both days.
That will also spark the chance for a few wet snowflakes in the afternoon and nighttime hours of Saturday, through early Sunday.
While the snow will be wet, the potential does exist for some minor accumulation. 
The computer models in the weather center have been spitting out totals less than inch in most spots, with the higher terrain likely seeing close to that one inch mark in slushy form.
The good news here is, any accumulation won’t last long. We are still expecting a big turnaround come next week, with soaring temperatures.
We’re talking 70s for the better part of the week. We may even make a run at 80 on Wednesday! That’s a nice dose of Summer!
The majority of the week will be dry, but a few rain showers are likely on Wednesday and Thursday.
This Day in Weather History: The famed tornado outbreak of April 25-28 struck in 2011, with the 27th being the most memorable of the entire event.
On the 27th alone, 62 tornadoes touched down in the state of Alabama, killing 252 people (the official death toll for the entire 4-day event was 324).
Tornado outbreaks of this violence are often labeled as “generational”, meaning they occur about once in a persons’ generation, or about 40 years, on average.
The analog to this event was the Super Outbreak of 1974, in which over 140 tornadoes touched down across 13 states, killing 315 people.
The April 25-28 outbreak was a wakeup call to forecasters everywhere. It made us realize how much we don’t know and how much we can’t do in this science. With advancements in consumer technology, and with all the wonderful advancements in the science, we questioned why so many people died.
This outbreak was the basis of major ongoing research, not only in atmospheric science, but in social science as well, so we can get a better idea on how humans respond to tornado warnings and such, to make us better at what we do.
So many great things have already came from this research, and we can’t wait see what other great things come in the future, so the next time another outbreak of this magnitude happens again, the loss of life won’t be as extreme.