Man the pumps! Heavy rain coming
Radar shows what forecasters predicted. There are heavy showers and thunderstorms moving toward the Baltimore area this afternoon.
One forecast model (see clickable map) says they could dump as much as 4 to 7 inches of rain on some locations. But even if that's an outsized prediction, we're almost certain to see several inches at least. Here's what Eric the Red is seeing this afternoon:
"This afternoon and eve ... we appeared primed for a round of potentially torrential downpours. Storms are popping up on radar out ahead of the main event. Models vary greatly ... with the GFS coming in with a modest 0.50 inch ...The WRF, however, is totally jiggy with this storm, and has a forecast of 4 to 7 inches of rain for this afternoon and tonight... They both seem a little (or alot) under/over done, but if I had to lean, I'd go toward the higher end. A 1 to 3-inch rain event seems like a good bet, with locally higher totals."
Later, he added, "Some of these [storms] will likely be severe, with strong winds and/or hail. There's also the risk of a small tornado."
Indeed, the National Weather Service this afternoon posted Severe Thunderstorm Watches until 9 p.m. for all of Central Maryland, and a Flash Flood Watch until 6:45 p.m. for all the northern tier of counties from Washington east to Harford. One to three inches of rain are predicted with the storms.
What are you seeing? Leave us comments until the computer goes under.
Comments
That would be "staff the pumps" or "stand by the pumps."
Posted by: James G. Walker | July 8, 2011 5:48 PM
Nice gentle rain here in East Baltimore ... so far (6:10PM)
Posted by: BankStreet | July 8, 2011 6:10 PM
Ummm,"man the pumps", seems perfectly logical to me.
Posted by: Michelle Brown | July 8, 2011 7:49 PM
guess scaring us in the winter with feet of snow that never show isn't enough 4"-7" inches of rain shame on you.......
FR: It was clearly presented as one model's forecast, and with language making clear (I thought) that it might well be an extreme prediction. I also posted the official prediction of 1 to 3 inches. Severna Park and Pasadena both posted totals of 3.68 and 3.50 inches. Pretty close to 4. I figure it's better to let readers know what the outside possibilities are and hope for the best, than to low-ball it and risk an unpleasant surprise.
Posted by: malco49 | July 9, 2011 8:03 PM
Frank,
If I capture video of storm clouds that I think are active enough to be investigated by the weather service, where should I send it? The clouds were definitely roiled on Friday. I didn't take video of it, but I will in the future. We seem to get interesting cloud action out here, and I'd love to document it for the official weather geeks to pass judgement on.
FR: Storm reports can be emailed to the NWS Sterling forecast office at: lwx-report@noaa.gov
Posted by: Gregory Hill | July 10, 2011 8:38 AM