Hello Folks: I'm "Wet Snow"/David, a long-time poster (since 2002) on WZ. Although I live in a small town in Polk County in western Arkansas; I've always been fascinated with Australian weather (esp. since your seasons are the reverse of ours in the NH/US). Weather and Railroads are my 2 lifelong hobbies. I'll start posting here (I post weekly, monthly & seasonal reports for my town & any record readings for my town & the few other official locations in my county). The rainfall reading are from the rainguage in my front yard; which I empty--if needed--at 12:01AM each day; I also list the official rain & temperature readings) after WZ becomes read only on July 29. Those that would like to see my thread on WZ: I'm in the World weather section, under the heading of Mena, Arkansas weather. I'm sure I'll enjoy it here & I hope my posts will be interesting & informative. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have. Kind Wishes--Take Care--GOD Bless!
OK Folks: To give ya'll an idea of what my weekly weather posts for Mena look like (temps are official, rain readings are from the store-bought rainguage in my front yard [rainguage emptied at 12:01AM each day, when needed]; official monthly raintotals I post on the monthly summaries), I'll post the one here that I posted on WZ earlier today (Sunday): DATE....….HIGH.....…..LOW....….RAIN July...7..88F/31.1C..67F/19.4C..--- ……..8..88F/31.1C..69F/20.5C..--- ……..9..87F/30.5C..67F/19.4C..3.00"/76.2m …….10..92F/33.3C..68F/20.0C..0.65"/16.5mm …….11..87F/30.5C..65F/18.3C..--- …….12..85F/29.4C..63F/17.2C..--- …….13..87F/30.5C..67F/19.4C..0.10"/2.5mm This past week featured warm & muggy conditions with plenty of rainfall. Actually got hit twice by heavy heating showers on the 9th: The first shower hit around 1PM and gave 1.40"/35.5mm, after the raindump, skies mostly cleared for a short while, the next cell hit (following the same track) & gave a further 1.60"/40.6mm. A fairly weak Canadian cold front passed through on the 10th. Scant showers on the 13th were from the (broken) extreme NW rainband around the circulation of Tropical Storm Barry (center of circulation was in S Louisiana at the time). My area is forecasted to see showers from this system through Tuesday morning [My area doesn't get rain from Tropical Systems that often]. My area is in the drier NW/W portion of this system. Forecast for the upcoming week calls for cool conditions & showers early-week, followed by warm & muggy conditions. (I get my weather information from a few different sources).
Hi Wet Snow, Good to see the thread up and running again. By the looks of it you have had a few hot days, but how did you go with the heat wave? Did you miss the worse of it or did you end up getting near the 100°F. Have a few friends over in different parts of the US, from the North to the South, and they were over the 100°F.
Hello Good Buddy: My area of the US mostly missed the heatwave. My town of Mena is at (officially, USGS marker in Janssen Park) 1,177FT/358.8M ASL, and stays a bit cooler than the surrounding lower areas. Our Summer--so far--has been amply wet enough to keep us below 100F/37.7C so far (our Heat Indexes have been around 100F+/38C+ on some days). Mena's best chances of seeing daily highs of 100F+/37.7C+ are during a prolonged dry spell (we rarely go over 30 days straight without seeing measurable rain here). So far in 2019, our highest maximum has been 92F/33.3C on July 10th. If the Summers stay wet enough, there are a number of years where Mena fails to hit 100F/37.7C for a High Yearly Maximum (I personally don't consider it a "proper Summer" unless we hit at least 100F/37.7C in a Summer). Thanks Much & Have A Good One, Good Buddy!
I'll be posting regularly on this Forum, very shortly. Since I don't have any fancy weather equipment of my own, I cobble weather data for Mena from a few sources: Official Temperature/Rainfall readings from the ncdc site; Daily readings for Mena from the NWS (in Little Rock, AR) site; I also keep track of Daily (12:01AM-12:01AM) Rainfall Readings from the store-bought rainguage in my front yard. I keep track of any Daily/Date Records for Temperature & Rainfall for Mena (temperature & rainfall) & for the other sites (rainfall only; BIG FORK 1SSE, BOGG SPRINGS) in Polk County. Since I'm a total Weather "nut"; I like to keep track of Daily Weather readings on this fashion: Most days would only Have a Morning Low temperature & A Daytime High temperature; but let's say it's a day when a cold front comes through & the temperature falls throughout the day. On my calendar, I would list the Overall High (the Highest Temperature in that Day; which would most often be at 12:01AM); then I would list the Day High (the Highest Temperature of the daylight hours; happening at sunrise--on a normal day, this would be the Morning Low); then I would list the Day Low (the lowest temperature during daylight hours; occurring usually less than an hour before sunset; I would estimate the time that it happened [by readings/times from the Mena Airport--which reports every 20 minutes]) & finally, I would list the Overall Low (the lowest temperature in that day, and estimate the time that it happened). I guess I'm also a "purist", in that I Do Not Round Up Numbers. I've been keeping track of the weather here in Mena in such a fashion (written each day on a calendar) since 1984. I also--since 2003--keep track of all the various Watches/Warnings issued for all/parts of Polk County (Polk County covers 860 Square Miles--Mena is in the Northern part of the county--and not all of such Watches/Warnings will cover the area of Polk County that Mena is in). I hope I've not confused ya'll too much. I may--such as now--have to delay in posting my weekly weather reports as the NWS site sometimes reports the daily temperature/rainfall readings for Mena as M (Missing), so I'll have to wait to get those readings from the ncdc site, which is often slow to update. If ya'll have any questions, feel free to ask.
Hello Folks: I'm ready to start posting the weekly weather from my town of Mena, Arkansas. But I'll have to wait for the ncdc site to update (notoriously slow to update at times); there is no temperature data for Mena for the days of July 17-25th. Currently, I'm not able to post the temperature data for Mena for the week of July 14th-20th (which would have been my next-to-last weather post on Weatherzone). Hopefully, these official temperatures will be made available soon, so I can post the weekly weather here for July 14-20 & July 21-28. Wishing ALL A Very Wonderful & Blessed Day & Week~~~Wet Snow
Hello. Barry Seal was around here in the 1980s--a former TWA pilot--turned drug smuggler--turned DEA informant. He moved his operations to the Intermountain Municipal Airport, here in Mena, where he bought, sold & operated many planes. I don't think he actually lived here in Mena. Seal was shot and killed (at age 46 in Baton Rouge, LA) in early 1986, by hitmen of the Medellin cartel. You may care to read the Wikipedia article about Barry Seal. Sadly, the things that happened at our small airport caused much negative news stories about my small town. So glad those things are in the past (Clinton Chronicles/Iran-Contra Affair). The majority of local folks (myself included) had no idea of the things happening at Mena Airport.
I just now looked through the list of members on this forum. I'm amazed that--on a ski/snow forum--that I'm the only one with the "Wet Snow" nickname (my long-time WZ nickname). I thought for sure--as I was registering for this forum--that someone else likely had this nickname & I'd have to get a new (weather-related) nickname.
Hello Folks: For those unfamiliar with the climate averages of Mena, Arkansas; here are the monthly averages for my town: JAN.: Avg. Max.: 49F/9.4C...Avg. Min.: 27F/-2.7C...Avg. Precip.: 2.7"/68.5mm FEB.: Avg. Max.: 55F/12.7C...Avg. Min.: 31F/-0.5C...Avg. Precip.: 3.6"/91.4mm MAR.: Avg. Max.: 62F/16.6C...Avg. Min.: 38F/3.3C...Avg. Precip.: 5.3"/134.6mm APR.: Avg. Max.: 71F/21.6C...Avg. Min.: 46F/7.7C...Avg. Precip.: 5.1"/129.5mm MAY: Avg. Max.: 77F/25C...Avg. Min.: 56F/13.3C...Avg. Precip.: 6.4"/162.5mm JUNE: Avg. Max.: 85F/29.4C...Avg. Min.: 64F/17.7C...Avg. Precip.: 4.5"/114.3mm JULY: Avg. Max.: 90F/32.2C...Avg. Min.: 67F/19.4C...Avg. Precip.: 4.9"/124.4mm AUG.: Avg. Max.: 90F/32.2C...Avg. Min.: 66F/18.8C...Avg. Precip.: 2.7"/68.5mm SEP.: Avg. Max.: 83F/28.3C...Avg. Min.: 59F/15C...Avg. Precip.: 5"/127mm OCT.: Avg. Max.: 73F/22.7C...Avg. Min.: 48F/8.8C...Avg. Precip.: 5.1"/129.5mm NOV.: Avg. Max.: 60F/15.5C...Avg. Min.: 38F/3.3C...Avg. Precip.: 4.9"/124.4mm DEC.: Avg. Max.: 51F/10.5C...Avg. Min.: 30F/-1.1C...Avg. Precip.: 4.3"/109.2mm YEAR: Avg. Max.: 70.5F/21.3C...Avg. Min.: 47.5F/8.6C...Avg. Precip.: 54.5"/1,384.3mm Highest Ever Max.: 112F/44.4C--Aug. 10, 1936 Lowest Ever Min.: -15F/-26.1C--Feb. 12, 1899 According to the Wikipedia article about Mena; we average 4.2"/10.6CM in snowfall per year. Snow, here is either boom-or-bust, as conditions have to be just right to receive good accumulating snow in my area. If we do get a snow, the yearly snowtotal is from (usually) only 1 snow event. For Winter 2018/2019, Mena officially had a paltry .8"/2.0CM snowfall, all of which fell on January 19th. Some Winters we do see good snow dumps; while other Winters see only a few days' worth of flurries. If the conditions are just right, my area can experience (sometimes very damaging) freezing rain/ice storm events.
Very Thankful for the nearby mountains (the Ouachita [pron. Wash-e-taw] Mountains; 1 of 2 mountain ranges that go from E-W in the US), as this helps my area to have ample rainfall throughout the year. Every so often, the USFS (US Forest Service) conducts "prescribed/controlled burns" in the nearby areas/mountains; so the chances of a forest fire/bushfire in my area is extremely low. I've only known of 1 (very small) forest fire in the vicinity in the 50 years I've lived here. Mena is climatologically one of the "wettest" towns in Arkansas: The average wettest town being the small town of Glenwood (Pike County), which averages 55.44"/1,408.1mm precipitation per year (Glenwood, as-the-crow-flies is around 40 miles/64.4 kilometers SE of Mena).
The small town of Eureka Springs (Carroll County) averages 13.8"/35.0CM snowfall per year--the snowiest town in Arkansas.
Sure! Wet Snow just happens to be my favorite kind of Winter precipitation--as this type snow packs together quite well. I don't ski, but I fully realize that skiers prefer "dry" snow. When we get snow in my area, it's almost always of the "wet" variety. I'd guess the closest ski resort to my town would be Ski Gatlinburg, near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, which is just over 700 miles/~1,127.2 kilometers to the ENE of Mena.
I realize that many of you have never experienced a freezing rain/ice storm event: Here's a short youtube vid of a very damaging ice storm that hit parts of NE Oklahoma & NW Arkansas in January of 2009: I, personally, hope to never experience another ice storm. A few years ago--in an extremely unstable airmass--places in Arkansas & Oklahoma experienced "thunder-sleet": Thunder, lightning, heavy sleet and temperatures around 20F/-6.6C!
The above vid says unavailable. Here's another vid of pics of ice storm damage in NW Arkansas from January 2009.
Good thread WS, thanks for joining ski.com. I'm not a weather guy but will be dropping in to see updates from your part of the world.
Thanks Much for the interest. With our "reverse seasons", hopefully the temperatures in my area (this time of year) will make ya'll feel warmer & the temperatures in much of Australia (this time of year) will make me feel cooler (and vice versa). I'm just happy to be able to continue this thread in another Aussie weather forum (WZ & this forum are the only forums I've ever posted on).
My wife is keen on the weather and used to scan WZ regularly, but not post. She has a brother in St.Michaels M.D., although quite a distance from A.R. we do get that summer v winter vibe when family photos are being sent.
Hello Folks: Most Thankfully, my town doesn't experience the frequency & ferocity of twisters that towns in "Tornado Alley" do. In the 50 years I've lived here, I've only experienced a couple of them: An F-2 went right through town on Nov. 13, 1993--thanks to advanced warning, no one died & only a handful of injuries, but many Millions $ in damage. An F-3 twister hit on April 9, 2009--following the same path as the 1993 twister. The 2009 twister hit right on sunset; despite advance warning, 3 people died, but thankfully not too many injured and more Millions $ in damages. I was living in my former house during both twisters, which thankfully, missed my house by a few blocks to the south. Sadly, a good bit of debris from nearby houses (boards, roofing, shingles, etc.) was scattered throughout the yard. Total devastation, just a few blocks to my south. The house I currently live in (~.5-mile as-the-crow-flies SE of my former house) was in the damage path of the twister and had to be repaired. Several nearby houses were too badly damaged and had to be torn down, and haven't been rebuilt. Thousands of trees were uprooted/damaged and were removed (which is very sad). I've lived in this house since early-June 2010 & I am STILL picking pieces of glass out of my yard. My current house does have a storm cellar (which I've not had to use very much). Anyways, here's a short youtube vid of the aftermath of the damage in Mena. (The metal-wrapped tree at 3:16 & 5:01 in vid is only half-block away from the house I currently live in. The collapsed cinder-block building at 6:53 in vid was the Masonic Building, where 2 perished; shortly after, you'll see a multitude of downed trees in White Oak cemetery). I don't really care to experience another twister.
Hello Folks: Here's the Highest-Ever Max. Temperature for Each Month in Mena, Arkansas: JAN.: 82F/27.7C--Jan. 23, 1943 FEB.: 84F/28.8C--Feb. 22, 1996 MAR.: 90F/32.2C--Mar. 31, 1974 APR.: 92F/33.3C--Apr. 18, 1987 MAY: 99F/37.2C--May 31, 1934 JUNE: 105F/40.5C--June 22, 1936 JULY: 109F/42.7C--July 22, 1939; July 28, 1930 & July 29, 1930 AUG.: 112F/44.4C--Aug. 10, 1936 SEP.: 107F/41.6C--Sep. 8, 1925 OCT.: 100F/37.7C--Oct. 1, 1938 NOV.: 84F/28.8C--Nov. 1, 1937; Nov. 2, 1916; Nov. 3, 1978 & Nov. 14, 1955 DEC.: 80F/26.6C--Dec. 7, 1939 Earliest 100F+/37.7C+ Max.: 100F/37.7C--June 14, 1896 Latest 100F+/37.7C+ Max.: 100F/37.7C--Oct. 1, 1938 Mena had 44 Days, With Maximums of 100F+/37.7C+ during the notoriously hot Summer of 1936 (which still stands as Mena's most triple-digit F. days in a year). Kind Wishes--Take Care--GOD Bless~~~Wet Snow
Hello Folks: Well, the ncdc site did update, but the official daily temperature/rainfall readings for Mena, from July 17-22 were left blank (we don't have drop-outs in data like this very often). So here's the weather in Mena for the week of July 14-20: DATE.......HIGH.........LOW...…....RAIN July..14....76F/24.4C..67F/19.4C..0.10"/2.5mm …….15....76F/24.4C..67F/19.4C..0.05"/1.2mm …….16....83F/28.3C..68F/20.0C..0.65"/16.5mm …….17....NA...………NA...……….--- …….18....NA...………NA...……….--- …….19....NA...……...NA...………..--- …….20....NA...……...NA...………..--- The coolish theme of our Summer this year continues. The showers were from the remnants of TS Barry (Barry was briefly a Hurricane just before it came ashore in SW Louisiana); Barry meandered around SW & W parts of Louisiana, before the remnants drifted Northwards over Arkansas. At one time, the center of circulation was between Hot Springs (Garland County) & Little Rock (Pulaski County)--which is around 80 miles/128.8 kilometers (in a straight line) to the ENE of Mena. My area was on the much drier Western side of the circulation (much heavier rainfall on the Eastern side of circulation). The cooler weather--with abundant cloudcover--did feel refreshing after the warm & muggy conditions earlier. My area does not get rain from tropical systems that often (Mena is just around 400 miles/644.1 kilometers straight North from the Gulf of Mexico). Not that much wind from the circulation here, either; most of the showers were very spotty in nature. The rest of the week was a continuance of the warm & muggy typical Summertime conditions. Overall High-12:01AM-listed for the 14th (the Daytime High was 71F/21.6C around 4PM). Forecast for upcoming week (July 21-27) calls for warm & muggy conditions, with the best rainchances--and slight cool-down--for early-week. Kind Wishes--Take Care--GOD Bless~~~Wet Snow
Hello Folks: Here's previous weeks' weather in Mena, Arkansas: DATE......HIGH.....….LOW......….RAIN July 21....NA...…...….NA...…..….--- ……22....NA...…...….NA...…...….0.10"/2.5mm …...23....82F/27.7C...56F/13.3C...--- …...24....83F/28.3C...60F/15.5C...--- …...25....78F/25.5C...54F/12.2C...--- …...26....84F/28.8C...59F/15.0C...--- …...27....87F/30.5C...64F/17.7C...--- This past week featured some cooler-than-normal temperatures--esp. morning lows--courtesy of a Canadian cold front which passed through (with light scattered showers), on the 22nd. The following few days felt cooler, due to the lower humidity levels and light N/NW winds. So far, summer in my area has been fairly cool, actual-temperature-wise, but this has been offset by sometimes miserably-high Heat Index values. Some of the afternoons felt almost Autumn-like; very pleasant for just about any outdoor activity. Overall Low-around 11:40PM-listed for the 23rd (as the Morning Low was 66F/18.8C). Forecast for the upcoming week calls for a return to warm & humid conditions with fairly poor rainchances. Kind Wishes--Take Care--GOD Bless~~~Wet Snow
Hello Folks: Wintry precipitation: Snowfall, freezing rain/ice storm, sleet (frozen raindrops), can happen each winter in my town & area, but despite my town's elevation (1,177FT/358.8M ASL as per the USGS marker in Janssen Park), our proximity to fairly tall mountains & my town's latitude (34.5 degrees N.), accumulating snowfall here is really hit-or-miss. When we do get snow, often the yearly total is just from 1 or 2 snow events. We actually have a fairly good chance of seeing (sometimes devastating) freezing rain/ice storm events instead. Whatever snow that does fall, doesn't remain on the ground for too long. The last few years/Winters (2016-2019) have seen very paltry & disappointing snow amounts here. Here's the best weather-scenario for my area to see accumulating/lying snowfall: With cold air (snow can start to fall at around 36F/2.2C, but for "sticking" snow, the temperature needs to be 32F/0C or a bit below) in place over my area; a "Southerly-tracking Low" (Pacific cold front, whose vortex comes ashore in extreme S coastal California), comes ashore & (the vortex) tracks ENE, through central parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and central (or better yet, southern) parts of Arkansas. My area will get more snow (around the counter-clockwise rotation of the vortex) depending on how far southward (and at what speed) the vortex passes to the south of my area. Even with some "Southerly-Tracking Lows", the vortexes will pass over, or just to the N of my area & we will get a cold rain instead (sometimes the "snow line" is only a few hundred feet above the elevation of Mena & Rich Mountain to our N will get a good snowdump--a few years ago, Mena had a cold rain & parts of the nearby mountain had as much at 10"/25.4CM of snow). Also, if the factors are just right, freezing rain will fall. A few years ago, we were having rain (not freezing) with thunder & lightning & a temperature of near 32F/0C. Sleet (frozen raindrops) can also fall in my area; but it's usually very light & doesn't happen here that often. Most often, the vortexes of Low-pressure pass well to our north, so my area only gets rain. Here are some official Snow-numbers for Mena: *Most Snow In A Day: 15"/38.1CM--Jan. 29, 1899 *Most Snow In A Month: 17.6"/44.7CM on 5 snowdays in Feb. 1979 *Most Snow In A Year: 27"/68.5CM on 5 snowdays in 1892 *Least Snow In A Year: NONE in 1896, 1923 & 1950 (a TRACE of snow [snow flurries] were recorded on a various number of days for the years of 1911, 1927, 1928, 1935, 1938, 1955, 1959, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2001, 2016 & 2018) *Earliest Snowfall: Flurries on Oct. 29, 1993 *Earliest Accumulating Snowfall: 9"/22.8CM on Nov. 10, 1892 *Latest Snowfall: Flurries on April 9, 1973 *Latest Accumulating Snowfall: 2.5"/6.3CM on Mar. 31, 1926 The only "dry" snow event I've experienced here was when 13"/33.0CM of dry powdery snow fell in Mena on Jan. 5-6, 1988. The strong N/NW wind scoured the snow away from the house for a few inches and then it piled up. There was a 3FT snowdrift in my backyard--quite unusual here, as we usually only get "wet" snow, which doesn't blow into drifts. According to the NWS, the definition of a "White Christmas" is that there has to be at least 1"/2.5CM of snow on the ground (no snow needs to be falling on that day) on December 25th. (Here in the NH, Christmas Day is less than a week into the Official start/solstice of the Winter season). Mena had a "White Christmas" in 1975 & did not have another "White Christmas" until December 25th in 2012. Mena did have an "Icy Christmas" in 2000. The back-to-back ice storms in December (12th & 25th--the latter one was much worse) 2000 was the costliest natural disaster in Arkansas' history; the damage figures put at $US547 MILLION statewide. It was sickening to hear trees (large hardwoods as well as pines) breaking under the weight of the ice. Mena was without power for 4 days (some rural places were without power for nearly 2 weeks); over 1,500 large dumptruck loads of tree debris was removed from Mena. Power crews from as far away as Georgia came to Arkansas to help restore power, in slippery, remote & brutally cold conditions.
Hello Folks: Here's some weathernumbers for July 2019 (25 Days; no temperature data for July 17-22) in Mena, Arkansas: Climatologically for Mena in July: Avg. Max.: 90F/32.2C; Avg. Min.: 67F/19.4C Highest July Max.: 109F/42.7C--July 22, 1939; July 28, 1930 & July 29, 1930 Lowest July Min.: 50F/10C--July 6, 1972 (*All Records Set Are For That Specific Date; All Temperature Records Are For Mena; The Watches/Warnings Were Issued For All or Parts of Polk County & May or May Not Impact the Mena-Area) July 2019: Avg. Max.: 85.2F/29.5C Avg. Min.: 65.8F/18.7C...Mean: 75.5F/24.1C High Max.: 92F/33.3C--July 10 Low Min.: 54F/12.2C--July 25 ...High Min.: 71F/21.6C--July 5 ...Low Max.: 75F/23.8C--July 15 3 Days, Max. 90F+/32.2C+ July Daily Lowest Maximum Temperature Record Tied: 75F/23.8C--July 15 (Tied 1989 record) July Daily Lowest Minimum Temperature Records Broken/Tied: 56F/13.3C--July 24 (Tied 2000 record) 54F/12.2C--July 25 (Broke 56F/13.3C, set in 2000) 11 Raindays & 7 Thunderdays in July Rain for July: 5.80"/147.3mm (+0.90"/+22.8mm; 118% normal) Rain for Year: 46.67"/1,185.4mm (+14.17"/+359.9mm; 143% normal) Official Rain for July: 3.51"/89.1mm (-1.39"/-35.3mm; 71% normal) Official Rain for Year: 43.75"/1,111.2mm (+11.05"/+28.6mm; 133% normal) July Daily High Rainfall Records Broken in Polk County: BOGG SPRINGS: July 7: 1.04"/26.4mm (Broke 0.42"/10.6mm, set in 2004) BIG FORK 1SSE: July 16: 2.21"/56.1mm (Broke 2.12"/53.8mm, set in 1985) Watches/Warnings for July: Heat Advisory: July 6, 9 & 10 Severe Thunderstorm Warning: July 10 Flash Flood Warning: July 10 So far, it's been fairly wet & cool this summer in my area. Wishing ALL A Very Blessed, Happy, Safe & Prosperous Month of August~~~Wet Snow
Hello Folks: Here's previous weeks' weather in Mena, Arkansas: DATE......HIGH.....…...LOW...….....RAIN July...28..89F/31.6C....68F/20C.....--- ……...29..80F/26.6C....69F/20.5C..0.10"/2.5mm ……...30..91F/32.7C....68F/20C.....--- ……...31..91F/32.7C....69F/20.5C..--- Aug...1..85F/29.4C.....68F/20C.....--- …….…2..84F/28.8C.....69F/20.5C..--- …….…3..78F/25.5C.....69F/20.5C..0.35"/8.8mm This past week featured more warm & muggy conditions (esp. overcast & muggy on many of the mornings). Fairly weak Canadian cold fronts passed through on the 29th & late-PM on the 2nd. Aside from the high humidity-levels, our Summer has been on the coolish-side thus far: As of July 31st, Mena has only had 3 Days with tops of 90F+/32.2C+; at the same time last year (to July 31st, 2018), Mena already had 42 Days with Maximums of 90F+/32.2C+. Oh well, I'll gladly trade the hotter temperatures for the consistent rainfall we have been getting. I'll certainly be glad to see it get cool enough to kill off these horrible mosquitos. Forecast for upcoming week calls for warmer conditions--tops 90F+/32.2C+--with fairly poor rainchances. Kind Wishes--Take Care--GOD Bless~~~Wet Snow
Hello Folks: Here's the All-Time Low Minimum Temperature Records For Each Month in Mena, Arkansas: JAN.: -10F/-23.3C--Jan. 18, 1930 FEB.: -15F/-26.1C--Feb. 12, 1899 MAR.: 6F/-14.4C--Mar. 3, 1943 APR.: 22F/-5.5C--Apr. 4, 1987 MAY: 34F/1.1C--May 3, 2013 & May 1, 2014 JUNE: 44F/6.6C--June 1, 1983; June 2, 1983 & June 3, 1970 JULY: 50F/10C--July 6, 1972 AUG.: 48F/8.8C--Aug. 29, 1986 & Aug. 30, 1988 SEP.: 34F/1.1C--Sep. 29, 1967 OCT.: 20F/-6.6C--Oct. 30, 1917 & Oct. 31, 1993 NOV.: 13F/-10.5C--Nov. 15, 1940; Nov. 19, 1903; Nov. 24, 1970 & Nov. 29, 1976 DEC.: -7F/-21.6C--Dec. 23, 1989 & Dec. 24, 1989 Kind Wishes--Take Care--GOD Bless~~~Wet Snow
Mate, do you think you'll post any photos as winter takes hold out your way? Would love to see where you are - it sounds beautiful by what you describe and I'd love to see the mountains with a nice winter cap on
Hello & Thanks Much! I was gifted several years ago with a digital camera (a Nikon Coolpix), that I've taken hundreds of pictures with. Most of these pics are on my FB pic page. Recently, some sort of problem has prevented me from transferring the pics on my camera to the computer. So, I may not be able to post pics here; I'll try it and see. Since my area gets good snowfall only rarely, we really don't know when the next good snow event will be. Actually, my area of Arkansas is rather famous for the Autumn/Fall colors on the tree leaves--my area/mountains come alive with brilliant colors in our Autumn (I think the peak times--depending on weather factors--are from late-October through mid-to-late November). I've heard a number of stories of folks coming through my area--on Autumn Foliage Tour buses--falling in love with my area & moving here.) I'll try to post some youtube vids/links to my area (drone view of downtown Mena; Autumnal Foliage, etc.)
Here's a vid of the "White Christmas" that Mena had in 2012 (which was the first proper "White Christmas"--as per NWS definition--here since 1974). I picked up 9"/22.8CM snow that day--much deeper amounts in the nearby mountains. I think this short vid was shot a few blocks to the NW of my house. Short Drone Vid of Downtown Mena: Vid starts & ends in 10-acre Janssen Park--in the center of the original town of Mena; you're next to the 1851-built log cabin & you see the 2 spring-fed ponds in the background. The lack of traffic leads me to believe that this vid was shot on a holiday. I can list the different buildings/landmarks on the vid, but it would be quite long, so I'll list a couple: At 0:19 in vid, square-shaped building at center of pic is the Polk County Courthouse/Jail--built 1939 (you get a better look at this building at 3:06 in vid, the Polk County War Memorial is next to the street), at 1:14 in vid, you're looking SE down Mena Street, shortly after, you'll cross the KCS (Kansas City Southern) RR tracks and there is the intersection with US Highway 71; at 1:41 in vid, looking NW up Mena Street; at 2:07 in vid; in center, building with red-tiled roof is the (1920-built) KCS depot (now a museum); at 2:4o in vid, at center, white-roofed building surrounded by trees is the Mena City Hall (in the 1918-built former Mena Post Office building; flags are blowing on a Westerly wind). I love this vid, but it's a bit sad for me to see, as Mena used to have many more trees; but the Nov. 13, 1993 & April 9, 2009 twisters destroyed thousands of them. Here's an Arkansas Tourism vid about Fall Foliage in Arkansas:
Short vid about Mena's Historic Janssen Park (narrated by friend & long-time KENA radio announcer Dwight Douglas): Here's a favorite Arkansas Tourism Ad: A vid about Crater of Diamonds State Park (just S of Murfreesboro): It's the world's only public diamond mine, where--for a nominal park fee ($8 entrance fee; an extra fee if you want to buy or rent their tools to dig with)--people can dig for diamonds (& other gems) & keep whatever they find:
I have a good number of pics (that I'd like to post here) on my FB pic page, but am unable to send them here (to this site). The pics I can send here are on my computer, but none of those pics are really weather-related. What a dilemma!
The below picture contains a mystery for me. This pic was taken in October of 2015--just a few houses to the east of me. These are 2 trees of the same kind (actually touching each other on both sides of the sidewalk) in front of this house. For some reason, the one on the left, has the leaf-change color (& leaves fall off the tree) before the one on the right does. I call them the "mystery trees". An explanation as to the difference between these close trees, would be welcome.
Hello Friends: Here's previous weeks' weather in Mena, Arkansas: DATE...…..….HIGH...….LOW...….RAIN Aug.....4..85F/29.4C...69F//20.5C..0.20"/5.0mm ………...5..88F/31.1C...67F/19.4C..--- ………...6..93F/33.8C...68F/20.0C..0.25"/6.3mm ………...7..96F/35.5C...69F/20.5C..--- ………...8..91F/32.7C...71F/21.6C..--- ………...9..83F/28.3C...73F/22.7C..0.10"/2.5mm …...….10..95F/35.0C..72F/22.2C..--- This past week featured fairly warm/hot conditions; with scattered showers. A couple Stationary fronts (to our North & South) were the triggers for heating showers throughout the week. More cloudcover on the 8th made it seem cooler than the previous days. Heat Indexes on a number of days were well above 100F/37.7C+; in fact, my part of Arkansas is in an Excessive Heat Warning for today (Sunday). Forecast for upcoming week calls for continued warmth with very poor rainchances. Kind Wishes--Take Care--GOD Bless~~~Wet Snow
Hello Wonderful Friends: It's currently 8:44PM Sunday here & I normally would have posted the daily weather for Mena for the week just past; but--as sometimes happens--I'm sometimes delayed in posting by a few days (as I am now), while waiting for official temperatures to be listed. Sometimes the Daily High/Low temperatures for Mena--on the NWS site--are listed as M (Missing), so I'll get those numbers from the ncdc site, which can be notoriously slow to update (their current weathernumbers for Mena go through the 15th). In such cases, I'll post the weekly summaries here, when all the numbers become available.
I'm no deciduous tree expert my any means, but I would think there is a slight difference in the trees genes. They may look the same (It's too hard to tell from the photo if they are the same) but respond to the conditions differently. Is one more stressed than the other, food, water??
Hello Beerman: Yes, these very-close trees are the same species. As for their very close proximity, I'd think they would respond to conditions about the same. I moved into a house--just a few houses away--over 9 years ago & this happens every year.
Hello Friends: Here's previous weeks' weather in Mena, Arkansas: DATE...….....HIGH.....…..LOW.......….RAIN Aug..11.......98F/36.6C...70F/21.1C...--- .........12......98F/36.6C...70F/21.1C...--- .........13......97F/36.1C...70F/21.1C...--- .........14......95F/35.0C...71F/21.6C...--- .........15......90F/32.2C...66F/18.8C...--- .........16......97F/36.1C...66F/18.8C...--- .........17......96F/35.5C...74F/23.3C...--- This past week was typically hot, and totally dry. A Stationary front meandered through the area on the 15th; giving an increase in cloudcover & somewhat cooler conditions. Starting to get pretty dry in the area, with more patches of brown grass showing up in area lawns. Heat Indexes were upwards of 105F/40.5C for virtually each afternoon in the week (keeping my area of Arkansas either in a Heat Advisory or an Excessive Heat Warning). I don't mind the warmth, but could do without the higher humidity levels. We're at the time of year when each day--high/low temperature-wise--looks like a "carbon copy" of the day previously. Lower-elevation areas nearby were at or in excess of the 100-F/37.7C-mark for daily maximums. Forecast for upcoming week calls for a cold front & fair thundershower chances for later in the week. Any raindumps would be welcome. Kind Wishes--Take Care--GOD Bless~~~Wet Snow
Hello Folks: For your interest, I'll start posting some weather-related vids that I posted on WZ. Here's a vid of the animation & tracks of the storms/hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin for 2018: Kind Wishes--Take Care--GOD Bless~~~Wet Snow
Hello Folks: Here's previous weeks' weather in Mena, Arkansas: DATE...…..HIGH...…..LOW...…...RAIN Aug..18..95F/35.0C..70F/21.1C..0.15"/3.8mm …...….19..97F/36.1C..70F/21.1C..--- …...….20..97F/36.1C..71F/21.6C..--- …...….21..97F/36.1C..70F/21.1C..--- …...….22..96F/35.5C..69F/20.5C..--- …...….23..84F/28.8C..69F/20.5C..--- …...….24..88F/31.1C..69F/20.5C..--- This past week featured more muggy warmth and slightly less warm days at weeks' end. A heating shower gave brief relief on the 18th. A Stationary front (this was a Canadian cold front, which wasn't quite strong enough to penetrate the "Bermuda High" that controls the weather in my area of the US in Summer), meandered around our area late-week; thundershowers broke out nearby the last 3 days of the week, but all were close misses to me. (During our Summer, the "Bermuda High" controls much of the weather in the S/SE parts of the US; weaker fronts cannot penetrate this dome of high pressure and usually "wash out" near my area or meander around a few days as a Stationary front [sometimes giving good raintotals as a multi-day event]. When the seasons start changing--just less than a month of official Summer here in the NH--the cold fronts will become stronger and will be able to penetrate further & further South). A number of days in the week we were under a Heat Advisory & an Excessive Heat Warning was issued on the 20th. The 19th was the 123rd "Birthday" of the town of Mena. Mena was founded as a town on the (now) Kansas City Southern RR (then the Kansas City, Pittsburg [KS] & Gulf RR), the first train came through town on August 19, 1896. Forecast for upcoming week calls for a bit cooler temperatures with better shower chances. Kind Wishes--Take Care--GOD Bless~~~Wet Snow
Hello Folks: Here's previous weeks' weather in Mena, Arkansas: DATE......HIGH...…....LOW...……..RAIN Aug..25..86F/30.0C..73F/22.7C..0.05"/1.2mm ……...26..94F/34.4C..66F/18.8C..--- ……...27..87F/30.5C..65F/18.3C..0.80"/20.3mm ……...28..87F/30.5C..66F/18.8C..--- ……...29..91F/32.7C..64F/17.7C..--- ……...30..77F/25.0C..68F/20.0C..0.15"/3.8mm ……...31..89F/31.6C..64F/17.7C..0.20"/5.0mm We caught the edge of a heating shower on the 25th; a Canadian cold front was strong enough to push through my area on the 27th. This cold front went a little further south and later, "washed out"; the leftover moisture was ample enough for more heating showers on the afternoons of both the 30th & 31st. The 30th felt fairly cooler--ample cloudcover & showers--compared to the early parts of the week--felt more like a late-September day; quite a nice break from the high Heat Indexes in the days before. Forecast for upcoming week calls for warmer tops with fairly poor rainchances. Kind Wishes--Take Care--GOD Bless~~~Wet Snow
Hello Folks: Here's some weathernumbers for August 2019 in Mena, Arkansas: Climatologically for Mena in August: Avg. Max.: 90F/32.2C; Avg. Min.: 66F/18.8C Highest Aug. Max.: (All-Time High Max.) 112F/44.4C--Aug. 10, 1936 Lowest Aug. Min.: 48F/8.8C--Aug. 29, 1986 & Aug. 30, 1988 Aug. 2019: Avg. Max.: 90.8F/32.6C Avg. Min.: 68.9F/20.5C...Mean: 79.35F/26.3C High Max.: 98F/36.6C--Aug. 11 & 12 Low Min.: 64F/17.7C--Aug. 29 & 31 ...High Min.: 74F/23.3C--Aug. 17 ...Low Max.: 77F/25.0C--Aug. 30 18 Days, Max. 90F+/32.2C+ 9 Raindays & 4 Thunderdays in August Rain for Aug.: 2.35"59.6mm (-0.35"/-8.8mm; 87% normal) Rain for Year: 49.02"/1,245.1mm (+13.82"/+351.0mm; 139% normal) Official Aug. Rain: 1.37"/34.7mm (-1.33"/-33.7mm; 50% normal) Official Rain for Year: 45.12"/1,146.0mm (+9.72"/+246.8mm; 127% normal) August Date Rainfall Records Broken in Polk County: BIG FORK 1SSE: Aug. 2: 2.29"/58.1mm (Broke 0.79"/20.0mm, set in 1971) BOGG SPRINGS: Aug. 25: 1.47"/37.3mm (Broke 0.19"/4.8mm, set in 2007) BOGG SPRINGS: Aug. 26: 1.02"/25.9mm (Broke 0.31"/7.8mm, set in 2003) Watches/Warnings for August: Heat Advisory: Afternoons of Aug. 7-8, 10-11, 13-14 & 19-22 Excessive Heat Warning: Afternoons of Aug. 12 & 20 Significant Weather Advisory: Aug. 18 Wishing All A Very Blessed, Safe, Happy & Prosperous Month of September~~~Wet Snow
Hello Folks: Here's previous weeks' weather in Mena, Arkansas: DATE...…..HIGH...….LOW......….RAIN Sep..1..92F/33.3C..64F/17.7C..--- ……..2..91F/32.7C..67F/19.4C..--- ……..3..92F/33.3C..65F/18.3C..--- ……..4..94F/34.4C..65F/18.3C..--- ……..5..96F/35.5C..66F/18.8C..--- ……..6..97F/36.1C..65F/18.3C..--- ……..7..97F/36.1C..68F/20.0C..--- Another fairly warm & desperately dry week. My area could really do with a good & slow raindump or two. More brown grass showing up in area lawns and more local trees are starting to shed leaves. It's still late-Summer here in the NH, but I noticed that on todays' (Sunday the 9th) forecast US weather feature map, that there is a Rain/Snow mix predicted for the higher elevations of western Wyoming! It'll not be too much longer until areas of expected Snow will be depicted on the map. Forecast for upcoming week calls for more heat, with a slight cooldown & (hopefully) better shower chances from midweek. Kind Wishes--Take Care--GOD Bless~~~Wet Snow
Hello Folks: For your viewing pleasure, here's the Information & Satellite Loops of the Atlantic Basin storms of 2017. The various dates are at bottom of loop animation. I love sat loops and could spend days watching such. I actually copped .35"/8.8mm in showers from the remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy on June 22nd.
Hello Wonderful Friends: Here's previous weeks' weather in Mena, Arkansas: DATE...….HIGH.......LOW...….....RAIN Sep...8..98F/36.6C..64F/17.7C..--- ……..9..95F/35.0C..69F/20.5C..--- ……10..93F/33.8C..68F/20.0C..--- ……11..92F/33.3C..69F/20.5C..--- …...12..94F/34.4C..68F/20.0C..--- …...13..96F/36.1C..66F/18.8C..--- …...14..96F/36.1C..72F/22.2C..--- Another warm & desperately dry week here. We really need a couple good raindumps; I suspect that if this dryness continues (my area is in Moderate Drought status), my county (Polk County) will be under a Countywide Burn Ban before too much longer. Thankfully, some afternoons had abundant clouds which offered somewhat brief relief from the hot sunshine. Forecast for upcoming week calls for a warm start with slightly cooler temperatures and--hopefully--much better rainchances by the weekend. Kind Wishes--Take Care--GOD Bless~~~Wet Snow For your viewing pleasure: Here's the Doppler Radar of the US for the entire year of 2018: Interesting to see the Doppler signatures of Tropical Storm Alberto (starting May 28), Tropical Storm Gordon (starting September 4), Cat 2 Hurricane Florence (starting Sep. 13) & Cat 5 Hurricane Michael (starting Oct. 9) as they track across the US. (UTC time, year, month, day at lower left of animation), Please see:
Hi Dave, just been following those astonishing news feeds of the flooding in the Houston area. 40"in two days in some parts !! Any of the moisture from Imelda made it to your region ? https://weather.com/storms/hurrican...orm-imelda-texas-coast-houston-flood-forecast
Hello Greysrigging & Good Day To You! Well, after a few days of meandering around the Houston-area (so glad I don't live in such a flood-prone place) & around SE coastal Texas & SW Louisiana, I was beginning to wonder if the remnants of TD Imelda would drift northwards over my area (as great showerchances were forecasted for my area). Well, finally, the remnants of Imelda drifted through my area for much of the day today (Friday, now 8:51PM CT). Yesterday, we topped out at 90F/32.2C; but today was much cooler with the temperature around 68-70F/20-21.1C for much of the day & I copped a wonderful 1.40"/35.5mm rain so far & hopefully more to come. My town of Mena averages 5"/127mm rain for September & this is the first rainfall here this month. It's not all that often that my area gets rainfall from a tropical system. Have A Great One, Good Buddy!
