Today will be another scorching hot and humid day across the Capital Region of Albany and upstate New York, as high pressure continues to dominate our weather. Skies will be mostly sunny with haze, as we are under an air quality alert once again from 11 am to 11 pm for code orange ozone. Those groups with respiratory problems should limit outdoor exposure. High temperatures today will be in the lower 90's.
On Friday, our region will be sandwiched between the cold front approaching from the west and Hurricane Earl to our south and east. The subsidence from Earl's outflow will actually limit much precipitation from developing, but some areas could see an isolated shower or thunderstorm in the afternoon with the frontal passage. High temperatures will be in the mid to upper 80's, with humidity levels down slightly.
After the frontal passage on Saturday, a cooler and drier air mass will be ushered into our region for the holiday weekend. There may be a few leftover showers on Saturday, but the rest of the weekend looks sunny, dry, and breezy with high temperatures in the low to mid 70's. This pleasant air mass looks to remain in place into the middle of next week, with temperatures only warming into the upper 70's.
A very strong and powerful Hurricane Earl continues to barrel toward the mid-Atlantic coastline this morning. Maximum sustained winds are near 145 mph with a minimum central pressure of 932 millibars, which makes Earl a strong category 4 hurricane. The center of Earl is expected to pass near the Outer Banks of North Carolina later tonight, before turning north-northeast toward Cape Cod on Saturday morning, where a landfall is very possible. All preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion.
Tropical Storm Fiona and Gaston are behind Earl, and continue to be weak tropical storms. Stay tuned to the National Hurricane Center for the latest information.
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Comments
Interesting that Hurricane Earl and the cold front sort of cancels out precipitation. I would have thought otherwise. Maybe a future article could explain how subsidence and outflow work in terms of rain?
Its actually quite simple, and if I had more time I would write up an article. High pressure means sinking air, which supresses precipitation because air needs to rise for clouds to form, and we have been under high pressure all week along the east coast (creating this heat wave because when air sinks it also warms). In a hurricane, you have a lot of rising air motion around the center of the storm which has to flow outward to create a sort of equilibrium or balance in and around the storm, so the air sinks in the outflow and supresses precipitation. The cold front could provide some lift, but since the hurricane is much stronger, the outflow will not allow any significant precipitation to form with the front.
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