Early today there was a total solar eclipse that was visible in parts of northern Greenland, Canada, central Russia, and China. The whole event lasted just over 3 hours, with the full blackout of the sun lasting only around 2.5 minutes.

Eclipse Knowledge: A total solar eclipse happens when a new moon crosses directly between the Earth and the Sun. The moon then creates a shadow on the Earth about 150 miles wide, and for those people living within that shadow’s path they get to see the incredible sight of a full solar eclipse. Total solar eclipses happen on average about 2 years, but since the shadow is not that large, very little people actually get to view the eclipse every 2 years.

Pure Luck or Fate?: The reason the moon lines up perfectly with the sun is because of their size. Let’s break it down…the moon is approximately 400,000 kilometers away from Earth, and while the Sun is 400 times the size of the moon, it is also 400 times the distance from it, and because of this, their angular sizes are the same, allowing them to look as though they are almost the same size when viewing from Earth. However, it hasn’t always been this easy. The Moon is moving away from the Earth at around 3.8 centimeters per year, or about 12 feet every century. Modern humans have only been around for the last 275,000 years, so back then, the Moon was about 6 miles closer to the Earth. This means that a total solar eclipse back then would not have lined up like it does now, so things like the corona around the sun would have been much larger. Many science theories and experiments have only been possible because of solar eclipses. Now, consider that the Earth has been around for about 4.6 billion years, and that recent humans (within the last 5000 years), who have really studied eclipses, have only been around for a fraction of that time, and it coincidentally happens to be the range of time in which the Moon lines up perfectly with the Sun. It makes you wonder….are we here at this exact moment in time by pure luck or by some predetermined fate so that we could enjoy and study eclipses?

Timeline: The most recent total solar eclipse was on March 29, 2006 over Africa, western Asia, and Europe. The next one will be on July 22, 2009 over eastern Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and Hawaii. The next time the United States will be in the path of a total solar eclipse from the east coast to west coast will be on August 21, 2017  (Chattanooga will be lucky enough to be directly underneath the shadow’s path).

Webcast: Just in case you missed it you can go to NASA’s website and view the podcast from earlier this morning and see the total solar eclipse for yourself.

10:45pm: That’s a wrap on today’s storms….no other areas of severe weather around the region. Light to moderate rain continues to fall and should eventually end before 2am…Pockets of fog can be expected, so please drive carefully. Far fewer showers are expected Friday as we begin to dry out and heat up.

8:50pm: Large area of moderate rainfall from southern Hamilton County west through most of Marion County and Grundy County. This is non severe, but is producing numerous lightning strikes. This will bring some much needed rain to Soddy Daisy, Hixson and Chattanooga through 9:30pm. Whitwell, Jasper, S.Pittsburg and Monteagle still experience moderate rainfall currently.

8pm: Currently No Warnings……….Thunderstorms moving over eastern Franklin County near Sewanee and Monteagle are pushing east into Marion County. Heavy rain just west of I-24, but will be approaching that stretch of road shortly. Heavy pockets of rain with these storms and a real light show of lightning as well. The northern edge of this storm is over southern Grudny County between Monteagle and Coalmont. Another cell is just west of there near Manchester, and it is sliding southeast and will bring another round of heavy rain within the hour to Grundy/Franklin/Marion County…………………..Heavy rain in Jackson County, AL between Bridgeport and Scottsboro along Hwy 72. This is moving east and will soak northern Dekalb County near Ider through 8:30pmET/7:30pmCT………A smaller cluster of storms (non severe) is right along the Bledsoe/Rhea line near Summer City and is moving east. This should bring some brief downpours to areas just north of Dayton through 8:30pmET

7pm: The storm that was over Lincoln County, TN that prompted a tornado warning has weakened, but its remnants are moving into Jackson (AL) County and Franklin County bringing with it some heavy rain, lightning and even some mothball sized hail. Some wind gusts above 30mph could occur. Winchester and Stevenson could be affected between now and 8pmET/7pmCT.

6:40pm: Keep an eye to the WEST….Strong thunderstorm over Lincoln County, TN. A Tornado Warning is in effect for this cell that is moving east-southeast toward western Franklin County. This is a Doppler Radar indicated warning, meaning that the radar is showing the “possibility” that a tornado could develop. Again, that is for Lincoln County, TN, but the storm is moving rapidly toward Franklin County and even the western edge of Jackson County (AL).

5:55pm: Looking West….Storms are redeveloping over southern middle Tennessee and north Alabama from Murfreesboro to Huntsville. These storms will move closer to Franklin County and Jackson (AL) County between now and 6:30pmET. These cells are quite large with thunderstorm warnings currently in Huntsville. Live Blogging Updates will continue!

5:40pm: Southern Walker and into Chattooga County seeing a strong line of storms rolling through. It is a non severe cell, but still creating some heavy rain and a lot of lightning from Lafayette to Trion to Menlo. This will close in on Summerville between now and 6pm.

5:20pm: The severity of the storms is waning. So, there are currently no warnings in effect. Still, there are some heavy pockets of rain in central and southern Walker County from Mclemore Cove north to around Chickamauga. This activity is moving east.

4:50pm: Storms moving into Georgia…Northern Dade, Walker and Catoosa County experiencing the same conditions that have just moved south of Chattanooga. That would be heavy rain, numerous cloud to ground lightning strikes. Trenton to Chickamauga to Ringgold can expect these conditions to continue through 5:15pm……Polk County has 2 cells, the first on the western edge of the county right along Hwy 64. The other just east of Benton. These storms are moving east and also producing heavy rain and lightning.

4:15pm: Thunder rumbling all across the Valley…Strongest cell is in a line along Raccoon/Elder/Signal Mtn moving east toward Tiftonia and Red Bank respectively. Heavy rain, lightning and some small hail can be expected. This should also close in on the downtown area between now and 4:30pm……….Western part of this cell over South Pittsburg and will move east over southern Marion County and neighboring Dade County………….A lone cell in Cleveland is producing heavy rain that stretches back to the west down I-75 back to Collegedale. It is moving east and will affect most of southern Bradley County through 4:45pm…….Strong cell over western McMinn County near Englewood producing the possibility of damaging wind gusts along with heavy rain and lightning.

3:30pm: Thunderstorm Warning for Marion County until 4:15pmET/Hamilton County and Sequatchie until 4:15pmET………………..Strongest cell could be producing some small hail south of Dunlap near the Daus community. This is moving east southeast toward Soddy Daisy bringing with it heavy rain, lightning and the possibility of damaging wind gusts. This will move over most of northern Hamilton County between now and 4pm………………..Northern Marion County cell between Martin Springs and Whitwell also producing numerous lightning strikes and heavy downpours. This cell is moving east toward Whitwell and Suck Creek. This should eventually reach Red Bank in Hamilton County.

David Glenn
Storm Track 9 Chief Meteorologist

8:30pm: Warning for Marion County has expired. This cell continues moving east between Marion, Hamilton and Dade County spreading heavy rain and lightning as it moves east. This storm should affect downtown between now and 9pm ET.

6:35pm: I am closely following a storm cell that is in central and eastern Franklin County between Winchester and Sewanee, This storm will close in on Monteagle and much of northwesten Marion County through 7pmET/6pmCT. Heavy rain, numerous lightning strikes will accompany this storm.

6:10pm: No Warning Currently…….A non severe cell is along the Bledsoe, Rhea, Hamilton County line and is headed toward Dayton, Graysville and Sale Creek with heavy rain and lightning. Birchwood and even Bakewell could also experience a soaking between now and 6:40pmET…….Central Franklin County near Winchester is also experiencing a develop storm with heavy rainfall. This cell will slowly move east into Marion County.

5:50pm: Strong thunderstorm over southwestern Bledsoe County producing heavy rain and numerous lightning strikes between Dunlap and Pikeville. This cell is moving east and will enter southern Rhea and northern Hamilton County between now and 6:15pm ET……The heavier storms over Murray and Whitfield County have weakened, but are still producing some cloud to ground lightning strikes and moderate rainfall.

5:20pm: Very heavy rain and a lot of lightning continues in Whitfield and Catoosa County between Varnell and Crandall. Heavy rain beginning to fall at Cisco, Crandall, Eton and Chatsworth. This is a slow moving cell and producing rainfall amount at a rate of about an inch per hour, so some minor flooding could occur. This cell will move over central and northern Murray County between now and 5:45pm……..A non severe cell is producing heavy rain and lightning near Pigeon Mtn in southern Walker County…..A developing line of storms in western Bledsoe and Sequatchie County bears watching as it could be producing some small hail. This will move closer to Pikeville between now and 5:45pm ET.

4:50pm: Thunderstorm Warning for Catoosa and Whitfield County until 5:30pm…..This cell is centered between Ringgold and Varnell moving slowly east at 10-12mph. Very heavy rain and numerous cloud to ground lightning strikes have been occurring. This storm could also produce some small hail and damaging wind gusts. This storms should affect Cisco, Crandall, Dalton and Eton between now and 5:30pm.

4:05pm: Thunderstorm Warnings continue in effect for Polk, Bradley, and McMinn County….Strong cell in the warned area between Charleston and Ocoee producing heavy rain and lightning along with the capability of producing damaging wind gusts. This cell is moving east at around 10mph and will approach Benton, Reliance and Archville between now and 4:30pm…..A non severe cell is producing heavy rain and lightning from McDonald to Collegdale and is also moving east and will affect most of southern Bradley County through 4:30pm…………….non severe cell producing soaking rain from Chickamauga and Rock Spring northward to Ft Oglethorpe and Graysville…………To the north, a strong cell near Loudon is producing some heavy rain on the southern edge of the storm near Sweetwater and Madisonville. This storm is moving southeast toward the TN/NC border.

3:30pm: Thunderstorm Warnings are currently in place over Rhea, Meigs, and McMinn Counties until 4pm. Northern Hamilton and Bradley County are also included in this warning. The strongest part of this cell is located between Fairview (TN) and Riceville. The heaviest core of rain is right along I-75 and the county line between Bradley and McMinn. Numerous cloud to ground lightning strikes have been occurring in this cell and it is moving east at around 10pm. Benton, Etowah and Englewood can expect this storm to move closer to you between now and 4pm……………….A smaller, but stong cell is near Harrison moving east to McDonald and Etowah with heavy rain and lightning.

David Glenn
Storm Track 9 Chief Meteorologist

The news of the earthquake in southern California spread quickly today. The jolt just east of Los Angeles thankfully has only caused minor damage. My family and I vacationed out there just 2 weeks ago, so I was anxiously watching the coverage on TV and relieved that most of the area was okay. The initial richter scale report was a 5.8 magnitude quake. But, that value was lowered to a magnitude 5.4. Either way, that is still a strong quake.

Believe it or not, locally there are numerous small fault lines all across our region. We can, and often do have small tremors and quakes on a regular basis. Most of these tremors are small and often times not felt. In 2003, a 4.6 magnitude earthquake occurred near Ft Payne, AL causing some damage. Most of the smaller quakes locally are 2.5 or lower. You have to keep in mind that seismic activity is what helped form the Appalachians. Here is a link to a map that is constantly updated that tracks local earthquakes. You will note that 2 small tremors have occurred during the past 2 weeks.

Local Earthquake Map Link
Info About 2003 Ft Payne Earthquake

David Glenn Storm Track 9 Chief Meteorologist

6:10pm: Only isolated showers remain. A muggy evening and overnight expected. Updates will resume if necessary.

5:35pm: Severe threat decreasing area wide. The heaviest rain is falling over southern DeKalb County, AL from Fyffe to Geraldine. This cell is slowly moving southeast toward Crossville (AL) through 6pm ET/5pm CT. Elsewhere, pockets of light to moderate showers should persist before ending. Most areas will be partly cloudy and muggy through the evening.

4:30pm: No Warnings at the moment…..Heaviest rain currently over Dade County from New England through Trenton and Rising Fawn. A cluster of lightning strikes around Trenton. This storm could also be producing damaging wind gusts in southern Dade County near Rising Fawn. The southern flank of this storm stretches into Dekalb County and Jackson County, AL… Heavy rain just north of Ider to just south of Stevenson….The activity in Dade County will shift east into Walker County through 5pm ET……..Heavy rain and even some small hail is possible in a cell along the GA/NC border between Cherokee and Fannin County. This cell should pass just south of Murphy through 5pm and also affect Blairsville in Union County.

David Glenn Storm Track 9 Chief Meteorologist

Friday was a prelude of what we can expect for Saturday. A warm and very humid pattern, but with a better coverage of scattered showers and even some thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening hours. It looks like Sunday will be a drier day with fewer showers and temperatures soaring into the lower 90s. In fact, it looks like next week will be quite hot as temperatures return to the middle/upper 90s. Here is the complete weekend outlook:

Saturday: Very warm and humid with a partly cloudy to cloudy sky. Scattered showers and a few t-storms developing. An afternoon high reaching the upper 80s and a southwest breeze at 5-10mph.

Saturday Night: Scattered t-showers during the evening, showers then ending overnight with a partly cloudy sky. Expect an overnight low near 70.

Sunday: Partly sunny, hot and humid. Only an isolated afternoon t-shower expected. Expect a hotter afternoon with a high in the lower 90s.

Sunday Night: With the exception of an isolated shower, expect a fair sky with an overnight low near 70.

Regional Travel Weather

Atlanta (Six Flags/Whitewater/Stone Mtn): Saturday: Scattered T-Showers. 71/88
Sunday: Mainly Afternoon T-Showers. 72/90

Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge (Dollywood): Saturday: Scattered T-Showers Possible. 69/86
Sunday: Partly Sunny. 67/90

Nashville: Saturday: Scattered T-Showers. 69/89
Sunday: Hot & Humid, Only Isolated Showers. 70/93

Gulf Beaches (Orange Bch/Pensacola/Destin/Seaside): Saturday: Afternoon T-Showers. 74/92
Sunday: Afternoon T-Showers. 73/93

Have a terrific, but safe weekend!

David Glenn
Storm Track 9 Chief Meteorologist