Do Fans Actually Cool You?

Submitted by Allison Chinchar, Meteorologist

Monday, July 23rd, 2012, 3:23pm

It’s a hot day and there is no air conditioning, the solution is a no-brainer right? Grab an electric fan to cool yourself off! Well, new research from the non-profit medical group Cochrane Collaboration says there's actually no hard evidence that fans are either an effective or safe way to beat the heat.

Based on this evidence, the researchers concluded that electric fans could potentially do more harm than good at temperatures above 95 degrees. 95! We’ve already spent a dozen days this summer above 95, so that is a big concern. We’ve always known that fans don’t actually cool the air temperature, but they were thought to help regulate human body temperature by assisting with physiological mechanisms, such as sweating, which promotes heat loss.

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Change in the Pattern

Submitted by Chris Holcomb, 11Alive Meteorologist

Monday, July 23rd, 2012, 8:27am

We have finally broken the pattern. It seemed like the same thing day after day last week with those strong thunderstorms popping up each afternoon and evening. Now, the rain chances are a little lower. We are only forecasting a 20% chance of an afternoon shower for the next few days.

We've had a few changes in our atmosphere to reduce the chance for storms. First, high pressure is building in. That is sinking air. That will suppress most of the thunderstorm development. We still have a chance for some pop up afternoon showers, but not as widespread or as strong as the ones we had last week.

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Fewer Showers the next few days

Submitted by Chris Holcomb, 11Alive Meteorologist

Saturday, July 21st, 2012, 9:21pm

It is a much quieter night tonight than it was last night. The showers that were scattered around the area earlier this afternoon and evening have diminished. Only a couple of showers remain in parts of NW Georgia Saturday night. We had vivid lightning and loud thunder last night in some areas. We won't be dealing with any loud storms tonight!

We will also have fewer showers as we go through the next few days. The chance for rain isn't totally gone, just lower! A couple of things will be changing to give us some slight adjustments in our weather. We will have some slightly drier air moving in on Sunday. We also have an area of high pressure that is getting a little stronger over us. That high will help to suppress most of the thunderstorm activity. We still have a chance to see an afternoon thunderstorm Sunday, but the rain chances go down to 30%. Some of our computer models have the chances for rain on Sunday

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A lot of lightning with these storms-4:30pm radar check

Submitted by Chris Holcomb, 11Alive Meteorologist

Saturday, July 21st, 2012, 4:40pm

A lot of lightning with these storms-4:30pm radar check

Numerous storms have been firing up over the area again this afternoon. These storms have been very electrical with plenty of lightning with them. We've had numerous lightning strikes in these clusters north of I-20 today. There are some other areas of storms south of I-20 that have plenty of lightning, too.

The storms are generally tracking toward the northeast. They contain plenty of heavy rain and lightning. We also have the potential for some small hail and gusty winds with these storms. They will continue to be with us into the evening hours, then diminish a little later.

The rain chances will go down slightly on Sunday. I'm fine tuning the forecast for the 6pm newscast. I'll have more then.

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A Sultry Summer thunderstorm pattern!

Submitted by Samantha Mohr, 11Alive Meteorologist

Saturday, July 21st, 2012, 7:47am

It is a grey, muggy start to our weekend with scattered thunderstorms south and east of the Atlanta area. The dew ponts are in the low 70s which indicate plenty of moisture for pop-up storms. Despite slightly cooler temperatures today, in the upper 80's, the heat index will make it feel like it is in the 90's. We will see another humid day with more thunderstorms expected as the afternoon and evening hours.

Scattered Showers and Thunderstorms expected around noon

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Mesoscale Discussion on Afternoon/Evening Storm Potential

Submitted by Chris Holcomb, 11Alive Meteorologist

Friday, July 20th, 2012, 4:03pm

Mesoscale Discussion on Afternoon/Evening Storm Potential

The Storm Prediction Center just issued a "mesoscale discussion" on the potential of severe weather to develop this afternoon. I will cut and paste it below. It has some "meteorological speak" in it. It translates to say pretty much what I released in the blog about an hour ago.

In summary, our atmosphere is still pretty stable thanks to the cloud deck we have now and thanks to the area of rain that moved through NW Georgia this morning. The likelyhood of severe weather is decreasing, but there still is a chance of some "pulse" or pop up storms to develop into the evening hours as some sun tries to break through the clouds and destabilize the atmosphere a little more. Any that develop would be sporadic and not widespread over the area.

Here is the discussion from SPC:

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Monitoring Radar for Potential for Severe T-Storms-2:40pm Radar Check

Submitted by Chris Holcomb, 11Alive Meteorologist

Friday, July 20th, 2012, 2:42pm

Monitoring Radar for Potential for Severe T-Storms-2:40pm Radar Check

We have a pretty good cloud cover over us this afternoon. We are seeing some thinning in that cloud cover to allow some sunshine to filter through at times. Most areas are dry early this afternoon. See the radar picture above from 2:40pm that shows a shower with a little thunder and lightning up I-75 in northern Bartow County. It is drifting to the SE at about 5-10mph.

The Storm Prediction Center has us in the "slight" risk category for the potential for severe weather this afternoon. So far, the atmosphere is pretty stable, thanks to the remnants from a mesoscale convective complex that was in Tennessee last night. That held together enough to spread some showers into NW Georgia this morning and then they started falling apart as they moved into Atlanta. That additional cloud cover and showers early this morning, kept us a little cooler and more stable so far this afternoon.

As we see a little sun trying to break through and