10/1/2013 Daily Update: Turning Hotter Today, Tornado Hits Near Seattle, Jerry Forms in the Central Atlantic

Good morning everyone!

Today is the first day of October and we are turning on the heat for Tuesday and Wednesday with temperatures around or above 80 degrees both days.

TODAY: Sunny with highs around 80. Winds from the NW at 5 mph.

TONIGHT: Mostly clear with lows in the upper 40s to lower 50s. Winds generally calm.

TOMORROW: Sunny with highs in the upper 70s to lower 80s. Winds from the NW at 5 to 15 mph.

A little bump in the road with rain showers possible Friday afternoon to Friday evening with a weak disturbance moving through. Then potentially a greater threat of rain after this weekend... we will see.

NOTE: A post about the 1st annual SNE snowfall contest will be released later this afternoon or evening. It will cover specifications and present a list of cities along with a map plotted!

ATLANTIC TROPICS

• Tropical Storm Jerry becomes the 10th named storm of the season in the Central Atlantic. Jerry should remain weak with no impacts to land expected.
• Monitoring the slow progression of Invest 97L. The low moves into the Gulf this weekend where it will have a chance at strengthening into a tropical storm.

NATIONAL WEATHER

• Warmer with milder air surging into the Northeast
• Showers and storms for the coast of Gulf and Southeast
• Warm and fair weather in the Midwest and South
• An EF1 tornado touched down near Seattle yesterday. More details here on the strong storms impacting the region (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/09/30/extraordinary-pacific-storms-shatter-records-in-northwest-tornado-near-seattle/). It is starting to weaken with chances of showers in the forecast today in the Northwest.

WORLD WEATHER

• Wutip left at least 5 dead and dozens missing after making landfall in Vietnam. http://news.yahoo.com/75-missing-boats-sink-south-china-sea-typhoon-051207452.html
• Sepat SE of Japan is making a glancing swipe at Japan
• Tropical Storm Fitow forms to the east of the Phillippines and gradual strengthening expected.
• High pressure north keeping things dry with two distinct lows producing storms in southern Europe
• A front crossing SE Australia is bringing showers and storms to Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. Otherwise, high pressure keeping other regions dry.

EARTHQUAKES

• A 6.7 earthquake struck the coast of Russia in the Sea of Okhotsk yesterday. Sure making lost ground from the quietness of last month with the recent surge of large earthquakes. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000k3c1#summary

SPACE WEATHER

• Low activity continues though Sunspot 1855 is starting to expand and could be a threat for C-class to M-class flares going forward if development continues. Other sunspots not so impressive. The CME from Sunday evening is expected to impact Earth's geomagnetic field within the next two days as a glancing blow. Threats are auroras in the polar regions and a chance at minor satellite disruptions.