Latest news with #4WarnWeather
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Increasing showers and thunderstorms over northern Utah Wednesday afternoon
SALT LAKE CITY () – Happy Wednesday, Utah! We're seeing cloudy skies over the northern half of the state as moist southwest flow is in place. Active weather will pick up into the afternoon and evening as a weak trough will move through the region, expect isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms to form up north while southern Utah will remain dry. This pattern will largely remain in place for our Thursday with the large-scale weather pattern holding on to southwest flow into Utah. The higher terrain has the best chance for thunderstorm development, but some of those could hold and roll into adjacent valleys in Northern Utah. Temperatures remain roughly 5-10 degrees above seasonal averages throughout the week. Another approaching trough for the end of the week will increase southerly flow, limiting some of the moisture potential into the weekend. It will also keep temperatures above average statewide into the weekend. The trough inches closer to the state into the weekend, which means that winds really pick up Friday and Saturday, and that brings blowing dust potential and warmer conditions along the Wasatch Front. Expect low to mid-70s through Saturday in the northern half of the state, with 80s turning to 70s in St. George as we hit the weekend. Memorial services set for South Jordan firefighter who died while on duty After warm and windy conditions Friday and Saturday, we will see increasing cloud cover and a passing front begin to knock down temps a few degrees by Saturday evening. We could also see some scattered wet weather Sunday and into next week, but we're fine-tuning those details. Stay tuned! We'll keep you updated in our 4Warn Weather Forecast both on-air and online, we are Good4Utah! Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
The science behind the EF scale: How we measure tornado strength
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — When a tornado tears through an area, the main question after the fact is, 'How strong was it?' That's where the Enhanced Fujita Scale, more commonly known as the EF scale, comes into play. The EF scale is the scale that meteorologists use to survey damage and estimate a tornado's maximum wind speeds. Created by Dr. Ted Fujita in 1971, the original Fujita (F) scale was implemented to estimate wind speeds based on observed damage, with no specific criteria as to what constitutes damage levels. To this day, the maximum speed reached by a tornado is an estimate, never an observed number. The Fujita scale ranged from F0 having max gusts of <73 mph, F1 of 73-112 mph, F2 with 113-157 mph, F3 with 158-206 mph, F4 with 207-260 mph, and finally, F5, indicating speeds of up to 261-318 mph. The original Fujita scale overestimated the wind necessary to create the amount of damage observed because there were no levels of destruction used within the system. This is where an upgrade came along almost 40 years later. The Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale launched on February 1, 2007, to get more precise wind speed estimates by incorporating 28 damage indicators and eight degrees of damage. The damage indicators range from damage to hard or softwood trees, to high rises, to automobile showrooms to take into account different structures that hold up differently in strong wind events. The degrees of damage range from barely visible, extremely minor damage to complete destruction. The EF scale includes EF-0 (weak, 65-85 mph), EF-1 (weak, 86-110 mph), EF-2 (strong, 111-135 mph), EF-3 (strong, 136-165 mph), EF-4 (violent, 166-200 mph), and EF-5 (violent, >200 mph). For comparison, an F-3 tornado was 158-206 mph before enhancement, and the higher end of that would reach an EF-5 in today's scale. Here in Western New York, we see lower-end, weaker tornadoes every once in a while, including the four that touched down last summer. Those ranged from EF-0s to EF-2s. The strongest recorded tornado in WNY was an F-4, which would be an EF-5 in today's scale. It occurred on May 31, 1985. It entered Chautauqua County from the PA border and passed just south of the town of Clymer. The tornado had winds in excess of 200 mph and traveled 28 miles before dissipating. We've covered four tornado warnings in our viewing region so far this year, the first three being in our Pennsylvania counties. More could pop up from now through summer. Sara Stierly is a meteorologist who joined the 4 Warn Weather team in February 2025. See more of her work, here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Mostly sunny, chilly, and dry Wednesday afternoon across the Beehive State
SALT LAKE CITY () – Happy Wednesday Utah! It was a cold start to the day with many areas down into the teens and 20s. This afternoon features a good mix of sunshine and just a few clouds. Highs will remain below average today, only in the 40s north, and 50s across the south. Tonight we will see clouds begin to increase once again across the area. Overnight lows will dip down into the 30s. The spring equinox occurs on our Thursday and right now, the weather is looking very spring-like across southern Utah, with slightly below normal temps across northern Utah. A weak storm storm system will graze us well to our north, but will try to squeeze out a few passing snow showers during the day. Temperatures will mainly be above freezing and moisture looks very limited but don't be surprised to see a few flakes in the air. Another grazing system moves through Friday night into Saturday bringing a chance for a few scattered rain showers, but overall precip amounts look very meager at this point. After the Saturday system moves through, it's all up from there! A large ridge of high pressure will build into the region, bringing us much drier conditions and well-above average temperatures. As we move into next week, daytime highs will be in the 70s for the Wasatch Front, and 80s for SW Utah. This pattern looks to stick around right into the start of April. Be sure to stay with your 4Warn Weather team for updates. We'll keep you posted on the latest information in our 4Warn Weather forecast both on-air and online, we are Good4Utah! Chilly midweek temperatures Spring Equinox Thursday Scattered snow showers Thursday Another weak system Saturday High pressure ridge next week Well-above normal temps ahead Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Snow showers return Saturday, but drier and much warmer weather expected Sunday
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Happy Friday Utah! A few scattered flurries are still moving through the region this afternoon, but overall drier conditions are expected for now. A quick-moving wave will move into the Beehive state late Friday night into Saturday, bringing another round of light snow showers. This system will not be as strong or impressive as our prior storm, but anything that does fall, should be in the form of snow. Highs on Saturday will be in the lower 40s north, and mid 50s south. The best chance for precipitation with this system will be some rain showers and some rumbles Friday evening and night in St. George, otherwise mainly a north and central event during the day Saturday. We will be in between storm systems Sunday into Monday, but look for gusty south winds to return to the state. Highs on Sunday will be near 60, with highs in southern Utah climbing into the mid 60s. LDS Church announces General Conference dates and time schedule Monday will feature increasing clouds with highs climbing into the low 60s along the Wasatch Front, with highs in the low 70 across southwest Utah. The warmth and dryness will not last long, as our next storm system arrives on Tuesday bringing another big cooldown, and the chance for valley rain changing to snow into Tuesday night, along with rain showers returning to southern Utah. Overall, the active and cooler pattern will continue through most of next week with another system possible late next week. Be sure to stay with your 4Warn Weather team for updates. We'll keep you posted on the latest information in our 4Warn Weather forecast both on-air and online, we are Good4Utah! Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
