|
|
Feature article
|
 |
|
 |
Mountains help protect region from extremes
By staff report
 |
Just like the laid back style of its people, East Tennessee also has a reputation for having a laid back climate — not too hot, and not too cold.
In fact, NOAA meteorologist Stephen Parker of Morristown said he’d be hard pressed to find a better place to live than East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia weather-wise.
“We don’t have the tornadoes of the plains or Gulf Coast. We don’t have the hurricanes of the Coast. We don’t have the bitter cold and heavy snows that we find north of here. It really is a very livable climate without the extremes that you would find traveling any direction from here,’’ Parker said.
The region is far enough north from the Gulf of Mexico not to have extreme high humidity for most of the summer.
And we are far enough away from the coast to not have significant hurricane impact in the fall.
And the region is far enough south to experience mild rather than very cold winters. In the spring, Parker said, often the worst storms are to the south and west of the region because we are protected by the mountains.
While the mountains may act as a barrier to high winds and extreme weather, Parker said they do pose problems for weather forecasters because temperatures can fluctuate so easily.
“There is a strong relationship between your elevation and the type of weather you have in East Tennessee. The higher up you are, the drier your air is going to be, the stronger your wind is going to be and especially in the winter, but certainly year round, the colder your temperatures are going to be.
“It is very common in the winter to have a whole lot more snow from 3,000 feet in elevation then you do below that. In the summer, your nighttime temperatures are going to be 10 to 20 degrees colder as you move up from around 2,000 feet to around 5,000 feet.
“In the winter, the winds are much stronger in the mountains. In the valley we will be protected and sheltered from the strongest winds.
“It’s hard to predict weather everywhere. But it is hard here. The mountains add an extra factor into the weather that even the best computer models cannot handle well. We also do not have a weather balloon that we release here in Northeast Tennessee,’’ Parker said.
The region has typically experienced an average rainfall of 40.7 inches per year. But in the last four years, Parker said the region has been under a drought situation and rainfall has been less than that.
Fortunately 2003 may prove different. The region has received about five more inches of rain than normal, and water tables are up. But Parker said there is still reason for concern.
“Even though we are above normal right now and everything looks pretty green, the water table in the ground is still below normal, so we have not recovered. The surface has recovered, but deep down we are still running at a deficit. For agricultural purposes we are doing really well right now,” Parker said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
