Evening roundup: Unsettled, humid airmass settles in

Humidity is on the rise today, and the increased atmospheric moisture content led to the development of showers and storms throughout the area this afternoon. This will be the story of the next few days, as atmospheric disturbances provide sufficient lift for the development of precipitation within a moist and moderately unstable environment. While no organized severe weather is anticipated, the moisture in the atmosphere and the lift for precipitation will be enough to trigger showers and thunderstorms capable of producing heavy downpours and lightning with localized flooding. As a mid level atmospheric trough deepens over the Northeast US mid-week, a weak coastal storm system will develop and result in an increase in the coverage and intensity of showers and storms. All of the news isn’t bad, however — the system departs by late week and the weekend looks to again by quite pleasant and warm. Some highlights from around the meteorological community are included below:

  • Showers and thunderstorms will remain possible through this evening, with a localized threat for flooding. Lightning and heavy rain will also be possible in any thunderstorms. Temperatures will remain warm overnight, with humidity remaining high as well.
  • These showers and storms may continue through Wednesday, as a low pressure area develops nearby. Increased atmospheric lifting is indicated on most operational guidance, suggesting the potential for a period of steady precipitation on Wednesday.
  • Tonight, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft will send a signal back to earth — signifying whether it made its trip past Pluto safely. It will also send new, high resolution of the planet like we have never seen before.

 

Today is, without a doubt, Pluto day

For most of us on Earth, this will be our last chance to see a new planet for the first time up close and personal. Today, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft will finally make its pass nearest to Pluto, the much debated and no longer official planet. New Horizons has spent the past 9 years in space, traveling over 3 billion miles and passing most “landmark” planets in our solar system along the way. On July 14th, 2015, it will finally reach Pluto. No spacecraft, satellite, or high resolution imagery has come even remotely close to what New Horizons will provide us with in terms of detail regarding Pluto.

Already, New Horizons is allowing NASA’s team to make some incredible discoveries and bring forth some new information. While Pluto’s size has been debated for many years, we now have a very firm estimate on the size of Pluto. NASA’s team of specialists calculated a diameter of 1,473 miles. This is slightly larger than previous estimates. Perhaps even more exciting is the prospect of high resolution imagery which New Horizons will capture.

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