Weekly Weather Report.....Chop Block O'Clock

I wont go into last week much aside from my deepest apologies on last weeks forecast for the lack of rainfall, a few minor things went wrong and it wound up missing/hitting us the night before. (In my defense, we actually did wind up getting .62" of rain for the day which is a good bit but I digress...) Weather can be fickle. I think that's the lesson we should take out of last week's rain (or lack-there-of).

But lets start over, both with our forecast and our football season. We're 0-0 in ACC play, so lets start this season off on the right foot! I come to you this week bringing new toys and all kinds of new data! So lets jump on in! Its time to get last week's taste out of our mouth with our annual game with 'da Bees!

they better never give us crap for our mascot again.

I dunno about you guys, but I have a special level of hate reserved for these guys, only matched by my utter disgust and contempt towards UVA. Every frickin year they chop block our shins, and our Dline faces an injury because of it. I'm pretty sure 'Ole PJ figures that the only way his 1930s offense will work is if he hurts the other team's best athletes. This year the threat takes on a whole new level, what with our already thin D-line facing numerous injuries. Not all is lost however, as GT has not looked all that dangerous thus far (that being said we cant take any team lightly at all, especially not one that's such a bitch to defend).

have fun cleaning up the lack of traditional talent afterwards guys...

But I'm here to give you guys the weather, which as I mention every week can be a very good way of leveling the playing field for overmatched teams and can make the underdog suddenly much more capable at springing the upset. Last week I predicted a really rainy and dreary weekend, and the weekend before was the same (and I think we can all I agree that I nailed it on those two!!), but this week we're mixing it up with nothing but sunshine and happiness!

As a low in the mid-atlantic gives way to a high pressure system, the sometimes partly cloudy days we're currently experiencing in da 'burg should quickly give way to some beautiful skies and clear weather. As we approach the weekend, the high pressure system will continue to be hanging around, offering lots of hot and sunny weather and beautiful skies. The good news is that as the 850 mb winds drop down a little more from the North, they're bringing with them some cooler weather! expect temperatures to be around 75 in the valley with some of the surrounding areas experiencing temperatures in the low 80s this weekend. It might be a little hot so bring some short sleeves. As for the nights... for those of you expecting to go out later, expect temperatures to drop a lot more due to the clear skies, all the way down to a really comfortable 58 degrees both days. Humidity levels could be a little high however, so do expect things to be a little sticky and gross...Kinda like UVA fans

Due to the high humidity levels, expect some foggy weather early in the morning before some sunshine can clear it out. You might also see some fog late at night as well. The national weather service is calling for a little drizzle, but I wouldn't hold my breath too much... It could get really really really foggy, so do be prepared for that early morning when traveling to your breakfast tailgates. It should all clear out by game time, but just a heads up.

Since a few of you were asking for some more sciency stuff, and since I'm ready to show off my new modeling tools (that I can post pictures of because its free!) I'm going to break down this weeks weather and some extended outlook that's way far away using some models.

gameday outlook

here we have a very simple look at this weekends gameday look via some model data, primarily the GFS (Global Forecasting System) with some looks at positive vorticity. As you can see on the map above there are no troughs in our region thus...we have pretty calm weather conditions (this is the gameday outlook by the way so its pointing towards clear conditions.) BASICALLY all you need to know is without getting to into this is troughs represent cold and warm air differences which create pressure differences. cold air being in the trough warm air in the ridge. cold air is associated with rising air. warm air with descending. rising air = bad weather. Another part of this you need to know is the lovely positive vorticity. On this map you can see some shades of orange/blue/yellow/the rainbow. Red in this case (and ill try to keep it this way when posting stuff on here) is associated with positive vorticity. Positive vorticity is typically associated with upward motion and thus thunderstorms. Its calculated by combining your vorticity from combining your coriolis, curvature, and shear vorticity. These all combine to increase the speed and strength of winds thus creating much more dangerous storms and updrafts to create storms. This stuff is important for picking out storms.

Next Monday...sorry Northeast US and Canada

As you can see in this situation (mind you this data is a little far out to be considered super accurate) there are positive vorticity readings around the edge of our trough. If this were closer to now I'd expect bad weather and storms to be developing around that region in the next few days, but because its so far out....were gonna pump the breaks a tad and just keep an eye on it.

PHEW that was a mouthful...back to football!

How all of this plays out on the field!

Well with our least favorite insect-related foes coming to town and their...strange offensive gameplan, I'm gonna go on a limb and say that we should expect a lot of running from them. With the hot temperatures and the humid weather, I wouldn't be surprised at all if our guys started to wear down as the game carries on. I definitely wouldn't want to have to play catchup this week, as its going to be a lot harder as GT likes to play clock control a lot more than ECU does and will slow the game down and grind us down if they're moving the chains. That being said, I'm confident in Bud coming out with both guns blazing and kicking GT in the teeth from the beginning. If we can get a little offensive mojo going early and get an early lead and make them play catchup with us it could be a very long day for them. I think if either team builds a double digit lead early, it'll translate into a win. I see our beloved Hokies grinding out and rebounding with a tough win over the unconventional bumble bees. I can already feel Paul Johnson's seat getting a little warmer.

he looks uncomfortable...

Virginia Tech - 24
Georgia Tech -14
High - 76
Low - 52
Precip - Nah
Clouds - maybe a couple?
Wind - 5-7 MPH gusts heading up to the northwest.

GO HOKIES! THE REAL TECH