Slim Chance of A Storm This Afternoon and Evening

There will be a slight chance of a thunderstorm this afternoon and this evening. Again not everyone will get wet but a few may get lucky enough to see some much needed rainfall. The heat will slowly increase back towards 100° by Sunday.

Do Fireworks Make It Rain or Just A Coincidence?

Fireworks shows will go off across the U.S. tonight but, will they cause it to rain on the 5th of July? Depending on who you ask this is all just a bunch of hog wash or just mere coincidence that thunderstorms fire up around the 4th of July holiday across the country. Some say that fireworks play no part in this do to the fact that storms do not form everywhere fireworks are set off and that the smoke(sulphuric acid) is so weak that it can't possibly cause it to rain. However, do not totally dismiss that this is untrue in all cases.

Scientist have already created 50 thunderstorms in the desert of Abu Dhabi's Al Ain region using ionisers. Read more here: http://www.staplenews.com/home/2011/1/3/scientists-create-rain-storms-in-the-abu-dhabi-desert.html .

Other attempts by scientist using lasers has brought them one step closer to creating man made rain clouds. Even during the Olympics in China in 2008 aircraft launch artillery iodide before the Olympics to try and control the weather. This attempt called cloud seeding is used a lot here in the U.S. But, the problem with this method is that iodide is toxic. Read more about this here: http://dvice.com/archives/2011/08/scientists-see.php .

So does fireworks contain any ingredients that would cause atmospheric conditions to change to produce rain? Let's first look up at the make up of a firework.

Here is a look at the make up a basic firework. For specific details please read more here: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/local/projects/gondhia/composition.html .
So considering what makes up a firework, does the common thinking among folks that the smoke or sulphuric acid of the reducing agent cause disturbances or not? Most common answers will always be there is no relation but consider the contrail released by airplanes. New studies find that contrails may be linked to to environmental changes including that of weather patterns. I firmly at least consider that there may be some type of relation to the chemical make up of fireworks and the combustion in the atmosphere that causes some type of disturbance that under ideal conditions causes atmospheric changes including rain/thunderstorms whether it is one day after or a few days after a fireworks show. A perfect example can easily be made here in the Tri-States. LaBelle, MO had a fireworks show on Saturday evening with a Westerly wind. Two days later SEVERE storms erupted seemingly out of nowhere dumping heavy amounts of rainfall in short periods of time East of where the show was. So whether there was a link or not one can not rule out totally that disturbances in the atmosphere such as fireworks does not cause it to rain/storm considering us humans are disturbing the atmospheres natural state of being.

Happy 4th of July Tri-States!!!!!

Happy 4th of July Tri-States! Today will be another scorching hot day with highs in the lower to middle 100's. Some locations may see the upper 100's. The heat continues through Sunday. However, a major cool down is expected at the beginning of next week with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Have a safe and happy 4th in all your festivities.

Firecracker Hot With Heating Thunderstorms





As we get ready to celebrate the 4th of July mother nature has dished up her own fireworks in the sky. The first part of the show started Monday with highs reaching the 100's again for much of the area. During the late afternoon and evening SEVERE storms moved across parts of Northeast Missouri and West Central Illinois causing tree damage and a 5th Wheel to be overturned. Heavy rains pounded parts of Lewis, Marion, and Adams Counties.

This trend is only just beginning. Excessively hot temperatures are expected through Sunday with daytime heating storms possible through the period with a possible end to the wicked heat Sunday night and Monday in the form of showers and thunderstorms which again could be SEVERE.

SEVERE Storms This Afternoon

Scattered SEVERE T-Storms are possible this afternoon. These will be the pop up variety and will only move a few miles and die out and new ones develop.

At Least 6 More Days of Triple Digits!

Another stretch of 100° days this week. There may be some light at the end of the 7 day forecast with temperatures dropping just below 100°. However, there will be little if any chance for rain.

Another Day of 100°+ Readings

Mostly sunny and hot again today with highs in the upper 90's to lower 100's. Some locations may even see the mid 100's today.