Check out the path of Rina from the National Hurricane Center… looks like one of Carlos’ tee box shots. SLICE!

Hurricane Rina is looking haggard, and that’s great news for Cancun. Yesterday the storm starting gulping in dry air from the north and that started her decline. Rina should hit the NE coast of the Yucatan Peninsula tonight or tomorrow morning, and then head East towards Cuba. By this time the southwest wind shear will be cutting what’s left of the storm down even further, and at this point it doesn’t appear to be a threat to S FL or the US. I’ll have the forecast from the NHC for you on the show.

A strong cold front is draped across the US from the NE to NM this morning, and heavy pockets of rain are being stirred up. The heavy snow is falling in NM and north TX this morning, but that should exit and turn to rain later today. I saw reports in CO of 18” of snow near Pueblo, with Denver getting over a half-foot of the stuff.

The heavy rain in will bring delays to NYC, Philly, DC, Boston, Detroit, Chicago and Dallas.

TX is getting some beneficial rain today too. This is the first time in a long time that a cold front has made it through to the Lone Star State with enough juice to produce rain and storms, enjoy it! Those are the bullet points, see ya out there.

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Hurricane • Rain • Rina • Snow • Weather

Hurricane Rina"

Hurricane Rina has changed little in the past 12 hours, but is right on the cusp of being a major hurricane. The winds all night and into this morning were around 110 mph, a Cat. 2 (major hurricanes are Cat 3 and above, with winds of more than 110 mph). The satellite presentation looks pretty good, with the outflow clouds blowing out in a circle. That’s an indication to me that the storm is not being disturbed by any wind shear yet, and still has a good chance of strengthening a little further before it hits or brushes into the northern Yucatan Peninsula tomorrow. Cancun and Cozumel are under hurricane warnings right now. Rina has been crawling to the West this morning, but once it gets a little closer to the Westerly’s it should pick up it’s forward speed and bend towards Cuba or the FL Straights. The land interaction near Cancun, wind shear, and cooler water temps should buzz down the hurricane’s strength in about 36 hours, and that’s great news. The FL keys and Southern FL may start feeling the effects of this storm by the weekend, but by that time Rina should be down to a tropical storm. I’ll update you again tomorrow on the strength/path.

The other big story is the major snow storm over the Rockies. Denver (again, record high of 80F on Monday) has switched from rain to snow and could see around a foot pile up around the metro area by this evening! The storm itself should slide into the Plains tonight and take the snow with it, but rain and snow will also hit WY, NM, and the OK/TX panhandles. I’ll have the radar and warnings for you.

A cold front and warm front are sliding into the NE out of the MW this morning, and the rain has been heavy for NY state, PA and OH this morning. I’m afraid travel delays will fire up in NYC, PHL, and Denver today. I’ll have the entire deal for you on the show.

*Follow Bob Van Dillen on Twitter: @BobVanDillen

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Hurricane • Rain • Rina • Snow • Weather

How’s it going everybody? I'm watching a powerful early season snow maker in the Rockies this morning. Rain is also circulating around this thing from ID/WY/WA/OR/CA to AZ and NM. A few break away showers are spilling into OK and KS, but the severe weather will occur north of there this afternoon. The Front Range will get the storms today that produce large hail and gusty winds as the energy heads East out of the mountains. Winter storm warnings are in effect for UT and CO right now, looking at an additional 6-12” of snow today!

The plains will see the wind howl from the SW, so red flag warnings have been issued for the upper MW to the Central Plains. Cold temps are back in the NE with frost/freeze warnings. The SE will be mostly dry except for the FL Coast. The steady E wind will hammer away today bringing in some pockets of rain from the Keys to J’ville. With that High pressure anchored north of you through the weekend, I’m thinking that wind direction/speed won’t change for a few days.

All right, I’m outta here. Enjoy a stretch of days BVD-Free. See you next week!

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: High winds • Rain • Severe Weather • Snow • Weather • Winter Storm Warning

For the first time this season I came to work with a coat. Found $1.32 in change in the pockets! Nice start to the day, it bought me ¼ cup of a grande moch-fashizzle alpa-chino at Starbucks.

Cold and dry air has been blasting southward all weekend in the East and South, behind the old storm that is anchored over the NE. This is the big wind field that caused all the turbulence for the fliers this weekend. It’ll produce more rain/low clouds and wind today for the NE and Mid Atlantic before it finally gets the boot Wednesday afternoon. Showers are falling in OH and MI right now too, and some of that is mixing with snow in the highest elevations of WV this morning. Once you pull away from there, it’ll be dry and warm to about UT and AZ. A few showers will develop today and that may affect you in Las Vegas too.

A strong storm is moving into British Columbia right now, and the trailing cold front is forcing heavy rain into Northern CA, OR, and WA. This is round one; round two moves in to the coast Tuesday night and will rip over to snow above 6 thousand feet in the Cascades and Sierra. Winter storm watches are up for them Tuesday night through Wednesday night. I’ll have the forecast.

Tropical storm Ophelia is currently flying through Newfoundland, and the winds are cranking. Looking for battering waves and 2-3” of rain to go along with the winds this morning. Tropical storm Philippe is meandering around the mid Atlantic Ocean, still looks to be a fish storm.

Good Monday to ya!

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: High winds • Ophelia • Philippe • Rain • Severe Weather • Snow • tropical storm • Weather • Winter Storm Watch

A weather pattern shift is finally going to take place today for the MW and NE. That stubborn, slow-moving storm that has dumped heavy rain for days on the region will get the bum’s rush out the door to the East by a sharp cold front dropping down from Canada.

Check out the map. The brown solid lines are isobars (lines of equal surface air pressure), the green lines are forecasted rainy spots, and you can see the blue cold fronts and red warm fronts. That cold front over WI to KS is the one that will boot the Low (Red L) from it’s perch over Ontario!

The rain will be heavy today for spots in New England, and the flood warnings are lining up south of there in NJ, PA, and NY right now. The rain should ebb tomorrow, but a weekend storm will bring it right back. In fact, it appears to me that we could see a very early season Nor’easter develop in the NE on Saturday. This would be a big wind and rain maker, too early and warm for snow.

The cold front over the Upper MW this morning will make for a windy day in MN, EI, MI, and IA/IL. Wind advisories are posted for the spots this afternoon, with gusts near 45 mph.

The tropical air mass across the SE will soon be replaced by the cool air as well, but today will feature more warm temps from the Carolinas southward.

A few showers are popping near Houston early this morning, and some real rain will develop later today over Central TX! I know, it seems too good to be true but keep your fingers crossed San Antonio/Austin to Waco.

The west is exceptionally dry today once again.

Ophelia is back to strong tropical storm strength and may be a hurricane by late today. Bermuda may get put in a tropical storm watch this afternoon as the storm gets close by Saturday. We’ll see. Our good friends in Newfoundland may take a hit from Ophelia on Monday as a tropical storm as well, I’ll keep you guys updated.

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Flood • High winds • Hurricane • Ophelia • Rain • Severe Weather • Storms • tropical storm • Weather

Looking at the satellite picture in the MW this morning you’d think there was a hurricane circulating around. It’s the same storm that has been there since This weekend, and it is cut off from the main tropical and subtropical jet streams. That means there is nothing to push this thing out, so it’s going nowhere . Just like my DWTS application...

Rain and storms will be ongoing all afternoon around the NE, MW and S around this storm center. It looks awesome on the satellite, I’ll show it to you.

Dense fog has developed around the same spots, so air travel will be affected. I’ll have the latest delays.

Remember tropical storm Ophelia? Well her remnants near the Leeward Islands have become better organized this morning and may turn back into a tropical storm again. The path would take it to the north, away from everybody. Tropical storm Philippe is on a slow boat to nowhere in the Eastern Atlantic, no worries. Another shot of rain is edging into the NW this morning again, I’ll have the radar. I’ll keep it short for a tired Tuesday.

Filed under: Ophelia • Philippe • Rain • tropical storm • Weather

Hey how are you, good Monday. Anybody else smash the alarm clock this morning?

Rough weather is starting this morning over KY and OH with heavy rain and even a few tornado warnings earlier. It’s all wrapped up with the huge low pressure area that is just not moving. Essentially it’s a cool pocket of air in the mid and upper levels of the Troposphere. The low at the surface is almost directly under the low in the upper levels, vertically stacked. These things are very slow movers, since they are cut off from the main Westerlies that would usually push it Eastward. The main result is heavy rain for the Great Lakes and OH Valley today, with more storms firing south and to the East. I’ll have the latest radar and track any severe weather for you this morning. Air travel will be affected by these storms, plus some low clouds around NYC and Philly. I’ll update you on the show.

Hot air is back in the SW today, with a high near 100 for San Antonio. I’m thinking the warm stuff sticks around until around Friday before it breaks. Another shot of rain is edging through ID and MT this morning, and more is expected today in WA State.

Ophelia, the old tropical storm, is now a remnant low near the Leeward Islands. No big whoop on her. Tropical storm Philippe has formed in the eastern Atlantic with 60 mph winds, but this one is a total fish storm as well. I’ll have the satellite pictures and track on the show.

Filed under: Hot • Philippe • Rain • tropical storm • Weather

Around 9 pm EDT, give or take seven hours probably in the Pacific Ocean. That’s the latest forecast from NASA for the UARS satellite to impact Earth this evening. C’mon, this isn’t brain surgery, it’s rocket science! How hard can it be to predict when this unguided tangled mass of metal? Very hard. Once it reaches the atmosphere and starts to burn up, all the tracking devices on the orbiter will burn up and they will lose sight of it all together. Good luck everybody, but I’m sure you’ll be just fine.

The weather looks rough in the East today and tomorrow. A good fetch of wind off the Gulf Of Mexico is reaching all the way into New England, making it a tropical atmosphere able to hold plenty of water for rain. The cold front that has been channeling the rain out of the South is still across the MW, but will make headway into the NE this weekend. Rain will tally around 2-5” from the Mid Atlantic to the NE through Sunday. Flood watches are posted from NC to MA to account for that.

A solid sheet of rain is hugging the OH Valley this morning too, with rain from Detroit to Louisville. With all the rain and low clouds in place, air travel will be slammed with delays of over an hour for just about everybody East of Cincinnati.

More rain is headed thought the Pacific NW today, but the rest of the US is quiet.

Ophelia looks like garbage on the satellite picture, and that is good news. It is being buzzed down and may fall apart altogether this weekend. I’ll have the path for you on the show.

*Follow "Morning Express with Robin Meade" Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen on Twitter: @BobVanDillen

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Ophelia • Rain • tropical storm • Weather

It will be one of those days for the East coast that travelers hate. A strong cold front is slowly pushing eastward from the MW this morning, and the atmosphere is juiced up and warm just ahead. It’s the last full day of summer (Fall arrives at 5:05am EDT tomorrow) and it will definitely feel like it with the humidity and warm temps in the East. A solid deck of clouds is draped from ME to FL with heavy pockets of rain all around. The bottom line is you’d have a better chance of getting plunked by a falling satellite than getting to the major East Coast airports on time today.

Rain is falling heavily on the back side of the front and under an upper-level storm in OK and AR, and some is fracturing away from the main energy and falling in TX. This is great news, but it won’t be much. I’ll have the latest radars for you. The great lakes will feature lots of clouds as well, but the heavy rain should stay away. The Rockies and West look nice for traveling until you reach WA. Rain is back for the Puget Sound region and spots all around.

Tropical Storm Ophelia has gained a bit of strength since yesterday with 65 mph winds. The storm is being pushed to the West at around 14 mph, and should near the Leeward islands this weekend. The Us/British Virgin Islands and PR should still monitor this thing, since it will get close by Sunday/Monday.

As for the NASA falling satellite: the latest thinking from them has it reaching earth in 26 pieces, some 300 lbs. or more, tomorrow afternoon. They don’t think it goes over north America at this time, and will probably end up in the Pacific Ocean. Stand by tomorrow for an update in the morning.

*Follow "Morning Express with Robin Meade" Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen on Twitter: @BobVanDillen

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Ophelia • Rain • tropical storm • Weather

I’ve seen some of the behind-the-scenes video of Nancy Grace practicing for 'Dancing With The Stars.' She is rocking it! The only people who dance better are the NASA scientists avoiding the question of exactly where their satellite will hit Earth Friday(ish). DWTS starts tonight.

East TX awoke to heavy rain earlyt this morning ahead of a weak impulse rocketing to the south. Houston had some good downpours this morning, but it is starting to dry up now. A few storms are possible in West TX this afternoon, bu the bulk of the forcing for real rain is moving towards the OH valley. Good rain is headed out of Chicago and into the Detroit/Cleveland/Cincinnati line today. I’ll have the latest radar on the show. Cool temperatures have been hanging around the East half of the nation, but as the MW cold front slides in that direction the readings will edge warmer today.

A nice shot of rain is moving out of the NW and into MT today also. No severe weather is expected today out of any of this.

A new tropical wave is over the East Atlantic now, and it has a chance of turning into the next tropical depression. The next storm name is ‘Ophelia’.

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Rain • Tropical Wave • Weather