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

Hurricane Ophelia has gained strength this morning with winds around 100 mph. Bermuda is under a tropical storm watch now, and the big waves will build for the south shore. Winds will approach tropical storm strength by Saturday afternoon, and I think the’ll get around an inch of rain. The storm will book it to the north and gradually lose tropical characteristics, but should slam into Newfoundland as a powerful post-tropical storm Monday.

Check out the new Great Lakes storm! Same as the old Great Lakes storm. Actually, the current rain maker over MI, IN and OH booted the old one out to ME last night. The wind behind this new one is howling, with gusts over 40 mph from WI/MI to IL, IN and OH. Radar won’t show the 15-20’ waves on Lake MI and Huron this morning. If you are flying to the MW today, it’ll be a two-bagger for you with all the rocking winds.

The energy from this storms heads eastward today, and will form as an early Nor’easter-type storm for New England. That means more wind and rain for the NE and a possibility of snow mixing into the WV mountains. Temps will drop 15-20 degrees from today too! Powerful stuff.

A little light rain is falling in TX this morning, but it wont amount to much. It’s already cooler north of there with frost advisories in MN, IA, WI, SD and NE. Clouds are back this morning for the Bay Area, so San Francisco will probably get some delays at SFO.

Have a good weekend you guys!

*If you are not following HLN Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen on Twitter... you are missing out on gems like this: @BobVanDillen Headed 2 Robin's CD/Book signing @ the TurnerStore. Hope she doesn't call security on me. Only worked w/ her for 9 yrs!

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Hurricane • Ophelia • Weather

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

Like Jason Voorhees, Ophelia refuses to die. Remember Ophelia? It was that tropical storm that lost strength over the south Atlantic this past weekend as it approached the Leeward Islands. The winds slackened under tropical depression strength, but still managed to retain some of its circulation after it was downgraded to “remnants of Ophelia”. That circulation has some good thunderstorm development to along with it this morning and the NHC has upgraded the disturbance into a tropical depression again. It gets the name Ophelia back, so we now have the rare ‘named tropical depression’. Remember, a storm doesn’t get a name until it turns into a tropical storm, except in this instance. Cool, right?

The huge, slow-moving storm over the Midwest has only moved 300 miles or so east of Chicago, but the clouds and rain are falling in the same spot as yesterday. With all that spinning in the atmosphere today, I expect some severe storms to fire in the Mid Atlantic states, mainly VA and into Central PA. A few tornadoes are possible in that area today. Delays will mount at the NYC, Philly, DC and Chicago airports with the poor visibility today. Flood watches are uup for the Delaware Valley in PA and NJ, I’ll have the map for you.

Some heavy rain is popping ion MS and AL today too, with about ½ “ of rain possible today. A few showers will actually fall in West TX and NM today, but we need more to make a dent in the drought.

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Ophelia • Tropical Depression • 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

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 see Shakespeare has had a hand in naming our next tropical storm, but unlike his character, this one is staying above the water. Tropical storm Ophelia formed last night over the Central Atlantic and now has max sustained winds around 45 mph. She is being buzzed down by wind shear on the SW side, and the circulation isn’t very organized. That’s good news. The track appears to ride west over the next few days and near the Leeward Islands this weekend as a tropical storm, and get close to the US/British Virgin Islands and PR by Monday. The NHC keeps the strength below hurricane force the whole time. I’ll update you on Ophelia all week.

Tropical air is headed out of the Southern states and into the Mid Atlantic this morning in front of a sharp cold front over the MW. The rain has been heavy today over GA and the Carolinas, and this will steer northward over the next few hours. With the low clouds in place, airports will see some delays in the East.

A sharp storm is over MN and edging to WI/MI now. The rain and wind is wrapping around the thing, and will create a breezy day in Chicago and Minneapolis. Some scattered showers are developing in Ks, OK and TX now and that should turn a little heavier this afternoon, I’ll have the radar for you. The rest of the country looks dry!

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