Weather spotters help fill forecasting gaps on Cumberland Plateau

CROSSVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The distinct micro-climates of East Tennessee and Southeast Kentucky allow for varying weather conditions and often bring challenges when crafting a forecast. The Cumberland Plateau is one of those micro-climates.

Locally, the Plateau includes Cumberland, Fentress, Morgan, Scott, and Campbell Counties.

Terrain is a huge factor regarding weather conditions. During the Summer, the Plateau can heat up faster than the Valley. This process is called differential heating, and it can often lead to increased opportunities for precipitation.

Jeremy Buckles, Lead Meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Morristown explained that “localized low pressure across these higher elevation areas like the Plateau, the air moves towards that low pressure, as it rises, you get thunderstorms developing.”

When cold fronts move through the area, which usually occurs during the Winter, Northwesterly winds behind the front can often lead to increased precipitation chances in addition to sometimes cooler and less humid air.

“A lot of times behind cold fronts we get northwesterly winds and the air is forced up along the higher elevations of the Plateau and the Mountains,” Buckles added. “This causes the air to rise, it cools, it condenses, and we get additional rain and sometimes snow.”

Weather radars maintained by the National Weather Service (NWS) are vital tools when forecasting and tracking storms. Radars can detect what type of precipitation is falling and where it is falling. The radars based at NWS offices in Morristown, Nashville, Jackson, KY, and Huntsville, AL can see all or part of our area.

One of the forecasting challenges of the Plateau is the radars can only get a good reading of the mid-levels of the atmosphere since the radars are so far away. Weather spotters help fill the gap between the ground the mid-levels.

“Getting that ground truth is vital. We talk about the radar beam overshooting severe thunderstorms and creating situations where sometimes these quick spin-ups are hard to warn for because they are so hard to see,” said Meteorologist Mark Baldwin with Crossville/Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency.

Cumberland County is no stranger to severe storms. The county has seen 24 tornadoes since 1950, including a recent EF1 tornado on June 11, 2023.

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Being prepared ahead of any impactful weather event can make a difference.

“Being prepared for an emergency is an individual responsibility and a lot of times that gets forgotten about and people will say ‘Oh, we haven’t had that in a long time so it’s not a big deal,” said Crossville/Cumberland County EMA Director Travis Cole. “The more prepared people have the less impacts.”

If you are interested in becoming an official weather spotter with the National Weather Service visit www.weather.gov/mrx .

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