Today: Very breezy. Scattered showers and thunderstorms develop this afternoon with highs warming close to 70 before cooling later in the afternoon. Some thunderstorms may produce damaging winds with gusts around 45 MPH. Strong to severe storms are possible, and there is some tornado potential.

Sunset: 6:14

Tonight: As the cooler air moves in, the showers and thunderstorms begin moving out as this storm event ends as rain before skies begin clearing.

Thursday: Sunny, dry, and near 60. Breezy at times.

Do you have a NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio in your home? I have two. One is for our bedroom and the other for the basement. I call it my smoke alarm for tornadoes. Since more than half of all tornado related deaths occur while we're sleeping, having the NOAA Radio could easily save your life.

My friend, Glen, over at the Radio Shack on Chapman Highway says that for about $30.00, he can put you in the weather radio business. Thirty-dollars. Not much when you compare it to your family's safety.

Talked with Eugene in Tellico Plains this morning. He's keeping an eagle-eye out for rough weather today. And Eugene's like the rest of us, hoping that our storms don't get strong enough to spawn a tornado.

Please play it safe, and stay connected to Volunteer TV and volunteertv.com. And if you haven't signed up for Desktop Weather yet, why not do it before you hop offline. I've been signed up ever since we launched it, and just for fun this morning, I timed how long it takes to sign-up, and it's like way less than a minute. With Desktop Weather, you are alerted instantly of watches and warnings. The box pops up on your screen and the pleasant sounding Channel 8 Weather chime sounds to let you know a watch or warning has been posted.

Enjoy!

Jim Freeman

Volunteer TV Weather Center