2008.12.29
Old year, mild air out; new year, cold air in
The next couple of afternoons will be similarly mild to what we've the past few days, with highs in the 50s, maybe even low 60s. Almost perfectly timed with the arrival of the new year, a new cold front will initiate seasonal cold for us by New Year's Eve. It doesn't look like a period of frigid air, at least initially, but enough that the next 2 or 3 storm systems may all bear watching for some winter weather threat. The first arrives Saturday. A few model runs on Sunday looked cold and wintry with it, but it still looks likely to travel too far north of us for a serious winter storm threat. Specifics may vary this week, and perhaps more importantly is watching the overall pattern for the next couple of weeks, whether it will allow for a wintry period or quickly switch back to something milder. Definitely, we're headed into a colder period starting later this week, but big questions remain as to its staying power, largely because features over the Pacific do not appear to be conducive right now to an extended period of cold weather and wintry precipitation. But everything is in flux, so we'll see how it shakes out.
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THe one bright side to the milder weather: I haven't had to run my heat or burn my supply of firewood to keep the house warm, so it is helping to offest the high billing I got from November and the first part of December. That's about the only good thing I can say for mild winter weather...otherwise I don't much care for 60's and 70's in December. Hopefully the upcoming colder weather will yield some wintery weather (not ice though!) so it doesn't go to waste. The only thing I hate more than warm temps in winter is cold temps with no snow.
Comment by Other John — December 29, 2008 @ 11:45 am
The weather around here is just frustrating to be honest. It's almost January, and nary a flake in sight. Enough of this cold/warm/cold pattern that has everyone buying stock in Kleenex. It's WINTER. It needs to start acting like it. I'm moving to Canada, I swear...
Comment by P. Kelley — December 29, 2008 @ 4:10 pm
Just have to point this out ... in two of our four snowiest winters on record, there was NO MEASURABLE SNOW in Roanoke before Jan. 1 (1959-60, 62 inches total; 1986-87, 56 inches total) and in one of the other two there was only 0.3 inch of snow by Jan. 1 (49.9 inches total in 1965-66) ... 1995-96 already had almost a foot by Jan. 1 on its way to 56 inches. Technically, our snowfall to date in 2008-09 (0.4 inch back on Nov. 18) is actually greater than it was by this time in 3 of our 4 snowiest winters.
You know what they say about statistics ...
Comment by kevinmyatt — December 29, 2008 @ 11:09 pm
That wind sure is kicking out there tonight.
Comment by Brandon R. — December 30, 2008 @ 12:23 am
I think that I may be in a minority, but I'm really enjoying the mild winter. By the way, the morning skies have been spectacular the last few days.
Comment by Jim D — December 30, 2008 @ 7:06 am
I noticed that the forecast high for Saturday in today's paper is in the 40s when yesterday it was 29. I'm hoping it won't be in the 50s tomorrow! (somewhat tic)
Comment by Kevin — December 30, 2008 @ 9:47 am
Brandon: We had a strong Pacific front move through last night. A strong Arctic front is headed in for Wednesday.
Jim: You lived in Maine, so I'm not surprised.
Kevin: Weather Central in Madison, Wisc., does the weather map on the back of Virginia. So I can neither take credit or blame for its forecasting. I would think at least the mid to upper 30s would be more accurate for Saturday than 29. The low will likely be north of us, drawing in some milder air ahead of it, then pulling much colder air behind it.
Comment by kevinmyatt — December 30, 2008 @ 10:09 am