Inauguration Day!!!

I have to say it was amazing to see so many people gather to watch the inauguration today!  I actually lived in Washington D.C. for many years and I have never seen anything like it!  No matter who you voted for it was almost surreal to see 2 million people gather to watch Barack Obama become the 44th President of the Untied States of America.  What was even more impressive was the cold those people dealt with all day.  Currently it's 23 degrees in Washington D.C. and the high only got up to 30 degrees.  What made it worst was a strong NW wind gusting up to 25mph...  Needless to say I'm glad I watched it on TV!!! 

Today was also a cold one in Starkville...  We only made it to 36 degrees and currently it's 23 degrees...  I actually think we will drop lower than the forecasted low of 19 tonight...  I think 16 is very possible!!!  Fortunately things are going to start warming up a little as we should be close to 50 on Wednesday and near 60 on Thursday!  Right now 60 sounds AWESOME!!!

Before I leave you tonight I would like to leave a GREAT link to facts about Washington D.C. inauguration weather.  This link was made by the national weather service in Sterling, VA and it is extremely well put together.  It has lots of great information/cool facts that I never new/heard about...  ENJOY!!!

INAUGURATION LINK...

Current Temperature: 25 degrees

I just wanted to post a quick update on the bitter cold we have been experiencing the last two days!  We actually haven't been above freezing since about 4pm Thursday!!!  This is EASILY the coldest we have been in Starkville in 3 years.  As far as the longest period for us below freezing, I would have to say it hasn't been below freezing for an entire day since I was a senior at MSU back in 2003...  I guess I would have to double check that but I think it's pretty close!

GTR Readings:

Thursday High:  34  (North Winds gusting 20-25-mph)

Friday Low:  10

Friday High:  30

Saturday Forecasted low:  14  

I sure wish I was back home with my parents in Miami...  Miami's current temperature is 56 degrees which is actually "cold" for south Florida...  HaHa    :-)

BITTER COLD on the way!!!

Well I haven't posted in awhile so I figured I would at least talk briefly about the bitter cold heading our way in Starkville. Of course what we will see here is NOTHING compared to what people are experiencing in the Northern Plains and Great Lakes... Some places in northern Minnesota were in the -40F to -50F degree range this morning. That's just insane to me and is something I hope I NEVER experience in my entire life. When I lived in Washington D.C. we got below zero a few times but -40F is just crazy!!!

The polar vortex is making its way towards the US and many people are going to experience some of the coldest air in years. I know for us in Starkville this is some of the coldest air I have seen in at least the last 2 or 3 years. Thursday were looking at a high of near freezing with a low Friday morning near 10 in many places around Starkville. The record low for Mississippi State on Friday morning is 8 degrees which I don't think we will get. Even though this is some fridiged air, there is not enough snow pack to our north. Some of our coldest days occur when you have the polar vortex heading down like it is in this case but with snow pack as close as Memphis... Because of this the air will moderate some as it leaves the snow pack, which is currently located in Cetral Illinios, Indiana, Ohio, etc... Also we still have a decent amount of moisture in the soil so I think that will help keep dew points up a little... I actually think the NWS forecast of 12 degrees is going to be really close... Again it's all relative to where you live but for us in the Deep South this is some COLD COLD air...

On a side note I just wanted to point out that I probably won't be posting near as much this semester. Of course I'll post when there is some interesting weather occuring but I don't think I can post nearly everyday like I did last semester. I have a lot of projects I want to work on this semester so I need to focus more of my attention on that.... My main goal this semester is to work hard on my website, uploading past storm chasing videos and journals. I really need to complete that so I don't forget important details from past expericences. I highly recommend everyone keeping a weather journal when you storm chase. That way it will be much easier to remember things. I have to say that sometimes I kick myself for not keeping better records on my past storm chases. Anyways, I'll do the best I can and hopefully by the end of the semester I'll have most everything up and running! I think many people will really enjoy the storm chase videos... Again, I'll still post a few times a week, I just can't post almost everyday like I did...

Heavy Rain on the way!!!

Heavy rain associated with a strong cold front is rapidly approaching Starkville from the west...  Rain has now entered the state of Mississippi and if I had to guess I would say it will reach Starkville around 2 or 3am...  We will quickly get well over a 1/2 inch of rain and I wouldn't be surprised to see a few places get over an inch...  We sure will feel the effects of the cold front as it will be at least 15 degrees colder tomorrow...  Today was such a beautiful sunny day as we got up to 64 degrees...  I hope everyone enjoy it too because we won't see the mid-60's again for a long time!  Again tomorrow will struggle to get into the upper 40's plus the winds will be gusting strong out of the north...  With some gust over 25mph it's going to feel pretty darn cold!!!  Friday the winds will lighten up but we still won't get much higher than 50 degrees...  Tomorrow night we should get into the upper 20's but I think we will hit at least 25 at GTR on Friday night.  

I have notice following Kansas City in the national forecast contest that this air mass has been verifying much colder as it makes its way across the US...  If you want to check out a cool site to help you see if an airmass is colder or warmer than average than I would highly recommend checking out the 10 day ensemble mean put out by environment Canada.  The chart shows you in standard deviations if the air is above or below average.  So lets say you saw a number of -2.0...  That would represent 2 standard deviations below normal which is some cold air!!!  This is one good way to help you identify as a forecaster if the air source is originating warmer or colder than normal...  Of course you have understand which part of Canada the air is coming from...  Anyways I'll post a link if you want to check it out!

10 day ensemble mean

Cold and Cloudy...

Today was another cloudy day cold day here in Starkville as we only got up to 43 degrees...  Since I last talked to you on Thansgiving Day I have only seen the sun for maybe a hour or so on Sunday...  We had a decent amount of rain on Friday and Saturday morning with light rain and sprinkles continuing through Sunday...  Bottom line it has been cold, wet, and dark for about 4 days now...  I would say we only got maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of inch of rain but still it's been fairly dreary...  The good news is the clouds are starting to break up and finally it looks to be a sunny day tomorrow...  The temperatures will still be a little chilly as we should only hit the lower 50's but hey at least it will be sunny!!!  Wednesday looks great at we should get into the middle 60's...  By Wednesday night however the next batch of rain should move in as another cold front will move through Starkville, cooling things back down for Thursday...

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Today was a beautiful turkey day as our high reached 68 degrees...  Tonight doesn't look bad either as we should stay in the lower 50's...  There is a slight chance of some light rain tonight but it's pretty low...  The main rain should hold off until Friday afternoon...  I'm sorry I haven't posted the last two days but things are really busy for me right now....  I'm writing/creating the BMP/OMP distance learning severe weather class...  I'm having fun with it but it takes a lot of time and effort...  Because of that I might not be posting a lot over the next week or so....  I'll try my best but I just wanted to give a heads up...  Either way I just wanted to wish everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!   I hope its been a great one!!! 

Tropical Activity in Late November?

Believe it or not you can and do get tropical activity in late November... People forget that the season doesn't end until November 30th... Also you can get hurricanes in December... It's rare but it has happened a few times before... Don't quote me, but I'm pretty sure there have been 5 December hurricanes in the last 120 years... This latest activity coincides with another upswing in the MJO... Or in other words the upward motion that travels around the globe has entered the Atlantic again... Funny it always seems to lead to tropical activity... I have said this a few times this year and I know some research has been done on MJO pulses and tropical activity, but I really think it's almost unbelievable how well it works.... Especially this year!!! Here is the discussion out of the NHC in Miami, FL on the current low risk...

FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...  

1. A LARGE AREA OF DISTURBED WEATHER PERSISTS OVER THE
SOUTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA IN ASSOCIATION WITH A BROAD
AREA OF LOW PRESSURE.  THERE ARE NO SIGNS OF TROPICAL
CYCLONE FORMATION...AND ANY FURTHER DEVELOPMENT IS
EXPECTED TO BE SLOW TO OCCUR.  AS THIS SYSTEM DRIFTS
SLOWLY WESTWARD...IT WILL LIKELY PRODUCE HEAVY RAINS
AND LOCALIZED FLOODING OVER PORTIONS OF PANAMA...
COSTA RICA...AND NICARAGUA DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF
DAYS.  ELSEWHERE...TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT
EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.  

$$  

FORECASTER BRENNAN/BERG