Coldest of the Season

Temperatures and wind chills are at the coldest they've been this season, thus far.

Here are some numbers to mull (and pout!) over...

 Site      Time      Tmp Dpt %RH W/H Wdr Wsp Cld Ceilg  MSLP 
-------------------------------------------------------------
 KGFK Nov 20 2253UTC  11   6  80   0   N   7 SCT   UNL 1043.8
 KGFK Nov 20 2353UTC   8   4  83  -1   N   6 SCT   UNL 1043.7
 KGFK Nov 21 0037UTC   7   3  83   1   W   3 SCT   UNL       
 KGFK Nov 21 0053UTC   6   3  87   0  NW   3 FEW   UNL 1043.1
 KGFK Nov 21 0153UTC   5   2  87  -4  NW   5 FEW   UNL 1042.2
 KGFK Nov 21 0253UTC   4   1  87  -1   W   3 CLR   UNL 1041.3
 KGFK Nov 21 0335UTC   3  -0  87  -6 WNW   5 FEW   UNL       
 KGFK Nov 21 0353UTC   2  -1  87  -8   W   6 FEW   UNL 1041.0

Record cold...

As most of you know, it has been quite cold up here in the Northern Plains over the past month. Last week, was particularly cold with several areas over North Dakota and Minnesota reaching record lows. Wednesday morning several locations bottomed out in the -30 to -35 degree range, setting all-time record lows for the date. The Grand Forks Int'l Airport (KGFK), reached a record low of -33° F, while Hector (in Fargo) recorded it's own record of -31° F.

Here's hoping for the rebounding temperatures yesterday and today continue over the next week. It's not looking good. We'll probably drop back into the teens and 20's this week for highs, but at least the sub-zero high temperatures are gone for the time being.

A whole new definition

This certainly ranks right up there with the most counties I've ever seen included in one severe weather warning. It gives an all new definition to the term "blanket warning!" This is just crazy...

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
658 PM EST TUE JAN 29 2008

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA...
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF COLUMBUS...
BOONE COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA...
CLINTON COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA...
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF FRANKFORT...
WESTERN DECATUR COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA...
HAMILTON COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA...
HANCOCK COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA...
HENDRICKS COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA...
HOWARD COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA...
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF KOKOMO...
JOHNSON COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA...
MADISON COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA...
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF ANDERSON...
MARION COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA...
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS...
MORGAN COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA...
WESTERN RUSH COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA...
SHELBY COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA...
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF SHELBYVILLE...
TIPTON COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA...
WESTERN DELAWARE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL INDIANA...
WESTERN HENRY COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL INDIANA...
EASTERN CARROLL COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA...
BROWN COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA...
JACKSON COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA...
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF SEYMOUR...
LAWRENCE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA...
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF BEDFORD...
MONROE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA...
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF BLOOMINGTON...
JENNINGS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST INDIANA...
EXTREME NORTHEASTERN OWEN COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL INDIANA...
EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN PUTNAM COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL INDIANA...

* UNTIL 745 PM EST

* AT 653 PM EST...TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DESTRUCTIVE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH. THESE STORMS WERE LOCATED ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 10 MILES NORTH OF FLORA TO 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MITCHELL...OR ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LOGANSPORT TO 23 MILES EAST OF PETERSBURG...AND MOVING EAST AT 80 MPH.

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR...
WHITESTOWN BY 705 PM EST...
ZIONSVILLE BY 710 PM EST...
WINDFALL BY 715 PM EST...
WHITELAND BY 720 PM EST...

THIS INCLUDES INTERSTATE 65 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 37 AND 156.

THIS INCLUDES INTERSTATE 69 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 0 AND 52.

THIS INCLUDES INTERSTATE 70 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 48 AND 121.

THIS INCLUDES INTERSTATE 74 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 47 AND 135.

FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. THIS STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY AND SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO PROPERTY.

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING DESTRUCTIVE WINDS AND LARGE DAMAGING HAIL. SEEK SHELTER NOW INSIDE A STURDY STRUCTURE AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS!

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING WIDESPREAD WIND DAMAGE ACROSS CENTRAL INDIANA WITH WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 TO 80 MPH REPORTED. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEEK SHELTER NOW INSIDE A STURDY STRUCTURE AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS!

That's 25 counties whole or partially included in this warning! Granted, we're dealing with an intense squall line here. Also of particular note is the forward progression! Moving east at 80 mph!?! The line itself, isn't moving eastward quite that fast. I'm assuming the NWS caught the 80mph out of some SCIT information for an embedded cell in the echo wave pattern. Either way, seems like folks in Illinois and those back home in Indiana are dealing with some damaging winds this evening.

Soon enough, they'll find themselves at 10° or 20° F with snow falling... and winds at 30 mph! Pretty incredible system...

Colder than a Bi-otch!

That's right... Not only is it 16 below zero outside at this hour, but with the wind, it feels like -35° F. That's flipping cold, folks! Definitely reason enough to have Wind Chill Advisories in effect for a good portion of the Midwest.

But just wait... The 00z GEM this evening has temperatures across much of eastern North Dakota and Minnesota with temperatures well below -20 Sunday morning. In fact, it had -34° F at 12z on Sunday. The NAM and GFS were considerably more mild, but take that as a grain of salt. (heh, pun!) They're not much better. I mean, really... what's the difference between -15 and -34°? Let's assume no wind.

We'll see how things pan out this weekend. I'm done for the weekend, work-wise, so I'm going into hibernation mode for a couple of days. I'll check in sporadically for temperature reports and will verify what I observe.

A lot of us across the Midwestern and Eastern US are in for a crisp week and a half. So, keep warm out there, folks!

Cold-ness!

As I expected, we officially reached the first sub-zero temperatures of the season last evening.

Here are the obs from Grand Forks Int'l...
(From 8:53pm CST Monday to 2:53pm Tuesday)

 Site      Time      Tmp Dpt %RH W/H Wdr Wsp Wgs Cld  MSLP 
-----------------------------------------------------------
 KGFK Nov 27 0253UTC   3  -4  72 -16  NW  17  25 OVC 1024.9
 KGFK Nov 27 0353UTC   1  -8  65 -18  NW  17     BKN 1026.3
 KGFK Nov 27 0417UTC  -0  -9  65 -18  NW  15     FEW       
 KGFK Nov 27 0453UTC  -1 -10  65 -18  NW  13     FEW 1027.3
 KGFK Nov 27 0521UTC  -2  -9  71 -17  NW  10     BKN       
 KGFK Nov 27 0553UTC  -3 -11  68 -22 WNW  14     BKN 1028.5
 KGFK Nov 27 0622UTC  -4 -11  71 -21  NW  12     SCT       
 KGFK Nov 27 0653UTC  -4 -12  68 -22  NW  13     CLR 1028.9
 KGFK Nov 27 0753UTC  -6 -13  71 -21  NW   9     CLR 1029.4
 KGFK Nov 27 0853UTC  -8 -14  74 -22 WNW   7     CLR 1030.4
 KGFK Nov 27 0953UTC -10 -16  74 -23 WNW   6     CLR 1031.0
 KGFK Nov 27 1053UTC -11 -16  78 -24 WNW   6     CLR 1031.9
 KGFK Nov 27 1153UTC -10 -16  74 -24   W   7     CLR 1032.6
 KGFK Nov 27 1253UTC -11 -17  74 -18 WNW   3     FEW 1032.0
 KGFK Nov 27 1353UTC -12 -18  74 -24 WSW   5     FEW 1032.6
 KGFK Nov 27 1453UTC  -7 -14  71 -14 WNW   3     BKN 1032.5
 KGFK Nov 27 1553UTC  -5 -12  71           0     BKN 1031.9
 KGFK Nov 27 1653UTC  -3 -11  68 -13   S   5     BKN 1031.8
 KGFK Nov 27 1753UTC  -2 -11  65 -17 SSE   9     OVC 1030.1
 KGFK Nov 27 1853UTC  -1  -9  68 -16 SSE  10     OVC 1029.9
 KGFK Nov 27 1953UTC  -0  -8  68 -12  SE   7     OVC 1028.2
 KGFK Nov 27 2053UTC   1  -7  68 -13  SE   9     OVC 1027.7

Also note these wind chills...! I am definitely NOT prepared for this.

Winter Weather Advisory

While it isn't the first winter weather advisory of the season, per se, it is the most significant. A weak clipper system will progress southeast over the region this evening and overnight, bringing some accumulating snows to the area. It shouldn't be much to cause any big issues, but slick spots on the roads will still likely be found out there, I'm sure.

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT...

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT.

.SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS NORTHERN PARTS OF THE REGION INTO MID EVENING WITH THE PASSAGE OF A STRONG COLD FRONT. 1 TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW ARE FORECAST TO ACCUMULATE ALONG AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM MADDOCK NORTH DAKOTA THROUGH HALSTAD MINNESOTA TO MAHNOMEN MINNESOTA.

WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME NORTH AND RAPIDLY INCREASE TO 20 TO 30 MPH WITH SOME HIGHER GUSTS INTO THE EVENING. COMBINED WITH THE NEW SNOW...VISIBILITIES WILL BE REDUCED ESPECIALLY IN OPEN COUNTRY CREATING HAZARDOUS TRAVEL.

In addition, much colder air will filter in behind the associated cold front tonight. I wouldn't be surprised to see our first sub-zero temperatures tonight. Ugh!