Scary Weather Ahead!

As All Hallows Eve comes upon us we are also getting ready to be visited by a scary cold front moving in from the west.  The morning sunrise on the East Coast this morning foretold the tale by it’s scarlet appearance.  Remember the old sailor’s adage, “Red sky at morning – sailor’s take warning” ?  Well, if the winds pick up like expected tonight it will surely cause swells on the ocean and possible downed trees and powerlines  on land. So bring in your pumpkins tonight and batten down the hatches, it’s going to be a long and windy night!  Happy Halloween to all!

Fall Colors on the Brink

Seems like the fall colors arrive later and later.  Here in southwest Virginia it’s almost Halloween and the trees are just starting to change color.  If it’s like last year they’ll all burst out at once and then be gone.  I can remember back when the leaves would start changing in September and go on for several weeks.  Well, guess that’s just another argument for climate change.  Meanwhile,  the coasts have swapped sides again with the west getting the chilly weather and the east getting a break with some above seasonal temps.  Seems like Mother Nature is up there flicking the jet stream like a rope; causing it to rise and dip from one side of the country to the other.  Hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween!

Hello Wooly Worm!

Have you seen any wooly worm caterpillars yet?  The ones I’ve seen have a small amount of dark brown on the front and a wider band on the back with light brown in between.  Now, folklore has it that the more light brown, the milder the weather is supposed to be for the winter.  But what does it really mean?  Researchers indicate that since the caterpillars form in the spring, it’s likely their colors might more adequately predict the preceding winter.  On the East Coast we had Superstorm Sandy last fall and March and April snows in the spring which could be indicated by the front and back of the wooly, but the winter was certainly less than temperate, too.  So what else can we look for to predict the winter?  Forecasters say the La Nina and El Nino ocean patterns are not doing much of anything that would result in higher or lower than normal temps.  The summer rainy pattern could have indicated a snowy winter, but it has been replaced by drier skies with more of our precipitation coming from the north and west. So what do you think? Maybe we can put our heads together and come up with a prediction.

A Nation Divided

No, I’m not talking about Congress.  It’s the weather pattern that seems to be setting up for the next few weeks.  Warmer temps are forecast for the west while the east is gearing up for it’s first blast of winter cold.  In the meantime we’ve got a decent looking weekend shaping up in the Mid Atlantic region. The cold front that came through yesterday didn’t put too much of a dent in the seasonable temps we’ve seen for most of the week.  Saturday night looks to usher in a more substantial front that will have us looking for the blankets by Sunday night.  By next weekend look for frost and freeze warnings to start popping up as blades of Arctic cold slice into the region.

Montana Snows

Here in the Mid Atlantic we are slowly entering our decent into winter.  Temps should ramp down over the next few weeks to end October with highs in the 50’s and lows in the 30’s.  Not so out west.  Montana has already leap frogged from summer to winter with little regard for fall.  On one day the temps were in the 80’s and the next the plains were pummeled with up to two feet of snow.  In between, a cold front brought rain and drastically falling temps.  The end result was misery for the cattle farmers who were not prepared for such violent weather and lost many of their cattle to the muddy, snow filled pastures.  Some cattle became so mired in the mess they collapsed and literally drowned;  while others froze to death.   So how does this happen?  Do forecasters miss the signs of these rapidly changing weather systems or do people watch the forecasts and simply refuse to believe such a change could occur so fast? One thing is for sure, whether you adhere to the climate change philosophy or simply acknowledge that extreme conditions have existed for millennia,  the truth remains that chaotic weather is a fact of life.    

Karen Shows Up Late

Last week we thought that the remnants of Tropical Storm Karen would merge with the weekend cold front and be swept out to sea.  But Karen was dawdling in front of the mirror over Florida and missed the cold front train.  So she is meandering up the East Coast along the now stationary front spewing rain and wind onto the coast.  The rain may come inland enough to cause showers along and east of the mountains through Friday.  The accompanying east wind will cause a wedge scenario that will mean cool, damp temps for the remainder of the week.  The weekend does look better though not as warm as we hoped before Karen showed up.

Fall Arrived and Summer is Finally Here

In past blogs I’ve talked about the no-show heat domes and persistent east winds that have kept the Mid-
Atlantic region chilly and damp for most of the summer.  So now, two weeks into the fall season, we finally have a classic summer set up.  The Bermuda high has found it’s way back home and is pumping warm air in from the southwest.  We even have a tropical system brewing in the Gulf.  Of course, as Indian summers go, this will all be short lived.  Most forecasts indicate that a cold front moving through the High Plains will reach us sometime Sunday.  If it hits just right it may scoop up the Gulf moisture and give us a good rain as well.  Never thought I’d say this after the summer we’ve had but we could sure use the rain!