Above Average Temps For Now, But Cold Looms

Good Wednesday Everyone! We had a dry cold front pass this morning, which dropped our temperature to a low of 40. Although, we are cooler than the past previous days we are still seeing temperatures this afternoon running ABOVE NORMAL in the 50s. Here's a look back at our temps this week..


We saw a nice stretch of below normal temperatures late October into Mid November which included our first fall freeze on October 29th. It marked an end to the growing season of 219 days (March 24-October 28) which tied for the 4th longest on record, and the longest since 1924. From a meteorological standpoint, a growing season refers to the part of the year where temperatures remain above freezing. Typically, grass will either stop growing or slow down when temperatures drop at or below freezing.



23 out of 31 days from the period of Oct 24th-Nov 23th were below normal but we have flipped into a 6 day streak of above normal temperatures. On November 6th, 85.5% of the Upper Midwest was covered in snow (top image depicted below) which helped drive in those cooler temperatures across the Ohio Valley. While we saw plenty of chilly days in October, November was even colder, of course. November 10 marks our coldest afternoon of the season so far with a high of only 35. November 22 marks our coldest morning of the season with a low of 23. Over the weeks, the snow pack has melted to less than 1% covered in snow for the Upper Midwest region. This is depicted in the bottom image below.




Another front associated with a low will pass through tomorrow morning bringing in our next rain chance but not a lot is expected out of this, maybe a tenth of an inch to a quarter of an inch at the very most. It won't rain all day, in fact, clouds may break up Thursday afternoon allowing for some sunshine. It looks like most of the rain will fall between 6am-noon (simulated radar snapshot pictured below at 10am). The front won't impact our temperatures at all. We will still see highs on Thursday and possibly even on Friday in the 50s.


Our zonal air flow pattern will continue through the weekend as we open the first week of December with plenty of sunshine and mild temperatures. This is going to be the perfect time to set up those holiday decorations if you haven't already done so. Might not want to wait any longer because the jet stream will start to buckle down and pull in some much colder air middle of the next week that will extend into the 3rd week of December as we nudge even closer to Christmas. GFS Model has been consistent the past few model runs indicating we may see snow on Friday, December 8th. The overnight European run also had snow in the forecast so far now I am calling for snow flurries. This will have to be monitored in the days ahead. My 10 day weather forecast is below.