Monday, September 24, 2012

Earliest chill in 6 years ... enjoy it

The temperature in Charlotte is expected to drop into the middle 40s tonight, and you have to go back six eight years to find readings that chilly so early in the season.

Monday morning was our coolest so far in September, with a low of 50 degrees at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. It got a lot colder elsewhere in the region, including 37 degrees at Boone. There were a few reports of light frost Monday morning in the higher elevations.

Other chilly lows Monday included 37 degrees at Morganton; 43 degrees in Salisbury; 45 degrees in Hickory; 46 degrees in Concord, Rutherfordton and Statesville; and 48 degrees in Albemarle.

Forecasters say Piedmont locations can figure on subtracting another 3 or 4 degrees from those lows Tuesday morning, as the center of a strong high pressure system moves closer to our area. The Piedmont is probably safe from widespread frost, but if you live in a low-lying area that typically gets frost before anyone else, you might want to protect the plants tonight.

Our last reading in the 40s was May 11, when it dropped to 48 degrees.

And the last time it dropped into the 40s this early in the year was 2006, when we had a low of 47 degrees on Sept. 21. Otherwise, the date of the first low in the 40s was about a week later -- Oct. 11 in 2007; Oct. 2 in 2008; Sept. 29 in 2009; Oct. 2 in 2010; and Oct. 1 last year.

Our daytime temperatures Monday are rather chilly, too. The forecast high is 73 degrees, and it's been since June 6 since we had an afternoon that cool.

Nice local weather site: Chris Mullis notes that it dropped to 50.4 degrees Monday morning in Mint Hill, the coldest at his weather station so far this season. It also reached 50 at my station in Matthews.

By the way, Mullis operates a nice website -- www.minthillweather.com -- with all the statistics and hourly reports, a webcam, forecasts, and more.  He's also on Facebook (facebook.com/minthillweather) with forecasts, current conditions and alerts; and on Twitter (twitter.com/minthillweather) with hourly conditions and alerts.

This cool-down won't last long. High temperatures will return to the 80s by Wednesday, and we could be in the upper 80s by Thursday or Friday.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

The official National Weather Service forecast calls for a low of 48. That is not mid 40's Mr. Hype.

Anonymous said...

I will trust my LOCAL weatherman over the National Weather Service...

TC said...

Anonymous at 1:24 PM.......You would trust Brad Panicovitch over the NWS? Brave..........

Anonymous said...

TC -
I wouldn't trust Panicovich to be accurate about this afternoon's weather.

Anonymous said...

Who is Brad Pantyvichs?

Oldilocks said...

"... and you have to go back six eight years to find readings that chilly so early in the season."

Is it six, eight, or sixty-eight years to go back?

Anonymous said...

Yep, it's officially yo-yo season. It's 48 one morning and 90 within 5 days. These are the days, moreso than long stretches of cold, hot or rainy days, that make my arthritic knees bark like a pit bull.

I love it when it cools down, as I get to exact my revenge on the people who talk trash to me when I moan about it being too hot. As I ventured out this morning in my short sleeves, I saw a bunch of people with long sleeves and jackets. The bus driver actually turned the heat on. Wimps!!!!!

TC said...

J, I went out in a tank top and shorts this morning......felt great!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 1:00 and TC = "jdshaw." You are not fooling anyone! You come on here EVERY d^%$ weather story and complain! Enough already!!!

Anonymous said...

Why all the bitterness over a light story on the weather? Lighten up folks!

ncdave77 said...

Worth noting the official low at Charlotte was 46 this morning. I do believe you could consider that "mid-40's", whiners.

Anonymous said...

If there is one thing that the Internet has successfully done, its that it has outed millions of angry, angry people. My God. Relax folks.