Monday, April 15, 2013

Frosty, chilly weather might not be done with us

I've written a couple times that some fairly cold weather won't be too far away from the Carolinas during the month of April, and it will be possible for the chilly conditions to make a brief return to our region.

That's exactly what will take place, according to the computer models, and I might have been optimistic about the "brief" part of the cold weather's return.

There are indications that a full week of below-average temperatures could be headed to the Charlotte region, starting this weekend. There certainly will be a frost threat for higher elevations, and it's not beyond the realm of possibility that locations fairly close to Charlotte might have to deal with frost on a night or two.

Last Thursday afternoon, I was talking with a relative in northeastern Ohio, who told me it was 38 degrees. At the time, my car thermometers was registering 82 in Charlotte.

From late February into early April, weather across most of the East was dominated by a Greenland block (high pressure) that shunted cold air from Canada and Alaska downward into the United States.  That condition has relented but not disappeared.  The cold air has been contained to our north.

But a strong cold front later this week could open the floodgates for the chilly air to surge south again.

While the National Weather Service is predicting morning lows next Sunday and Monday in the lower and mid 40s for Charlotte, some of the computer models are predicting mid and upper 30s. The 30s are certainly likely for morning lows in areas above 2,500 or 3,000 feet.  By the way, afternoon highs over the weekend will probably be in the range of 63, 63 or 64 degrees in the Charlotte area -- despite full sunshine Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

But a number of the computer models show additional surges of chilly air into the Southeast next week, with another particularly cold period around April 25-27.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

good Lord, here we go again- From your post on April 3rd- "The weekend will mark a change to much more enjoyable conditions, and it's possible the nicer weather could continue largely unabated into summer." also-
"NOAA's 6-10 day outlook for the Charlotte region calls for above-average temperatures. So does the 8-14 day outlook ... and the one-month forecast ... and the three-month forecast."

12 days later- surges of chilly air, another cold spell....MAKE UP OUR MINDS!!!! Is it going to stay warm or is it going to get cold?

How do you post something saying warm weather unabated, then turn around and say now it's going to get cold again? You contradict yourself constantly.

How about weathermen just stop posting anything beyond a 3 or 4 day forecast...BECAUSE YOU GUYS SUCK AT IT AND NEVER GET IT RIGHT!

Anonymous said...

Steve - Please stop posting these idiotic future predictions. You are usually wrong.

Anonymous said...

Hey, chill out guys! Maybe the cool pattern will continue through Aug. and we could celebrate a "year without summer".

Only dreaming.

Anonymous said...

"Winter is dead. Stick a fork in it."

Apparently, it has resurrected three times since that stupid declaration. But...this is good news! Bring on the cool air! It saves from having to use the AC so soon.

Anonymous said...

Man, whatever keeps my utility bills down! If it's in the 65-75 range during the day, and 45-50 at night I won't use heat or AC!! Now I shall think of what to do with all the money I WON'T be sending to Duke Energy :)

Anonymous said...

Unless you're at the beach do you really need any more than 60-65 degrees!?! That's more than warm enough. Mr. "It's Never Too Warm For Me" Panovich predictably started complaining about the humidity and heat as SOON as it hit 80 degrees, that magic temperature he's been crying about up until it hit.

A year without a summer. Yeah, I'm good with that! Well said.

Anonymous said...

Anon April 15, 2013 at 4:04 PM

You can use all that money you save to pay the taxes that Duke doesn't...