Main Threats
Tonight/Saturday morning: Wintry precip may make some roads slick tonight and Saturday morning. Be careful if you’re out and about.
Summary
Meteorological winter began December 1st, but now astronomical winter will begin at 4:23 p.m. today. This is the day when the sun shines straight down on the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere. In other words, this is the day the direct rays of the sun are the farthest they will ever be from us here in Tennessee.
Look for rain showers to gradually transition to snow showers as we get later in the day. Light snow should continue into the evening and overnight, possibly resulting in accumulations of snow of up to 1/2 inch. Isolated amounts of up to an inch are not out of the question but that should be very isolated. Any travel issues should hold off until after dark.
Some sun should peak through tomorrow, before another weak disturbance brings us a chance for sprinkles/a shower on Sunday. We may see another round of sprinkles on Christmas.
All in all, this Christmas weekend forecast isn’t looking too bad at all!
Records
One of the worst cold outbreaks in Middle TN history began on this day in 1989. By many standards, this was the beginning of THE worst cold wave experienced in this part of the country (at least as far back as records go). The temperature on this morning was two below zero in Nashville and zero degrees here in Crossville.
You think that’s cold? Wait till you see what happened the next day around here….. but you have to wait until tomorrow’s blog…
This cold wave in 1989 not only affected those of us in Tennessee, it affected the whole country. Forty cities in the north central U.S. reported record low temperatures for this date. Havre and Jordan, Montana both reported low temperatures of 43 degrees below zero on the morning of December 21st, 1989, making them the coldest two locations in the whole country. What’s worse is that their temperatures didn’t rise when daylight came. In fact, their high temperatures for this day were about 40 degrees below zero. The cold air was still moving in and it was moving southward!
In Dickinson, North Dakota the morning low was 33 degrees below zero. You think that’s cold? Did I mention the winds were gusting, from the north, at speeds of up to 60-80 mph? Yeah, that created a wind chill factor of up to 86 degrees below zero.
I’m not sure I can ever complain about the cold we have around here again…….
Almanac
Sunrise: 6:47
Sunset: 4:30
Day Length: 9 hrs 43 mins 05 secs
Tomorrow’s Day Length: 9 hrs 43 mins 09 secs
Notice that the length of daylight for tomorrow is four seconds more than today’s! Hey, we’ll take what we can get, right?
One Year Ago Today
It didn’t feel much like winter a year ago today. The high temperature reached 54 degrees, after a morning low of only 45 degrees. That low temperature would have been more appropriate for a high than that 54! No precipitation fell, though skies were cloudy all day. Winds were light from the south and southwest throughout the day.
Christmas Forecast
The Christmas forecast is still looking pretty good! We just have some partly cloudy skies, mild temperatures, and the risk of a sprinkle or very light shower.
News
So, a couple of weeks ago we had our company Christmas breakfast and all the departments competed in a wreath making contest. The theme for weatherTAP was “20 years of white Christmases”, commemorating our 20th year. While we didn’t win first place (there was a LOT of good competition!) we did have fun with it. I was very grateful to all who helped with it. I think it turned out pretty darn good, don’t you? My mom fixed the greenery part of the wreath and did an outstanding job! Thanks, Mom!
After the contest, the wreath was given to Charlotte Carter, since she admired the wreath so much and she’s such an incredibly special person in all our lives.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Don’t forget that the blogs will continue right on through the holidays!