Many of you have asked me about tonight’s weather. Special weather statements have been issued for parts of East TN for the possibility of light freezing rain toward Friday morning. That is due to cold air that may be trapped in the valley in the morning. That happens now and again down there. It’s a situation where they may worry about freezing rain, while we do not.
The plateau’s elevation actually helps us out on nights like tonight. We’re actually up in the warmer air. Normally, we’re up in the colder air but on night’s like tonight that’s a little bit flipped.
South winds are already blowing here on the plateau. In response, my thermometer has risen four degrees in the past two hours. I’m 42 degrees here in the north end of the county. Knoxville, meanwhile, is 41 degrees.
Winds tend to increase with height and on nights like tonight, we’ll have breezes on the plateau. Thankfully, those are warmer south breezes. Those same winds will blow over the valley of East TN, giving them very light to calm winds that let the cold night air settle into the valley.
The diagram below does a good job showing this. Stronger winds push up and onto the plateau from the southwest, while they just kinda blow over the top of the valley, or lightly settle into it.
For the most part, the valley should also be alright in the morning. If you have to travel east of Knoxville things could be a lot trickier. Crossville to Knoxville should be fine.
You all have a good evening! In tomorrow morning’s blog I’ll have an update on the Crossville Christmas parade weather, as well as an update on Monday’s severe storm potential.
Good night!
