Weather Headlines
–Any wintry mix on the plateau will be all rain by late morning
–More rain is expected for Friday
–Sunday is looking pretty good at this point
–The next rain-maker arrives Monday night/Tuesday
Main threats
No significant threats in sight.
Summary
We have some light precip falling across parts of the plateau this morning. Don’t be surprised to see some snow flakes mixed in with that. Temps should warm to the mid 30s by late morning, changing any mix to all rain showers.
The next rain-maker will arrive Friday. That should lead to a soggy end of our week. Any precip that remains for Saturday will be light and should be in the liquid form.
Then, it looks like we may be in store for a nice Sunday! Let’s hope that forecast holds true.
Clouds will be on the increase once again for our Monday, with rain developing by evening (if not sooner).
Next week is looking mild but wet.
Almanac
Baldwin’s 7-Day forecast
Records
The greatest one-day snowfall to ever fall on the city of Nashville fell on this day in 1905. The city recorded 8.5 inches of snow that day.
Strong winds through mountain passes led to unbelievable wind chill factors across parts of Alaska on this day in 1989. In Cantwell, Alaska the wind chill factor dropped to 120 degrees below zero at one point! I’ve included a map below for reference to Cantwell’s location (red marker). This way you can be sure you don’t end up there in the winter. (haha)
Wednesday Word of the Day
Bombogenesis
A popular and generic term for the rapid strengthening of an area of low pressure. NOAA classifies a storm as having undergone bombogenesis when the barometric pressure has dropped 24 millibars within 24 hours. This leads to another popular and generic word, “bombcyclone.”
This happens quite often with East Coast storms (ie. Nor’easters). When cold, arctic air comes into contact with the warm Gulf Stream Current, rapid intensification can take place with any storm in the vicinity of that collision.
NASA Knowledge
Astronomers using data primarily from the Chandra X-ray Observatory are getting a better understanding of the coming collision of four galaxy clusters. Eventually, the four clusters will merge and become the most massive object in the universe!
Galaxy clusters are the largest structures we observe in space and are held together by gravity. This latest discover, made in 2004, shows four cluster about three billion light years from Earth.
In the image below, the top pair (in blue) have already passed close to each other once and are well on their way to colliding. That first pass was about 300 million years ago. The bottom pair will be passing by each other for the first time soon.