Headlines
Strong winds possible through the afternoon
Frosty tonight
A cool, dry week ahead
48-Hour WX
Seven-Day Forecast
Daily Forecast Summary
Today: Mainly morning showers, followed by partly cloudy skies by sunset. Turning cooler this afternoon. Windy. A wind advisory is in effect through the afternoon for wind gusts to 40 mph. Frost develops overnight, under clear skies.
Monday: Mostly sunny and cool.
Tuesday: Partly cloudy and windy, as another cold front passes through. A hard freeze develops overnight.
Wednesday – Saturday: Mostly sunny. Gradually warming each day.
Meteorologist Mark’s Severe Wx Concern
Threats
Wind gusts today could hit 30-40 mph. That could lead to some sporadic power outages. Be careful if you’re out and about. A wind advisory is in effect through the afternoon.
Severe thunderstorms are not expected for the next 7-10 days.
On This Day in Wx History
2005 – Severe thunderstorms produced over 30 tornadoes in six states, resulting in one fatality and at least 35 injuries. Some of the worst damage occurred in Henry county, Tennessee, where numerous homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed.
Almanac
Yesterday’s National Temperature Extremes
High: 94° at Falcon Lake, Texas
Low: 7° at Island Park, Idaho
Tropical Outlook
The map below shows the wind impacts for Hurricane Iota over the next few days. The storm is intensifying and is expected to make landfall as a very powerful hurricane Monday night. This is the same region dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Eta from a couple of weeks ago. It is not out of the question that Iota could become a cat 4 hurricane, possibly even cat 5. Let’s please keep these folks very, very close to our hearts.
Today’s National Wx Hazards
A very strong cold is charging east today, making its way through the eastern US. Severe storms are not expected with that frontal passage. Elsewhere, snowflakes are flying across New England and the Northwest, accumulating in higher elevations.
Tomorrow’s National Wx Hazards
A quiet day in the the wake of the big cold front off the East Coast. A few snowflakes are flying in the Northwest and the Northeast, but widespread hazardous weather is not expected.
8 – 14 Day Outlook (Nov 22-28)
Extended outlooks point to a warm and wet pattern for much of the country for this time period.
Temperature
Precipitation
Sunday Story
A Ring Around the Moon
The month of October ended with a Full Moon on Halloween, an occurrence that only comes around once every 19 years. The moon was also considered a Blue Moon, meaning it was the second Full Moon of the month. That happens on Halloween once every 76 years.
As if all that weren’t enough, the Halloween Blue Full Moon also had a ring around it that evening. In fact, it was one of the biggest and brightest rings many of us had ever seen.
A ring around the Moon is often a way for nature to tell us that changing weather is coming. In the case of Halloween, the ring was a warning that a strong cold front was coming the next day. That strong cold front brought the first killing freeze of the season to the Cumberland Plateau.
As a storm system approaches, moisture increases in the atmosphere from top to bottom. In other words, the highest levels of the atmosphere moisten up first. That moisture is in the form of ice crystals and the Moon’s light reflects off those crystals.
Because of the crystal’s structure, the Moon’s light reflects off the crystals in such a way that a 22-degree halo forms around the Moon. The halo always forms a perfect 22-degree arc.
Earlier in the evening of Halloween, several folks took pictures of sun dogs in the evening. Sun dogs are formed by the Sun’s light reflecting off ice crystals high in the sky, much like rings around the Moon. The result is two rainbow-looking spots in the sky exactly 22 degrees away from the Sun. They literally look like a piece of the end of a rainbow.
I always tell folks to always keep looking up. You just never know what wondrous sight you might see up there!
