COLD WOES BE GONE
Written by: Bob Metcalfe
Our low temperature at the airport this morning was a staggering -4 degrees. Numbers from around the horn were all in the negative range, including -2 in Dansville, -1 in Buffalo, and -9 in Syracuse. Watertown takes the cake for coldest observation with -16.
While we are clearing out tonight, the airmass just isn't the same as last night. Also, a decent breeze of 10-20 mph out of the west will keep the lower atmosphere mixed, ensuring that the frigid mercury readings don't return.
But the worst of the cold has just begun for areas south. We've mentioned the incredible numbers. Right now, almost the entire northern half of Florida, as far down south as Daytona Beach is under a hard freeze watch. Temps will be in the teens for some spots.
But I did have an interesting conversation with my father this morning. He spends his winters in Florida, right in the middle of the orange growers. I asked him what the mood is like down there with the potential threat to crops. He said it wasn't that bad.
Apparently oranges continue to blossom all year round. They offer several crops throughout the year, not just one picking. So, if they lose a bunch now, they can have new ones up by the Spring. He also mentioned that the stockpiles there are pretty big right now. What they can be concerned with is it getting so cold that the actual TREE dies. Some spots could see that tonight, but at least the picture isn't as bleak as I previously thought. Just an interesting little tidbit.
Several of the models are now taking next weekends storm much further North and more West now instead of just taking it out to sea. The models are also showing a BIG pattern change after this storm passes. Do you see this Bob?
ReplyDeleteI do see that. I checked out the GFS ensembles, and although they are bringing it indeed a little further north, we're still way out of the bullseye as of now. This may be another big headache for the southern Apps/ I-95 corridor where we once again miss out. We'll watch it for sure :)
ReplyDeleteThe ensemble means look a little promising for our area, though.
ReplyDeleteYup, just not "bullseye". We would definitely get a fair amount of snow out of something like that. Notice the nice feeder high to our north... that's not a terrible thing either.
ReplyDeleteSo we had a below zero morning yesterday. When was the last beloiw zero reading? I don't see anything past Jan 28, 2005 whyen it hit -8. Was there one more recent?
ReplyDeleteThanks.
First of all thanks for the comment and you are correct the last time we dropped below zero was Jan. 28th 2005. In fact that time period feature 7 days out of 11 that had mornings dropping below zero with the coldest morning occuring on the 21st with a reading of -10.
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