2012 Getting off to a Good Start

Happy New Year!

As mentioned in yesterday's discussion, 2011 was certainly one for the record books, and I provided a number of links which you can browse to your heart's content to see just how crazy of a year it was. In fact, it even ended a little wilder than expected as NW winds of 40-60 mph behind last night's cold front created some power issues for portions of the state.

Fortunately, those winds have subsided this morning but a NW wind of 10-20 mph is still expected for today. Although we will top out in the lower 50s this afternoon, those winds will make it feel much cooler; particularly in contrast to the 70 degree temperatures of yesterday. To put things in perspective, normal daytime highs at this time of year is the mid-upper 40s. Lots of sunshine is also expected for today and for the rest of the week.

Monday still looks to be the coolest day of the coming week with morning lows in the 20s and daytime highs in the 40s; in other words near normal temperatures. Tuesday morning looks to be the coldest morning with lows in the low-mid 20s, but a return to southerly winds should push our daytime highs back into the 50s.

A weak system may move through on Wed with a more W or NW wind component, but temperatures will still be quite mild for this time of year. S to SW winds for Thu and Fri will result in much above normal temperatures as our daytime highs are expected to be back into the 60s by then.

A cold front on Saturday will return northerly winds and cooler conditions which will persist through the coming weekend. This is just a return to near normal temperatures though as the really cold air is still bottled up well to the north. However, as has been mentioned several times in these discussions, we continue to see hints of arctic air building in the north country which will eventually make a push into the lower 48. The timing, intensity, and any associated precipitation is still very much up in the air, but the time frame around the middle of the month could get a lot more interesting around here.

In the meantime, stay tuned and check back for updates….and Happy New Year!

Dick Faurot