Another storm, another arctic blast: Sunday, Monday, and beyond...
So it's cold out. 11 degrees as I type this. Only getting up to 25 today, then heading down to the teens tonight.
And then Sunday looked provocative initially, but it now appears that most of the precipitation we'll get on Sunday will be rain. We will likely see some sleet and freezing rain in the morning, but by noon at the latest, temperatures rise above freezing and this will become a rain event. Temperatures reach, and then hold steady in, the upper 30s to 40 for the rest of the day and evening.
Precipitation will linger into Monday morning, but it will be light, and I believe all of it will fall in the form of rain. We will have a rapid drop in temperatures, but that will occur after the precipitation is over.
In honor of the extreme cold, I give you the movie poster for the 1994 made-for-television movie Avalanche, starring David Hasselhoff, who plays--spoiler alert!--the bad guy. You can tell from the movie poster that he's the bad guy, though, because he is unshaven, wearing black, and lit by a demonic reddish glow. And how it says on the poster, "DAVID HASSELHOFF GOES BAD."So Monday will start in the mid to upper 30s, fall down through the 20s through the afternoon, and reach the teens by 8pm. And then temperatures continue to fall, all the way down to zero during the Tuesday morning commute. It will also be hella windy during all this, so when the temperature is in the upper 20s, it will feel like the lower teens; when the temperature is in the mid teens, it will feel like zero; and when it is in the single digits, expect wind chills in the negative single digits or colder.
This rapid freeze-up will cause some of travel issues as standing water freezes, so watch out for black ice and just plain non-racist ice on the roadways.
If you had snot icicles last night, on Tuesday morning, you will attempt to break off one of these snotcicles™ and your entire nose will come off. I have seen it.
In fact, on Tuesday the high will be 9 (but it will feel like -6 because of the wind) and the low will be -2 (which will feel like -18 because of the wind, but when you're in the negative digits, it's just subtle hues of icy hell, at that point).
Seriously, be careful in weather this cold. Hypothermia can set in more quickly than you realize. Check on the elderly. Whatnot.
Wednesday will be milder with sunshine! The high will reach a robust 22, with the brilliant sunshine making it feel like a balmy 24.
Oh, predictions about delays and such. We will not see any precipitation-related school closings, but the extreme cold on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings may prompt some delays, water-main breaks, things like that.
Possibility of delay Monday, 15%
Possibility of cancellation Monday, 10%
Possibility of early dismissal Monday, 20%
Possibility of delay Tuesday, 30%
Possibility of cancellation Tuesday, 25%
Possibility of delay Wednesday, 30%
Possibility of cancellation Wednesday, 10%
Cloudy on Thursday and Friday as another system comes through. This one looks moisture-starved, though, so it should only bring us snow showers. But it still bears watching.
Saturday will bring some precipitation, but temperatures should reach into the upper 40s, so most of that will be rain. But we'll have to watch the front and back ends of that one for some ice.
And that's it! Smooth sailing all the way through to spring. No more snow.
Alright, I have lied. But here's what I can say: I don't see anything close to the arctic deathgrip that will be seizing us on Tuesday.
Good day!