Weather! Get ready for a bit of a shock

A strong cold front is headed our way, bringing with it lots of rain, the chance for some severe weather, and a strong cold snap.

November 16, 2011; 1:18 AM • by Weather Dan

I apologize now for the brevity of this update, but it’s already been a long week for me, and it’s only Tuesday.

Basically, the next 48 hours are going to be pretty big. A POTENT cold front has been swinging across the central and southeastern US, and is headed our way. It’s been responsible for tornadoes in several states, including New York (!), along with extensive wind damage along most of the front’s length.

Wednesday: The severe weather threat heads our way. The thick cloudcover we’ve already got in place will help counter this some; most of the severe threat will be to the southeast, where the Storm Prediction Center has outlined a slight risk for severe weather from Hampton Roads and southern Virginia into most of eastern North Carolina and points south. Any breaks in the clouds will allow some extra heating to help destabilize the atmosphere and may generate some thunderstorms. This system is carrying a lot of moisture with it as well and will continue to interact with the large amounts of moisture in place ahead of the front.

tl;dr: It’s gonna rain buckets. Don’t be surprised to see some thunderstorms, possibly with damaging wind gusts, especially if we see some sunshine.

Temperatures start out around 60 in the morning, before climbing back to 75 during the day. The front swings through during the day, dropping lots of rain and sending temperatures plummeting behind the front. Lows reach down to near 50 Thursday morning.

Thursday: Rain sticks around and makes the morning quite dreary. It will clear out by the afternoon, and temperatures will struggle to stay near 50 during the day. By the time the front clears in the afternoon, temperatures will do nothing but fall. Expect to be in the low 30s by Friday morning with clear skies. Expect strong winds to accompany the frontal passage, with sustained winds around 10 mph and gusts to 20 mph or higher.

Friday: Clear skies and abundant sunshine, with a strong breeze. High in the upper 40s, low in the low 30s.

We’ll warm up over the weekend, and make a run at the 60s again by Sunday and Monday. Partly to mostly sunny skies will stick around for the entire period.

It’s too early to say a whole lot, and it’s really even too soon to say this much, but if you’re looking for a Thanksgiving preview: lots of sun with highs leaning toward the upper 50s. At this point I’m feeling better about the sun than I am the temp; this is all subject to change, naturally.

November 16, 2011 1:18 AM 0