Remember that Yellow Thing?
It seems like forever since we’ve had a really nice day. Despite the fact a week ago yesterday, I was able to sit outside at a coffee shop downtown, enjoying a high of 68, things went downhill quickly, and I think just about everyone is willing to forget this first week of February.
The bad weather here this week is in sharp contrast to what has been happening in the rest of the country. What we’ve seen is what weather folks call a ’split flow’ pattern, where the northern jetstream doesn’t go much below the Canadian border, and the southern jetstream comes north and bothers the Southeast.
This has led to temperatures forecasts for today of 62 degrees in Billings, Montana and 64 degrees in Rapid City, South Dakota. These are places where normal highs for early February are about 25 degrees.
The weather pattern is about to change, though, and Atlanta is headed for a warm-up, at least for a few days. Over the weekend, we should see 60 and very nice weather, with a moderate possibility of rain all next week, although still warm, with daytime highs in the upper 50s to low 60s, and nighttime lows in the 40s.
This is happening as a cold air mass prepares to move down from Canada and into these same areas that are enjoying warm temperatures today. By Tuesday in Rapid City, the forecast high is 20, with a low around 8.
We start to feel the effects of this next Friday and Saturday, which will be the first time temps drop back below the freezing mark. Overall, the National Weather Service forecast calls for above normal temps through the middle of next week, normal temperatures from the 9th through the 13th, and below normal temps until the 17th.
If there’s any consolation to all of this, it’s that less than normal precipitation is predicted for the next two weeks.
Weather Forecasting 101
Wind direction can tell us a lot about what is going to happen with the weather in the short term. To the right is today’s wind direction plot, which shows a transition from mostly easterly winds before noon, to mostly westerly winds after noon. The change in wind direction meant the end of the clouds and rain was coming, and indeed, by late afternoon, the sun was shining.
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