Warmer Than Normal Weather Could Continue Another Week
For the last three years, we’ve had a warm up from normal winter temperatures right around the new year. In 2005, daily highs were above 65 for the first 13 days of the year. For 2004, New Year’s Day saw 72 degrees, and high temperatures stayed above 65 until the 6th. 2003 also saw temps above 60 the first week of the year. This year, it will be a bit cooler, but still more reasonable than the cold weather we had during the first part of the month.
We are in the middle of what’s called a split-flow jet stream pattern. Instead of a single dominant jet running from west to east, one branch is staying roughly along the US-Canadian border, keeping the colder air well to the north. A second southern jet stream is moving through the middle of the country, bringing milder Pacific weather to the south. This type of pattern also tends to bring frequent, short storms to our area, similar to what we would normally see in March.. The end result is that we alternate between beautiful days like today and the clouds and rain (and even thundershowers and tornadoes) we saw on Wednesday.
Look for a chance of rain late tonight and early Saturday, and then again on Monday and Wednesday. (During this type of pattern, look at what the weather was in California two or three days ago). California this week has been soaked by rain, with up to 7 inches expected by the end of the weekend.
By the end of the first week in January, however, a more traditional winter pattern is expected to emerge, bringing cooler weather back to metro Atlanta, and snow back to the Midwest.
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