Winter Makes a Return
As predicted for the last few weeks, winter is making its presence known, beginning this weekend. A cold front associated with a low pressure system in Illinois passed through the Atlanta area this morning, dropping temperatures from 59 to 43 degrees in the three hours between 4 and 7 AM.
Detroit, home of this year’s Super Bowl, is also feeling the effects of this system. They have a winter storm warning out for tonight, with up to a foot of snow expected. That will be over with by game time tomorrow, however 20-25 mile winds and temperatures in the mid-teens will make travel to and from the game more difficult.
The Atlanta area could see some wintry weather by Monday morning as well. The area is under a weather advisory, although no winter storm warning has been issued yet. After a clear but cold day tomorrow, precipitation will begin to come into our area overnight, and early Monday morning. Cold upper air indicates the possibility of snow north of a Rome to Gainesville line, and a snow/rain mix as far south as I-20.
Because the timing of the storm is somewhat up in the air, the forecast is subject to change, but no matter what happens, we are definitely back in a winter pattern, compared to what we saw in January. The coldest of the weather will probably be in the next ten days, with conditions turning warmer and dryer as we approach President’s day.
In case you’re wondering where the cold weather has been during January, take a look at the map below:
The map was created by NASA, and shows the worldwide temperature difference from normal for the first 24 days of January. As you can see, North America remained warm, while much of Europe and Russia was extremely cold. You can blame the jet stream, which largely stayed to the north of the US, while dropping low in Europe. Read more about it (and download a much larger image) at the NASA Earth Observatory website.
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