Drastic Cool Down Will Be Brief, Late Week Warm Up

Gosh, if you watch any of the local weathercasters, you'd think a hard freeze is coming.  My take is they use & abuse the emphasis on WINDCHILL instead of focusing on the actual temperatures.  Wind chills will NOT freeze pipes, yet that's all I'm seeing is wind chills could get into the teens & 20s.  So what?  What I really want to know is how low the ACTUAL temperature will be, so I can make a decision to run/drip my water if necessary.  Let's begin with the cool down.

Yeah, the 24-hour temperature change has brought back the heavy coats, but you can see the greatest changes are farther to our north.  That's because the upper low/energy is racing to the Northeast, where the core of this Arctic Blast will be greatest.

The Great Lakes snow machine will be in full effect, creating the usual travel problems that are supposed to happen at this time of the year.  Further to the south, impacts will be far less.

Lots of high clouds will make for hazy sunshine, resulting in, at best, Tuesday & Wednesday highs struggling to top 50 degrees.  But it's the actual low temperatures that matter.  Here's what Amber Wheeler showed us at 4 PM.

Despite all the hype on windchills, IF these forecast lows prove to be reality, maybe even the North Shore doesn't need to run the water.  Certainly, not tonight.  However, if I were still protecting my plants, I'd have moved them into my He-Shed and/or covered them, as tropical plants don't like anything below the upper 30s.  Check with the later forecasts on FOX 8 to determine IF you need to drip those faucets.

As you can see, the cold doesn't linger as we're back to 70+ by Friday.  One good thing about living at Copeland Tower is that you can still be a gardener.  Plus, you don't have the hassle of protecting your plants.  Here's what some of my friends are doing.

Doctors Karen & Jack have gone all out with some stunning colors outside their apartment.  My new companion Valerie, prefers to decorate her windows.

Despite a north facing Lake view, she gets plenty of natural light to bring out the stunning colors.  I'm just getting started.

Give me several months, and I'll have more color inside and outside my place.  The best decision I ever made was downsizing from a big house in my later life.  Stay tuned!

Quick Arctic Blast, Coldest Stays North & East, Late Week Warm Up.

I know many of you dislike it being 80 degrees in late December & January, but it's why I have chosen to spend the rest of my life in NOLA.  Yeah, we do get freezing cold, but usually it doesn't last for weeks & weeks.  So too for our next shot of cold coming tomorrow.  The upper energy driving the cold southward quickly exits to the Northeast meaning our cooldown will be brief and not too intense. The upper low is currently over the Dakotas.

The GFS model races that low across the Great Lakes and over the Northeast by  Monday & Tuesday.

This will result in the core of the cold staying to our north.

Make no mistake, this is a real Arctic Blast that will bring back the heavy coats for us.  Note the rapid drop in temps behind the front.

St. Louis is 71 while it's 38 in Kansas City and 20 in Denver at 11 AM CST.  Add in brisk northerly winds of 25-40 mph, and the cool down tomorrow here will feel drastic.

The coldest mornings will be Tuesday & Wednesday, and you should use today to protect your tender plants,  RIGHT NOW, I don't see a freeze coming to the South Shore.

The North Shore will need to take full precautions as lows will be in the mid 20s.  New Year's Eve will be dry but quite cold.  Winds should have decreased by then, so it won't feel so bad.  Enjoy today's warmth before Reality returns.  Stay tuned!