Sunday Morning Coldest, Full Precautions Needed, Warm up Next Week

As my podcast described in detail yesterday, our lows this morning barely dipped to below freezing on the South Shore, and the duration was brief (2-3 hours). My subscribers were in the know and easily saved the $2/month charge for viewing my podcast by not running their water.  No need to wait until hurricanes come. Sign up at bobbreck.com, as Winter is far from over.  Our "Pipe Rule" served us well, and there was no need to drip/run your water south of Lake P.  North Shore was a different story as lows were in the mid 20s.  Tonight will be colder, and BOTH sides of the Lake will need to drip the inside faucets, but NOT until after dark. Let's go over the details and review.

Our local NWS office is predicting 26 at MSY on Sunday & 34 for Monday morning.  My suggestion is for those of you north & west of Lake Pontchartrain is start dripping water after dark/6-7 pm.   For us, south of the Lake, start dripping before you go to bed (10-11 PM).  My thinking is the center of the Arctic high will not be over us so the winds are likely to stay up, producing some lake effect on the South Shore.  My gut is saying 27-31 at MSY.  That's too close for comfort, so I will start dripping before I go to sleep. The wind direction will shift from the NNW to NNE overnight.

Computer models have again nailed this Arctic Blast as the upper low is moving over Georgia/SC.

The source region of cold air in Canada is not nearly as cold as several weeks ago, yet the Polar Vortex is driving the chill through the Gulf into the Yucatan & Cuba.  My friend Tom in Tampa reminds me it's Gasparilla parade weekend.  Burrr! for parade watchers.

Miami might get into the 30s for Sunday AM!  Our warm up begins tomorrow afternoon, but it will be a slow process.

With such low dewpoints (teens), the temperature will drop like a rock as the sunsets.  So tonight is the night that all of us must drip the water.  Don't start dripping until temps reach the upper 20s, so as not to cripple the firefighters with low water pressure.

Again, these morning lows for the next 2 days appear to be worst-case scenarios.  IF the winds diminish but stay 5-10+ mph, lows might not get that cold.  Still, let's take precautions so we don't have any pipes bursting.

My next podcast, Monday or Tuesday, will be about John Snell, long-time main senior anchor at Ch. 8. You'll learn about John's start into broadcasting, his current passions (his wife & photography), and some of his past anchors, including Margaret Dubuisson & the late Nancy Parker.  To see & hear John, go to bobbreck.com & become a subscriber. Stay tuned & Stay warm!

Freeze Is Coming, Canada Not That Cold, Rapid Warm Up Next Week

 I'm posting this early so I can prepare my podcast available to subscribers ($2/month) at bobbreck.com. Much like I did during my on-air days, I begin telling you what we know followed by what we don't know.  That storytelling fits whether we're talking about Hurricanes or Freezes.  All channels are reading from the same songbook, and that's OK.  Nobody is explaining what might happen that would change this weekend's hard freezes.  But I will in my podcast coming out around 5 PM.  So what do we know?  The Polar Vortex is diving down into the Southeast as predicted for days bringing another Arctic airmass into the lower 48. The center of the PV is over eastern Iowa.

As Amber Wheeler showed us on FOX 8 this morning, the core of the cold will be to our north & east this weekend. We know from past experiences, a coastal low is likely to form on Saturday. These next two graphics I grabbed off The Weather Channel that will drive the cold air down into Cuba!

Nicondra Norwood on FOX 8 at noon showed these forecast lows for Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Saturday's numbers look reasonable, but 21 at MSY on Sunday?  IF we had a snow cover, 21 could happen.  But without snow makes me think 26 is more likely.  Clearly, most of us will have to run our water based on these predicted temps.

However, when do you need to do that and for how long?  that's what my podcast at 5 PM will detail based on the long standing "Pipe Rule" that has served us well for decades.

So we do know a freeze is coming for the next three nights.  On my podcast, I'll explain why my thoughts are not as pessimistic as all the local channels & NWS are predicting.  It's the degree of the freeze that's important.  Hey Gang, it could be worse.  Look at these photos from my good friend Many in Monroe. Try going down that drive way!

Tree damage is horrific and Mandy remains without power 6 days after the ice storm.  Pray that she gets power back today before the new cold arrives.  Stay tuned!