Friday, January 8, 2010

Better Than Hurricanes !!!

OK, I'm sick of all this cold, but I was looking at the positive side...cold air = NO Hurricanes. In fact, when was the last time you had to evacuate because of cold air? Yea, maybe we get a bad ice storm & power goes out, but that is a once in a lifetime event here. In addition, we only have the cold weather for 2-3 months while the heart of hurricane season goes nearly 4 months. The more I think about it, I'm getting to like this cold...nah!

Satellite loops indicate clearing skies approaching from the NW. That should allow further cooling before daybreak. The next 2 nights will be equally as cold or colder as the center of the high pressure moves over us. A warm up begins during the day on Monday and should last all of next week. Next rain coming late Thursday into Friday when it could get stormy. Have a warm weekend !

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

BoB what would it take for the lake to freeze like in 1989? Are there ANY chance at all? I think I read when it froze it was below 30 F for 3 or 4 days Thanks!

Bob Breck said...

Back in 1989, the arctic outbreak was much stronger than this one. Slidell bottomed out at 5 degrees, MSY at 11 with Audubon Park 12...burrr! More importantly was the DURATION below freezing. 72 straight hours at MSY. Lake Pontchartrain did NOT freeze over in Dec. 1989. There was ice out to 1/2 mile from the shoreline on both sides of the Lake, but the rest of the Lake was open water. Currently, Lake water temps are in the low 40s so I don't see a repeat of 1989, although there could be some ice forming by Monday morning along the shorelines.

Weatherman said...

I've read that back in February of 1899, there were blocks of ice in the Mississippi river flowing all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico! Additionally, temperatures during that outbreak were 7 degrees here and below zero in northern parts of the state.

ONLYREAL said...

Looking ahead... We will have a gradual rebound in temperatures throughout next week. I am thinking there could be a possible Tornado Outbreak over the Central Gulf Coast next weekend. Definitely something to keep a close eye on.

-ONLYREAL

ONLYREAL said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

great news..tornados now? Geez hope not

Susan said...

I can't wait for Spring :)
This cold weather is for the birds ;)

ONLYREAL said...

Well guys I have some good news and bad news after examining the 00Z and 12Z guidance.

The Good News: The models have trended towards a more stable air-mass for next weekend when that strong system is progged to move through our area. This means the threat for a Tornado Outbreak is much lower.

The Bad News: The models have trended more towards a Heavy Rainfall/Flooding event for next weekend. We certainly need to keep an eye on this. This next system also appears to be the kicker to a pattern change. It looks like we will go back to that very wet El Nino pattern starting next weekend.

-ONLYREAL

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update, I'd rather have rain thanTornados!

I need to go buy me a pair of those white plastic boots so I can go take some more pics with the rain then :)

Bob Breck said...

ONLYREAL...as you get older in life & 1) get more education and 2) experience, you'll learn to temper your remarks so they become less alarmist and more comforting. I don't think I have EVER mentioned a tornado possibility 7 days in advance. Can't be done so why try? Better to have alerted that there might be the possibility for some severe weather towards the end of next week. To cry wolf too often will lessen the impact when the real threat arises. Just my thoughts.

Informant said...

Yeah, I'm crazy...but where was El Nino during the cold snap...he could have at least brought a few inches of snow....then a quick, safe thaw...lol