Freeze Watch North Shore, Early Cold has Happened Before...

The local office of the NWS has issued a Freeze Watch for the North Shore & the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The water temps (60s) in Lake Pontchartrain will keep us folks south from getting that cold.  Still, this is about one month earlier than normal/average.  It won't be cold enough to run your water, but you'll need to protect your tropical plants north.  I grabbed these graphics from Nicondra Norwood's 4 PM program.

The reason for the early chill is tied to a deep dip in the upper winds over the Great Lakes that, if this happens in December or January, will certainly mean the potential for hard freezes down into the Gulf South. Notice all of the early October cold happened long ago before we entered into the warming cycle back in the 80s.

But while the eastern states shiver, the West is unusually warm with 70s up into southern Canada.

Yea that's a 90 in Los Angeles.  This pattern will slowly change during the week with the western warmth shifting eastward and bringing back 80s here for the weekend & next week.

But we have to get through 2 chilly nights before the real warm up arrives Thursday PM.

No rain is expected for the next 7 days.  If you're dressed for it, this is really good feeling air with dew points in the 20s.  Since it's still October, don't expect it to last very long.  It's a preview of what's to come.  Stay tuned!