Cloud Cover Will Save Us from A Freeze Tonight...

After a very warm spell late February into early March, many of you thought we were done with cold weather.  Not so fast weather breath as an Arctic air mass has invaded the Great Lakes & northern Plains pushing well down into the central Gulf.  In fact, computer guidance is predicting lows in the 20s for much of the North Shore for Monday morning..  My gut says that shouldn't happen as clouds keep streaming in from the southwest.

Even though NWS has issued Freeze Warnings for areas in southern Mississippi, I don't see how that can happen with the extensive cloud cover.  Tomorrow night could be a different story IF the clouds break up.  For tonight, I have not taken any of my plants into my He-Shed.

This is a really cold air blast for so late in March, but it has happened before.  If you trust the computer models, the core of the cold should remain to our north and east.  here's why.

The "Polar Vortex" in the top photo this morning is not diving down into the SE.  The middle picture is valid for Sunday morning with the vortex lifting back into Canada and a flat zonal flow developing for Monday morning (bottom pic).  That should keep the coldest air more towards MS/AL/FL.

A secondary surge of cold air (top graphic) is approaching from the north and that will increase winds later tonight.  We are already very dry(dew points in the 20s) so when the center of the high gets closer by Monday morning, IF skies clear & winds go light, we may have to taken freeze precautions tomorrow night.  Again, I don't think we'll get as cold as computer models are predicting.

All you cold air geeks enjoy, because the warm up arrives by Tuesday and lasts the rest of next week.  the Spring Equinox arrives Monday at  4:24 PM.  Finally, look at these photos.

My friend Joe D'Aleo posted on WeatherBell these drone photos from Lake Oroville in California.  The top pic is from December 21st (before the rains started) with the middle from Jan, 12th and the bottom pic from March 8th.  Is the lake full?  Nope, but it has gone from 29% capacity to 63% in 3 months.  And guess what?

 In case you missed it, the weather researchers say the 3 year La Nina has finally ended.  Typically, California is dry during La Nina and wet during an El Nino.  So much for typical!  It's been a great rainy season for all of the western states.  Stay tuned!