After our "fun" snow days, we all got annoyed at how long it took government to clear the roads and allow us to get our lives back. After a warm start to January, we've endured a very cold stretch of three weeks with only 2 days above normal. The rest were much below, but there is a weather phenomenon called the January Thaw and it is very real. Here's FOX 8's newly wed Hannah Gard showing the last 15 days. It's been a really cold week.
The above-freezing line has surged past Chicago up to Milwaukee and one look at the upper air pattern and you can see why the warming.
Gone is the dip over the Great Lakes (Polar Vortex) replaced with a mainly milder west to east flow of Pacific Air. I've had several people ask me..."I've heard we're in for another snowstorm the first week in February". Gosh, I have no clue how these rumors begin. Where did you see this? I've looked and can't find anything that indicates we're in for another Arctic blast during the next 10-14 days. Here's the GFS upper air for NEXT Saturday followed by 2 weeks from today.
The bottom graphic does have a disturbance coming out of the SW, but without an eastern dip, we will have no Arctic air diving into the South. The super cold has retreated back over northeast Canada and I don't see any freezes coming back for us during the next 2 weeks. So it's time to survey what died and what survived.
I've moved most of my plants out of my shed leaving behind only the more tender tropical ones. The usual Ginger plants wilted, but they'll bounce right back during the warmer months. My Bougainvillea plants seemed to pull through with the ones in the front yard still having their blossoms.
One plant that seems to have thrived in my garage is my "top hat begonia".
I think the Coleus is alive, and all in all, I'm pleased with how most plants made it. I was not so lucky with my house where I had a water drip in the ceiling.
We filled up 5 large garbage bags with wet insulation. A lesson we learned from Katrina's flooding is you MUST remove wet insulation as your insurance will NOT cover any mold damage. Since the ceiling is 20 feet, this is a job for professionals as this old man doesn't climb tall ladders. Kids love snow. Property owners, not so much! Our weather will stay rather mild into next month. Any fronts will have a difficult time reaching us as the upper flow goes back to the SW.
As the surface high drifts to the east, our winds will return off the Gulf. I always find it interesting to see how the flow shows up on satellite views.
We were in sunshine today, but clouds are all around us. In addition, the Gulf muggies will make the air feel different tomorrow and into next week. Look at the dew points over Texas.
Right now we have a nearly 20 degree spread between temperature & dew point. As they come closer heading into next week, we'll increase the daily fog potential.
As you can see, we are out of the nightly freezes so there is zero need to run any water. Finally, remember my table in the backyard where I measured my snow total? The table is back!
My 4" cup is back, but most of the snow has melted. Some lingers in the yard where I cleared out an area for Bailey's Pee Pen. It'll all be gone tomorrow as we top 60. So nice to get back out to dinner at Mr. Ed's last night. No more snow Gang. The little fella has had his fill! Stay tuned!
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