Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Cold Plunge Continues

A new storm system is tracking through the Plains Wednesday, ushering in another cold Canadian airmass that will overtake the U.S. east of the Rockies through the end of this week.
This means much of the country that has already been in a deep freeze for about a week will still be abnormally cold at least until early next week. This is an unusually extended period for such cold weather in the Deep South and Florida, where yesterday's highs were only in the 50's in most places!
Record cold low and high temperatures have been set in Florida in recent days. Here are some of those reports:
Record Cold Highs Tuesday, January 5, 2010:
Orlando, FL 47 degrees
Melbourne, FL 50 degrees
Vero Beach, FL 52 degrees
Naples, FL 55 degrees.

New Record Lows Wednesday, January 6, 2010:
Tampa, FL 27 degrees
Melbourne, FL 27 degrees
Daytona Beach, FL 28 degrees
Vero Beach, FL 28 degrees
Orlando, FL 31 degrees
Fort Myers, FL 34 degrees
West Palm Beach, FL 34 degrees
Naples, FL 35 degrees
Miami, FL 40 degrees
In the Great Lakes region, nearly incessant Lake Effect Snow has produced high snow totals over the past week:
Upslope snow showers have also been continuous along the Appalachian Mountain chain the past week. The snowstorm now diving through the Plains today will add up to 9" of snow in the Midwest, on top of the plentiful snowcover currently in place.
Central Virginia still looks on track to get about an inch of snow Thursday night into Friday morning as a result of this approaching upper disturbance. Some locations may only get a dusting, while others may get more than an inch. Moisture still appears to be quite limited for our area while the system tracks through, but any snow that does fall will stick.