Friday, December 30, 2011

Weather Blog: Thoughts Heading into 2012

I went running before work today through the Museum District and The Fan, and was reminded of how great a variety of weather we get each year in Richmond. It's the next to last day in December, and the high was nearly 60 degrees with lots of sunshine. Four days from now, we'll be lucky to hit 35, and the wind chill will stay below freezing. I came to the River City in 2007, and was told by several of my colleagues in Plains that the experience of being a chief meteorologist would be good, but that I would soon become bored with the weather. They were half right. I witnessed some wild weather in my 8 years of working in Tornado Alley, the stuff that gives you nightmares, and while we don't see the extremes here in The Commonwealth, we see a greater sampling of weather types than most areas in the country. In 2011, we had a couple of minor snows, several tornado outbreaks, a hurricane, an earthquake, and a good mix of hot and cold days. Then you throw in days like today, and I have nothing to complain about. I'm married with three small children now, and the quiet days are as exciting for me now as the big weather events. I feel fortunate to be here.
A few notes on the weather over the next week: the disturbance tonight will bring little more than a few showers to the area, and no wintry weather. The cold blast is still on schedule to arrive Monday and stay in place through late Wednesday. There continues to be a signal for a disturbance to move through the area on Thursday, possibly bringing the area a few flurries or snow showers, but nothing to write home about. The storm track will become more meridional "north/south" over the next two weeks, which should result in more temperature swings and perhaps a storm system in there as well. Nothing points to any key storm at this time, but as time goes on, a storm will eventually show itself. Have a fun and safe holiday weekend, and make a resolution this year to better your life and those around you. I'm going to refrain from blogging over the weekend, but I'll be back at it on Monday. In the meantime, I'll post quick updates on my FACEBOOK and TWITTER pages. Hope to see you there. -Zach

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