Windy Start To 2010

After our next storm system moves through New Year's Eve and Day, the low will park itself over coastal New England for the first few days of 2010 with a tight pressure gradient from New England to the Mid-Atlantic.

This will mean a couple blustery days on January 2nd and 3rd, with afternoon wind chills in the low-20's and teens as air temperatures rise only into the mid-30's. Colder air will be advected from Canada across the Great Lakes, over the mountains into Virginia. It looks like our below-average temperatures that started Monday will last through much of next week as well!

Record Wet December

After the holiday rain, our December 2009 precipitation tally rose to the top spot, becoming the wettest December on record at Richmond International Airport. This is on the heels of our wettest November in the books, thus making this the wettest end to a year ever for Richmond. We may add to this total on New Year's Eve as an approaching storm system currently moving into the Southern Plains brings rain into Central Virginia Thursday. The first day of 2010 might be a white one, with snow showers possible on the backside of the exiting low. However, because that system will be moving quickly to the northeast away from us, snow accumulations, if any, are expected to be minor in the area.
Here is a movie of the anticipated precipitation associated with this storm system: