It’s Chilly Out There

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Doppler and I went for a walk around a half hour ago. Who stole spring? It’s chilly out there! Aren’t we nearly to June?

The automated weather observer at Meriden/Markham Airport reports 49&#176 with a wind chill of 44&#176.

“I didn’t know we had wind chill in May,” Helaine noted.

Ain’t it the truth! Last May 24th Meriden hit 75&#176.

I’m not sure how chilly it will get, but in their tech discussion the Weather Service office covering Meriden writes:

COLD AIR ADVECTION WILL CONTINUE BEHIND THE FRONT. THE BOUNDARY LAYER WINDS INCREASE AND KEEP MORE MIXING CONDITIONS IN PLACE. A SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN MAV/MET BLEND WAS USED FOR LOWS WHICH WILL BE IN THE UPPER 40S.

So, even though they’re forecasting lower temperatures than the computer guidance (MAV/MET), the forecast might not be cold enough! And then there’s the rain, which has been with us on-and-off for the past few days.

A low pressure system just east of Boston is the culprit. It will weaken and temperatures will become more springlike for the weekend. Not tonight.

Doppler and I both say, “No mas!”

The Deception That Is Winter

Snow is beautiful to see (though because of its high albedo and limited tone range difficult to photograph). It’s just a pain-in-the-ass to deal with!

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It’s been snowing again. This makes three over the last week and a half. The winter’s hardly begun.

Snow is beautiful to see (though because of its high albedo and limited tone range difficult to photograph). It’s just a pain-in-the-ass to deal with!

The tendency is to stay inside. I could drive away right now and probably handle it without problem, but I can’t trust the other drivers. They’re probably saying the same thing about me.

Tonight it gets exceptionally cold–both thermometer and wind chill. The Weather Service has switched to “mom mode.”

“WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 35 MPH LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT. WIND GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH ARE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING. THIS WILL CAUSE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF THE SNOW AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. IN ADDITION…VERY COLD TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH THESE WINDS WILL RESULT IN WIND CHILL VALUES IN THE SINGLE DIGITS THIS AFTERNOON AND DOWN TO 10 TO 15 BELOW ZERO TONIGHT. LOCATIONS IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS AS WELL AS ISOLATED OTHER LOCATIONS WILL EXPERIENCE WIND CHILLS RANGING FROM 15 TO 20 BELOW ZERO. YOU SHOULD WEAR LAYERED CLOTHING AS WELL AS SCARVES…HATS AND MITTENS IF HEADING OUTSIDE. A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN THE WIND CHILL INDEX IS LIKELY TO REACH -15 TO -24 DEGREES FOR AT LEAST 3 HOURS. FROSTBITE CAN DEVELOP IN JUST 30 MINUTES WITH A WIND CHILL INDEX OF -20. IF YOU ARE HEADING OUTDOORS…DRESS IN LAYERS AND WEAR A HAT AND GLOVES.”

Who exactly will be in Times Square tonight? What kind of person will brave this weather in order to stand, penned up like cattle, as a backdrop for what is now at least a half dozen broadcasts.

On a day like today it seems like winter is eight months long. It’s depressing. The summer is so much easier to deal with.