Thursday Morning Thoughts...

Well, December 21st is upon us....the official start to Winter today. Also, today features the least amount of daylight time of the year...the amount of daylight will progressively increase from here on out.

Also, another thing to note about December 21st.....it is only 4 days until Christmas! Wow....

I took a walk with the kids yesterday evening. As I have mentioned before, we have a 3 1/2 year old, a nearly 2 year old, and a 7 week old. Well, Grace (the almost 2 year old) and Jayden (3 1/2 year old) absolutely love Santa...even seeing pictures of him. One of our neighbors has a Santa decoration on their mailbox, and on our walk, Grace and Jayden spotted the Santa. Well, Grace just had to give Santa a hug. Then she had to give Santa a kiss. Then she had to touch his feet. Then we had to look at his eyes, nose, and mouth. I thought it was very sweet. But, on the other hand, if the neighbors happened to look out the window right then, they would have seen me lifting a toddler up and down so she could hug the decoration.....good stuff.

As for the weather, look for intervals of mainly light rain today and tonight. However, the rain will likely become heavy at times tomorrow afternoon and night. I am expecting about 1-3 inches of rain before all is said and done Saturday morning. I still don't expect widespread flash flooding problems due to the recent dry weather. However, swollen stream and river beds are a definite possibility, so if you live in a flood-prone area, pay attention to that possibility.

Interesting developments with our Christmas storm system. The GFS continues with its general idea of a wedge holding in our area and the low going up near the Carolina coast. However, the 0z European model has come in with a much deeper, farther west solution. If the GFS is correct, we are probably looking at 40s with rain here in the Piedmont for Christmas. If the Euro is correct, we could push the lower 60s with rain for Christmas. I am still going with the GFS idea of a chilly rain arriving for Christmas Day. However, I will admit I am a bit nervous seeing the European model data. A lot of times, the trend with these types of lows is a westward one with time. So, that Euro solution could wind up being correct, and we could wind up much milder Christmas than what I have going in the forecast right now. We shall see...

I should also mention the GFS indicates the possibility of some flurries or snow showers behind the main low for Tuesday. However, let's figure out where the system will track before we look any deeper at that!

Everyone, have a great day today. Thanks for stopping by....