"The Weather Outside is.......Delightful."

Let me say this....I am a lover of cold weather and snow. So, mild weather in December is not what I would ideally draw up if I were in charge of the weather maps. And I know there are a lot of fellow cold and snow lovers out there as well. But, putting my love for snow and cold aside.....boy, the weather sure is nice out there. And, we will continue seeing unusually mild weather right through the weekend and into Monday and Tuesday of next week. In fact, I think we will see some lower 70s as we get into early next week. Pretty amazing stuff for December.

But, fellow cold weather fans....take heart. Changes are coming.

The models are still all over the place with the timing of this, but I am quite confident that we will transition back to a colder weather pattern by the end of the work week next week, and that colder weather pattern will likely hold for much of the rest of the month.

Here are my thoughts on some specific ideas with this transition....

1. Cold front moves through around Wednesday...some showers associated with it.
2. Colder air takes hold by Thursday and Friday, and it remains chilly deeper into the week of Christmas.
3. A deep upper air low back in the Desert Southwest will provide us with many challenging forecasts from roughly the 23rd on.
   
4. The potential exists for some sort of wintry weather situation to materialize by the end of the month in the Southeast US....but I can't be more specific at this point.
   

And, if you are keeping score at home, the December forecast from my initial Winter Forecast issued back on November 18 for Charlotte and the surrounding areas was a monthly temp averaging 0.5 degrees above normal. In fact, here is a paragraph from that forecast discussin December...

"I feel the "core" of this winter will occur during the months of January and February, and probably some of March as well. December will probably feature some wide temperature swings, but I think the month as a whole will average near or slightly above average for temperatures. My forecast for CLT for December temps is +0.5 degrees."

This month has certainly seen some wild temp swings....from record cold earlier in the month to near-record warmth through the mid-month period. As the month is unfolding, CLT might wind up being a bit below average temp-wise for the month, but I certainly think the December ideas laid out in the forecast held merit.

If you are having some sleep-troubles and would like to read the whole discussion from back on Nov. 18, you can do so going to the address below...

http://mattheweast.blogspot.com/2006/11/winter-ideas-for-charlotte-and.html