Very Cold Temperatures Coming

[Weatherfan2]

We are getting our first real arctic blast of the season this Thursday. Better put on your jacket because it is going to be very cold.

[Snowless in Carrollton]

Nothing really impressive IMO. It's not like it's record cold. 

[whamby]

average hum drum arctic front passage... 37/22 is not particularly cold this time of year in SE Tn.

[ncjoaquin]

2 hours ago, whamby said:

average hum drum arctic front passage... 37/22 is not particularly cold this time of year in SE Tn.

54 and 35 are today's  averages for Chattanooga.   15 to 17 degrees is particularly cold in the winter.

52 and 33 are today's   averages for Knoxville.        11 to 15 degrees is still particularly cold

Definitely not record breaking, but very cold relative to average,

 

[pcbjr]

and from northern FL where it is actually supposed to get cold ("relatively") this time of year and on into Feb 

[mackerel_sky]

Yeah, 45/26.......coldest day! Brutal

my bathtub is sloshed

[pcbjr]

2 minutes ago, mackerel_sky said:

my bathtub is sloshed

my southeast ridge is not

[Iceagewhereartthou]

14 minutes ago, mackerel_sky said:

Yeah, 45/26.......coldest day! Brutal

my bathtub is sloshed

 

Best stuff to our West and North - whodathunkit?

[whamby]

What a great thread... 

[Iceagewhereartthou]

8 minutes ago, whamby said:

What a great thread... 

 

Yeah, I think a lot of us are just ansy (spelling?). We've been slumbering through record heat and above normal for so long, we're either incredulous to a below normal, or we long for the good old days when an arctic front meant true cold. For some this will be legit, West of Apps and father North. Boone looking at mid 20s/ low teens, which is a bona fide front. But for many of us, it doesn't look too significant. Even in this part of the country, 40s/20s isn't a big deal for Dec.

[CAD_Wedge_NC]

1 hour ago, Iceagewhereartthou said:

 

Yeah, I think a lot of us are just ansy (spelling?). We've been slumbering through record heat and above normal for so long, we're either incredulous to a below normal, or we long for the good old days when an arctic front meant true cold. For some this will be legit, West of Apps and father North. Boone looking at mid 20s/ low teens, which is a bona fide front. But for many of us, it doesn't look too significant. Even in this part of the country, 40s/20s isn't a big deal for Dec.

Agree... this is just what I would expect in a normal winter-time cold front. Now, granted, it's not really winter yet and the averages right now are not like they would be in mid-winter. However, I have seen much colder weather this time of year. Give us this same set-up in mid-January and we would most likely be looking at sub-freezing highs.

[Isopycnic]

I sense a tepid attitude in this thread. 

[Snowless in Carrollton]

15 minutes ago, CAD_Wedge_NC said:

Agree... this is just what I would expect in a normal winter-time cold front. Now, granted, it's not really winter yet and the averages right now are not like they would be in mid-winter. However, I have seen much colder weather this time of year. Give us this same set-up in mid-January and we would most likely be looking at sub-freezing highs.

Average temps in most areas are only like 3 degrees warmer now than they are at their coldest in January, so it's not really that big of a difference. Average temps right now in ATL are about the same as they are on February 10th.

[CAD_Wedge_NC]

12 minutes ago, Snowless in Carrollton said:

Average temps in most areas are only like 3 degrees warmer now than they are at their coldest in January, so it's not really that big of a difference. Average temps right now in ATL are about the same as they are on February 10th.

Well, here we are 6 degrees from our lowest point of the year.

[buckeyefan1]

  

[No snow for you]

I have a question for CAD people. It almost looks like a reverse Cad on on models where it is much colder on the west side of the mountains and much warmer comparatively on the east side. Is that common? 

[southernskimmer]

Looks to be slightly unseasonable, which is very in season, but I'm only grasping at straws if they got sugar in em

[J.C.]

54 minutes ago, No snow for you said:

I have a question for CAD people. It almost looks like a reverse Cad on on models where it is much colder on the west side of the mountains and much warmer comparatively on the east side. Is that common? 

It is always colder in the west side of the mountains unless it's a CAD setup.  Draw a line from Atlanta to roughly Beckley, WV along the spine of the apps, the cold will sit there a full 24 hours before it is moderated and moves in.  Towns west of the apps average five degrees cooler west of that line along the same latitude as towns east of that line.  An example would be Raleigh and Nashville, Raleighs average high in January is 51, Nashvilles is 47.  Atlanta, much further south and west averages 52.

[whamby]

27 minutes ago, J.C. said:

It is always colder in the west side of the mountains unless it's a CAD setup.  Draw a line from Atlanta to roughly Beckley, WV along the spine of the apps, the cold will sit there a full 24 hours before it is moderated and moves in.  Towns west of the apps average five degrees cooler west of that line along the same latitude as towns east of that line.  An example would be Raleigh and Nashville, Raleighs average high in January is 51, Nashvilles is 47.  Atlanta, much further south and west averages 52.

Yeah, Chattanooga/Charlotte is another good comparison... 50 for CHA and 51 for Charlotte(from one source). I'd venture Charlotte gets more ice storms than Chattanooga too, but that's just a guess.

[Snowless in Carrollton]

35 minutes ago, whamby said:

Yeah, Chattanooga/Charlotte is another good comparison... 50 for CHA and 51 for Charlotte(from one source). I'd venture Charlotte gets more ice storms than Chattanooga too, but that's just a guess.

Does Chattanooga ever get icestorms from CAD events ?

[whamby]

6 minutes ago, Snowless in Carrollton said:

Does Chattanooga ever get icestorms from CAD events ?

Chattanooga, at least down in the valley areas where most of us live, just doesn't see ice storms of any consequence. Feb '96 was last of any note I can recall. But we have suburban higher elevations that do see ice storms more frequently. CHA at the river is just under 700' while Lookout Mt overlooking downtown is 2100 feet or so. It can be 35 and raining down here, and ice up there. Also, late Jan '14, there was a pretty good mixed precip storm with an arctic frontal passage. Same one that made ATL traffic a nightmare....

 

[J.C.]

1 hour ago, Snowless in Carrollton said:

Does Chattanooga ever get icestorms from CAD events ?

If Chattanooga gets ice it is typically from shallow artic air from the northwest that typically doesn't make it over the mountains because it is shallow in nature.  The CAD stops somewhere roughly between Cartersville and Dalton.  The mountains are to large north of there.  Atlanta sits at the bottom of an upside down make believe triangle.  They get unimpeeded CAD events from the northeast and free flowing cold from the northwest.

[whamby]

25 minutes ago, J.C. said:

If Chattanooga gets ice it is typically from shallow artic air from the northwest that typically doesn't make it over the mountains because it is shallow in nature.  The CAD stops somewhere roughly between Cartersville and Dalton.  The mountains are to large north of there.  Atlanta sits at the bottom of an upside down make believe triangle.  They get unimpeeded CAD events from the northeast and free flowing cold from the northwest.

mostly right, the Cumberland Plateau throws a few wrinkles into that equation though.. and sometimes CAD is strong enough from the NE, it actually does wrap around the Appalachian chain and work to our advantage.. mostly in the form of snow though. We sometimes get front end thumps of snow that change to rain.. I'm guessing that's CAD in action. Correct me if I'm wrong.