Here's Your Mid-Atlantic WX.com WeatherCenter Update for 12/23/05 Hello and Thank You for Subscribing to the Mid-Atlantic WX.com Updates! This Mail Provides Commentary For Weather enthusiasts From Midatlanticwx.com. Brief Warm-up Precedes Cold Air Return and Two Storm Events Before New Year's Day. Mid-Atlantic Rain for Christmas Eve and Day...Snow Along Mountains. New Year's Weekend Storm May Bring More Rain to Mid-Atlantic, But Ice and Snow to the Northeast. And...the Moving Van is Arriving Soon (details in Partly Personal). _____________________________________________________________________________ Summary: Whacky winter weather highlight: Portland, Maine was warmer than Atlanta, Georgia this morning. Mid-Atlantic States remain high and dry with temperatures reaching and exceeding normal for the first time this month! An approaching storm will make it a wet...not white...Christmas for the region and I-95 corridor cities. Colder temps return Christmas, with light precipitation possible Wednesday- Thursday. Another storm may impact the East next weekend...however...accumulating snow or arctic temps are not anticipated next week. _____________________________________________________________________________ Discussion: (Friday, 1:45PM) Snow lovers can't be happy with this: warmest temperatures of the month arrive right before Santa's Ride. The dome of arctic air centered over eastern Canada has finally given way to a more "zonal flow" from the western US. Let's add a garden variety area of Low Pressure over the Upper Mississippi Valley and we have a little bit of winter weather to talk about. Click HERE for the forecast map at Mid-Atlantic WX.com. Some snow will accumulate over the Lower Lakes and interior Northeast as the storm tracks over the region. High Pressure over the eastern US will slide east, but temperatures south of the Potomac River will remain too warm for white stuff. Looks like rain will advance with a Cold Front later on Christmas Eve...so expect precipitation to progress eastward over the Mid-Atlantic late Saturday into Christmas morning. Think this Low will end up off New Jersey on Sunday afternoon before heading up toward New England on Monday. This system will pull a Cold Front behind it with chilly temps returning all the way down to the Gulf Coast and Florida Panhandle. These colder temps will enable some of the precipitation to fall as snow along the mountains of VA and WV (principally a western upslope event). Wayward flurries aren't ruled out along the Blue Ridge but not enough to accumulate. Better opportunity for snow from Ohio to the Green and White Mountains of interior New England, but only a 1-3 inch event, even there. Winds will pick up and shift to the northwest, becoming quite strong over the Blue Ridge and Alleghany foothills. Next storm should come into play later on Tuesday and I am not overly confident on my ideas! There's a decent chance this system could be a fair Lake Effect Snow (LES) producer on Wednesday. Computer guidance is of remarkably no help with this system so it's best to keep an eye on your local forecast later next week. Some light precipitation looks to reach the Mid-Atlantic...probably as light rain on Wednesday into early Thursday. I am not enthused by any forecast at this time and an early week Update will address the possible outcomes. New Year's weekend could bring a new threat to the eastern and central United States but that's simple speculation at this time and something to tackle next week. _____________________________________________________________________________ Partly Personal: Various end of year housekeeping items: Web Site move: Mid-Atlantic WX.com will soon move to a new server. No interruption in service is anticipated although local weather data could slow during the transition process. It may be necessary to send you a "test" email once the move is complete, we'll keep you posted as be settle into our new home. I'm also changing and adding some links on the home page so it will sport a new look for the New Year. We expect to install our very own 'blog' that will serve much like our old Discussion Board (it blew up last summer). Plans are in the works for Mid-Atlantic WX.com to provide RSS news feeds! This new technology enables us to send breaking weather news or notifications of new Updates directly to your web browser or email reader. Bread Pudding Recipe: In response to a couple requests to again share this delicacy, here is the link: http://www.midatlanticwx.com/text/bread_pudding.txt Time marches on: December 23rd is my 50th birthday. I recently started wearing glasses, have been treated for high blood pressure (that I still blame on Katrina), quit smoking cigars and am on a lowered cholesterol diet! But...I'm dealing well with this age stuff because many guys half my age can't keep up with me! I still have a full supply of vim and vigor (although my wife tells me it's mostly vinegar). ...And to all a Good Night! This will be the final edition before Christmas so permit me to say thank you for receiving the Updates. When I count my blessings, the 700+ Update subscribers are high on that list. The gravity of forecasting some tornado episodes and our amazing hurricane season made this a very long year. Despite forecasting a New Orleans landfall before the National Hurricane Center did, Katrina still haunts me. New friendships were made through the web site and the Updates, while not knowing what happened to a few old friends still missing or displaced in Katrina's and Rita's aftermath. Weather forecasting is science and art; feelings aren't supposed to be part of the process. But, it has been a year of very stark and mixed emotions. Whatever your beliefs this season, please have a kind thought for those who will live the rest of their lives in a "post-Katrina" world. It is said a picture is worth a thousand words; the link below is to perhaps my favorite holiday picture this year. Nothing fancy, just a couple of kids making the best of Christmas at their FEMA trailer in Jefferson, LA. Their home and everything owned by their family was taken by Katrina. Despite all that has happened, I look at their smiles and really believe "it's a wonderful life". Click here: http://www.wwltv.com/sharedcontent/features/holidaylights/images/large_734.jpg No one wants a repeat of 2005's historic weather, but I look forward to sharing with you whatever weather is to come in the New Year. Thank you again and Happy Holidays! That's the way it looks from here. _____________________________________________________________________________ Updates Information Subscribe to the Updates here: updates_request@midatlanticwx.com (only if you are not subscribed)