World and Nation

Shiver Me Timbers

Shiver Me Timbers

After a seemingly benign start to the winter, the snow started flying just before Christmas and has really piled up around these parts. The shivering and shoveling will continue as another storm arrives on our doorstep tomorrow afternoon. Albeit, this storm will minor compared to its predecessors as it will move through fast and contribute at most a couple more inches to the snowpack.

However, our preexisting, deep snowpack will allow the coldest air yet this snowy winter to come down unabated from polar regions. The high reflectivity of the snow and large latent energy required to either melt or sublimate ice robs much of the sun’s energy that would go in to heating the air resulting in an air mass locked in the deep freeze. Unfortunately, it will be ours Friday morning. With the added wind, wind chill readings will be dangerously low so you will want to dress in extra layers and cover up any skin to prevent frost bite if you have to venture outside for any length of time early Friday. The good news is that the bitter cold is out as fast as it arrives as temperatures rebound by Sunday into next week.

Today: Mostly sunny, breezy, and cold. High 22˚F (-6˚C).

Tonight: Cloudy. Ice cold. Low 10˚F (-12˚C).

Tomorrow: Cloudy with light snow in the afternoon. Colder than the economy. High 18˚F (-8˚C).

Tomorrow night: Clear and breezy. Colder than the Oklahoma City Thunder. Low -2˚F (-19˚C); Wind chill -20˚F (-29˚C).

Friday: Sunny. Colder than being Rickrolled. High 14˚F (-10˚C).

Saturday: Sunny and yes, still IHTFP cold. Low 3˚F (-16˚C). High 22˚F (-6˚C).