Here Comes A Mess

Things will remain quiet and chilly today with plenty of sunshine, but tonight clouds increase and thicken rapidly. It will take until after midnight before we see any precipitation. And this will likely start off as some snow before mixing with sleet and freezing rain. Slowly this will change to rain, but that's probably going to take until mid morning for valley locations. Late morning to early afternoon for mountains west of I-75, mid to late afternoon for mountains east of I-75. Amounts will depend on the timing of onset and obviously how long the cold air hangs on. It's safe to say Snowbird will be flying and the roads will be messy tomorrow morning.

Today: Mostly sunny, chilly. NE 5-10 High: 40

Tonight: Clouds thicken early, snow, sleet, freezing rain mixed moves in after midnight. Low: 29

Look for slick roads in the morning.

Thursday: Morning Mix slowly changes to rain in the valleys, mountains may take until early afternoon to change to rain. High: 38

Thursday night: Rain ending, a few flurries late. Low: 33

Friday: Decreasing clouds, cold. High: 41 Low: 25

Saturday: Partly cloudy. High: 40 Low: 20

Sunday: Partly cloudy. High: 39 Low: 24

Coldest morning of the year for many.

Thanks to Hal Perry of Signal Mountain for sending this picture of his thermometer. It read 6 degrees around 5 am this morning, making Hal's place one of the coldest around. I don't know if we had any dogs sticking to fire plugs this morning, but it sure was cold. Check out some of these early morning temps:

• WRCB-TV3 17
• Dalton 18
• Rome 17
• Ft. Payne 18
• Dayton 10
• Athens 9
• Blue Ridge 10
• Lookout Mtn. 8
• Bledsoe State Forest 8
• Sale Creek Mtn. 8
• Prentice Cooper 9
• Murphy 9
• Chatsworth 15
• Pikeville 13

The list could go on and on. It's going to be a struggle for many areas to get back to 40 this afternoon in spite of nearly full sunshine today. The next two mornings look cold, just not AS cold as what we dealt with today. Look for clouds to increase tomorrow with another clipper zooming through tomorrow evening. That one goes through dry but keeps us rather cold. The next system to watch comes into play late Wednesday night into Thursday. I think from Midnight to 6 am Thursday morning we have a winter mix across the area. From Chattanooga southward this is likely a sleet / rain / freezing rain mix. Chattanooga north there's some potential for snow, especially for the mountains north of the city. This is obviously something we'll be watching very closely. But it probably goes back to rain during the day on Thursday as temps get back into the upper 30s to low 40s.

Today: Mostly sunny, cold and breezy. West 10-15+ High: 40

Tonight: Partly cloudy and cold. SW 5 Low: 24

Tuesday: Clouds increase, breezy and chilly. West 10-15+ High: 45

Tuesday night: Mostly cloudy cold. Low: 20

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy, chilly. High: 44

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy with a winter mix possible late. Low: 30

Thursday: Winter Mix early, changing back to rain. High: 43 Low: 32

Friday: AM Flurries, clouds decrease. High: 47 Low: 30

Thankfully Old Man Winter Is A Slo-Poke.

Thanks this morning to David Wills for sending another nice picture. This is one of those you'll want to click on to see the full-sized image. And I'm glad it's a NICE picture rather than an ICE picture. Freezing rain and sleet has been pummeling the southern plains and Midwest since Friday. And this morning it's still a mess for many areas there, and probably real cold for some as power outages are fairly widespread. Back here we were within 4 degrees of a record high Saturday, and 3 degrees shy of a record Sunday.
Rain moves in today with a light winter mix possible first thing tomorrow morning for the mountains, but this should not be a problem. Then just dry and colder for the rest of the week.

Today: Rain moves in, mild. SW 10 High: 64

Tonight: Rainy early, chilly. NW 10 Low: 39

Tuesday: AM sprinkles. Breezy, colder. North 10-15+ High: 40 Low: 25

Wednesday: Mostly sunny. High: 46 Low: 28

Thursday: Partly cloudy, cool. High: 48 Low: 31

Friday: Partly cloudy, cool. High: 48 Low: 30

Rubber Ball Temperatures - Bouncing Up And Down.

Here's a relaxing pastoral scene sent in by Regina Akins of Ringgold, GA. She took this near the Hiwassee River back in the Fall. Thanks Regina for sharing it with everyone. Mother Nature sure seems to have multiple personalities lately. Big time warming, a brief cold shot, then temps bounce back up to Spring-like levels. But cold air seems poised to drop in the Western U.S. , the debate is how far southeast this chill moves. Initially it looks like another glancing blow, but if the models are right this morning.....watch out for COLD here around the 25th and 26th. In between now and then a system that looks like a suspect for winter fun and games slides past us between the 19th and 20th. Enough to keep you watching? I will be.
For now here are the short-term details:

Today: Sunny, cool. North 5-10. High: 49

Tonight: Clear, cold. Calm Wind. Low: 25

Thursday: Mostly sunny, a bit warmer. South 5-10. High: 55 Low: 36

Friday: Partly cloudy, mild. High: 59 Low: 47

Saturday: Mostly cloudy, 40% chance for showers. High: 60 Low: 50

Sunday: Mostly cloudy, 30% chance for showers. High: 65 Low: 46

Quick Mix Zips Through

Thanks this morning to Rebecca Ibach for sending this glorious picture of a sunrise taken in Lookout Valley. I really appreciate the beauty of this picture, and I'm glad she has shared it with us all.
A clipper system is zipping through early this morning and producing a rain / snow mix across the area. But this will be very brief this morning, and this afternoon will just be cold and windy. Warmer air makes a quick come back though. By this weekend highs will be back in the 60s.

Today: Partly cloudy, windy & colder. NW 15-20+. High: 46

Tonight: Fair skies, cold. North 5-10 Low: 27

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, chilly. North 5 High: 48 Low: 25

Thursday: Mostly sunny. High: 55 Low: 37

Friday: Partly cloudy, warmer. High: 59 Low: 47

Saturday: Rainy, mild. High: 62 Low: 49

Hats Off To Some "Gorge"ous Volunteers

Some great volunteers helped out The Tennessee River Gorge Trust on Saturday. They were continuing the clean up process at the Richie Dump in Marion County. Over the years since the River Gorge Trust bought the property, 22,000 tires and tons of junk have been removed. And the rollaway dumpster you see in the second picture was filled to the brim with junk. All tires were set aside and were not included in that pile of trash. Unfortunately this effort will in all likelihood continue for years to come, but eventually this 16 acre place will be returned to it's formerly clean natural state. There will be more volunteer days in the future, so check out their website for more information. http://www.trgt.org If you don't have the time but you have money, consider giving them some cash to help keep "Tennessee's Grand Canyon" looking great in the future.
Weather-wise a clipper system will dive into the area tomorrow bringing with it gusty winds, clouds and colder air. And tomorrow afternoon we may see some sprinkles or light showers. East of I-75 the mountains along the Tennessee / North Carolina border could see a few flurries.
The rest of the week doesn't look too bad aside from some rather cold mornings.

Today: Mostly sunny, a bit cooler. NW 10-15 and gusty. High: 54

Tonight: Fair skies, chilly. West 5-10 Low: 35

Tuesday: Clouds increase, windy and colder. NW 15-20 and gusty. High: 48

Tuesday night: Sprinkles possible, a few flurries for the mountains east of I-75. Low: 26

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, cool. High: 47 Low: 29

Thursday: Mostly sunny. High: 54 Low: 39

Friday: Mostly cloudy with a 30% chance for showers. High: 58 Low: 46

Januarys Thawed.

This picture was not taken recently, although I have heard of some forsythia beginning to bloom. And there have been reports from New York of cherry blossoms appearing, and some Spring bulbs popping through the ground in Chicago. It has been very mild so far this Winter in many areas east of the Rockies. In the last 7 years and 3 days consider this, only 36 days in Chattanooga have had highs below 40 degrees! Check it out:

• Year Highs in the 20s Highs in the 30s
• 2006 0 2
• 2005 0 4
• 2004 0 6
• 2003 1 6
• 2002 0 4
• 2001 0 5
• 2000 0 8

Today: Clouds thicken, a few showers late. South 5-10. High: 61

Tonight: Rainy periods, mild. South 10-15. Low: 52

Friday: Rainy periods, a few rumbles of thunder also possible. SW 10-15 High: 63

Friday night: Drying out, cool. Low: 47

Saturday: Sun and clouds early. Showers late. High: 64 Low: 46

Sunday: Showery and cool. High: 56 Low: 43

Monday: Partly cloudy, cool. High: 51 Low: 32

This weather is the bee's knees.

Thanks this morning to Hayden Poe of Mowbray Mountain for sending this picture of a hornets nest. The folklore holds that the lower the nest is to the ground the worse the winter will be. You might remember my post from last year when I had one in my yard that was literally on the ground, and I found it the hard way. We ended up with a couple of snows at Casa Benson last year, one that added up to 5 inches. So I'd say my hornets were right. (Although after getting stung multiple times, they were dead right.) Hayden's looks to "bee" about halfway up a tree. So are they saying this will be a halfway cold and snowy winter. Could be? I'm not going to invest too much in folklore, but with the first half of winter starting out very mild a sharp drop or two is probably to be expected. We'll see. Here's how it looks in the short term, and although it's an old saying, these temperatures are "the bees knees."

Today: Sunny & Pleasant. South 5 High: 59

Tonight: Partly cloudy, chilly. Calm wind. Low: 39

Thursday: Clouds Increase, rain moves in Thursday evening. SW 5-10 High: 60

Thursday Night: Rainy, cool. Low: 53

Friday: Rainy periods, a few rumbles of thunder possible. High: 63

Saturday: Clouds and sun, showers Saturday night. High: 67 Low: 45

Sunday: Showery and cooler. High: 56 Low: 41

Warmth Rolls On, But For How Long?

A bit of a nip in the air today as brisk north winds are making it feel pretty cold this morning. Clouds will clear out this morning and our winds will settle down this afternoon. Over the next few days numbers rebound into the 60 to 64 degree range.
Another low developing in southern Arizona and New Mexico this morning will bring us another healthy slug of rainfall Thursday and Friday. During that time frame many areas could pick up 1 1/2" of rain.
I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. The models are still showing Arctic air spreading south from Montana beginning around January 15th. The details are still fuzzy, but we may see below normal temperatures around the 18th. Still monitoring these highly variable long range outlooks for any wintry weather.

Today: Becoming mostly sunny. NE winds 5-10. High: 55

Tonight: Clear and cold. Calm Wind. Low: 30

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, pleasant. South 5-10. High: 60 Low: 40

Thursday: Rainy periods, some thunder possible. High: 61 Low: 50

Friday: Morning showers, clouds decrease. High: 63 Low: 45

Saturday: Partly cloudy, mild. High: 64 Low: 43

Happy New Year! 2007 Starts Out Warm Here.

This was a shot I took this Fall looking back up Lookout Mountain towards Rock City. Partly because of this shot and others I took I'll remember this particular October day in 2006. It was one of those stunning, clear blue warm days when you could say weather perfection was achieved.
Looking at the weather at hand, we'll have some chilly mornings the next few days but nothing too cold. In fact each day we should end up above normal, a trend that's likely to continue until the middle of the month. After that a big change may be shaping up around January 15th. Right now the models are showing not only a major shot of cold air then, but also the chance for a significant snow here. OBVIOUSLY this could fail to materialize, but when things are so far out of whack on the warm side an adjustment usually comes down the pipe to equalize things a bit later. We'll watch it and keep you updated.

Today: After some morning sunshine, some clouds return around mid-day today and it will be breezy. West wind 10-15 mph and gusty. High: 53

Tonight: Fair skies, chilly. North 5-10 Low: 33

Tuesday: Mostly sunny, pleasant. North 5-10 High: 56 Low: 29

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, nice. High: 60

Thursday: Clouds increase, showers late. High: 61 Low: 48

Friday: Rainy periods. High: 59 Low: 45