Dave Hayes The Weather Nut Merch / Apparel (ends THIS SUNDAY)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
* Daily Celestials (Sun/Moon Data)
* Sponsor Note
* Morning Discussion
* TIP: Scroll below for sections, or read all
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YOUR DAILY CELESTIALS
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STAR:
–OUR STAR ROSE AT: 7:15am this morning
–OUR STAR WILL SET AT: 4:21pm this evening
–TOTAL DAYLIGHT TIME: 9 hours and 6 minutes
MOON:
–OUR MOON WILL SET AT: 11:03am this morning
–MOON SET DIRECTION: West-Northwest
–OUR MOON WILL RISE AT: 10:03pm tonight
–MOON RISE DIRECTION: East-Northeast
–MOON PHASE: Waning Gibbous (72.7%)
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A NOTE FROM OUR SPONSOR
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Dave Hayes The Weather Nut is Sponsored by Individual Community Members, Patrons, and Tandem Bagel Company… No matter the weather, Tandem Bagel is always there for you at several valley locations to make your mornings brighter! With *New Pizza Bagels(!)*, along with bagels baked fresh daily (including Gluten-Free options), house-whipped cream cheese, coffee, and tons of lunch options, Tandem is the perfect quick stop for lunch, breakfast, or a coffee and bagel to go.
You can either 1) visit them in Easthampton, Northampton, Hadley, Florence, and/or West Springfield, 2) hire them to cater your next event, or 3) use their super-streamlined online ordering tool by visiting their website and clicking the “Catering” or “Order Online” links.
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YOUR MORNING DISCUSSION
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Good morning folks, the big weather news story is that because I’m so loud and apt to ramble on incessantly I’ve created my own high pressure cell above my home and it’s sunny and 72º, so that’s nice.
In other less deluded news, the real big weather story is that the coldest air of the incoming winter season arrives Saturday afternoon and lasts through Monday night with below zero wind chills by Sunday morning, and below zero air temps by Monday morning, so gear up for that.
As for today, tonight and Saturday morning, we have an upper level system swinging southeast through southwest New England and the Mid-Atlantic which will help fuel and ocean storm that will pass well southeast of Nantucket today as strengthens and plows into Nova Scotia tonight with a major snowstorm there.
Highs today will only reach the upper 20s to mid 30s, so for us here, periods of generally light (but at times, steady) snow showers will develop in two batches.
The first batch will be due to an upper low passing south of us which affects mainly areas along the Pioneer Valley and points westward in SVT, WMass, and northwestern half of CT.
The second batch will be due to onshore flow from the coastal system, producing retrograding (westward-tracking) snow showers into parts of eastern Worcester County and northeast CT.
Somewhere between and betwixt the two batches, an area of subsidence, or sinking air will probably dry out the snow shield a bit, turning it into flurries or scattered snow showers east of the I-91 corridor in easternmost WMass, western Worcester County, Tolland County CT and eastern parts of SWNH.
I can’t know exactly where this lighter zone sets up, but I believe it will.
The bottom line is that this is a minor event, but you don’t need much snow and cold road surfaces to produce some slick travel, so just have an awareness when you are out/about today and tonight, as a coating to an inch or two of floof is expected.
Scattered snow showers continue tonight (lows upper teens to mid 20s) but should taper off before a final wave Saturday morning tries to deliver a few more snow showers or a period of light snow before the cold front comes through and drops the Arctic hammer tomorrow night.
For Saturday, a final shortwave with our passing-through upper low could kick off some Saturday morning snow showers with new dustings, and then our cold front will swing through and it will get blustery by afternoon with partly sunny skies developing.
Northwest wind gusts will blow 15-25mph at times, and highs will be mainly in the 20s to near freezing before dropping all the way through the night with continued breezy conditions behind the frontal passage.
The first night of the new Winter season, Saturday night, will see temps plunging into the single digits for many folks, and with continued wind gusts, wind chills will go below zero, especially in the western hilltowns, Berkshires and SVT.
While we’re here, the NWS has decommissioned the Wind Chill Advisories and Wind Chill Watch/Warning products to try to make things “simpler” for people, but it’s not something I think makes much sense due to frostbite potentials, so I will do my best to keep you apprised of wind chill impacts in the 2024-25 season.
By Sunday, the coldest air of the season arrives as high pressure pushes in and slackens the wind. However, even with sunny skies, highs will only reach the teens to MAYBE 20º or so, and lows will then truly plummet into the single digits below and above zero for the coldest night yet this season.
Highs Monday recover, but it will still be unseasonably cold with sunny highs in the mid to upper 20s, and lows in the upper singles to mid teens as clouds increase.
Tuesday (Christmas Eve Day) could actually produce some festive flakes with a Clipper system that may bring light snow and coat the ground before Christmas Day, or a semi-white Christmas!
Highs will climb up into the 30s for Tuesday through the end of the week with fair weather expected for Christmas Day and beyond, so at least day-of and post-day travel looks supported by calm weather.
I hope you have a great day and if you want to stand up to Winter cold with my warm and cozy hoodies or long sleeves, just click below to browse & order:
Dave Hayes The Weather Nut Merch / Apparel (sale ends SUNDAY)
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.”
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