Crazy Christmas Weather

It's sunny and 40°F on Christmas Day in Grand Forks. I have my balcony door open it feels so nice. The morning low was 25°F....a whopping 26 degrees warmer than our normal low, and 8 degrees warmer than our normal HIGH! Could we see record highs today and tomorrow? We should get into the mid-40s today and tomorrow. Here are the records that could be in jeopardy:

12/25-->45°F (1999)
12/26-->44°F (1901)

Christmas/Winter Climo

Looking at the 1981-2010 climate normals for Christmas Day in Grand Forks, the average high is 17.6°F and the average low is -0.4°F. It will certainly be above normal Christmas Day, and possibly record breaking on the 26th with afternoon highs probably reaching the mid-40s.

For the rest of winter, we continue the downward trend in average temperatures into the middle of January before rising. On average, the coldest high temperatures occur January 10th-13th with a high of 15.9°F, while the coldest low temperatures occurs between January 16th-22nd with an average low of -3.6°F. The coldest average days are January 14th-16th, with a mean temperature of 6.2°F.

Brown Christmas

I never expected my first Christmas in Grand Forks to be brown, but that's what I am going to get. I feel unlucky to not see the 3rd White Christmas of my life (1989 - Cambridge, MD; 2009 - Shawnee, KS) since Grand Forks has ~90% probability of a White Christmas. Oh well, more than likely I will see one next year.

I have updated the climate data on the right side. As you can see the crazy warmth continues thanks to this awful weather pattern for those of us who love snow. There are signs of  change coming up by New Year's as a the Pacific Northwest is progged to get blasted by a few big storms - finally breaking down the ridge out west and providing more of a zonal flow. Now instead of all the clipper systems missing us to the north and northeast, they may finally start to track through the Dakotas and provide some snow cover. The 12z Euro was quite ambitious with a decent snow storm on 12/30, with roughly 6-8" progged. Seems like too much QPF and the 00z GFS continues to be far less aggressive. As the saying goes, "drought begets drought", so I will not get too optimistic for any significant snow until we get a large scale hemispheric pattern change that is more conducive for normal winter weather here in the Dakotas.

Lunar Eclipse

At the end of my shift, I was able to see a lunar eclipse. The moon eclipsed from top to bottom, right before setting. I'm sure it was spectacular to see on the west coast. If I recall correctly, the next lunar eclipse that can be viewed in North America will be 2014.

First sub-zero night of the season

Currently 7°F here at the noon hour. I see we dropped to -3°F earlier this morning, making today the first of many sub-zero mornings I will experience. Looks like we will barely make it into the double digits for a high.

As a side note, the coldest days I have experienced were in in California, PA on 2/5/2007 with an average temperature of 0.5°F (High: 6, Low: -5) and in Shawnee, KS on 2/3/2011 with an average temperature of 3.5°F (High: 19, Low: -12). As for the coldest day in Cambridge, MD...not sure, I would have to comb through the archives but certainly not as cold as the previous two days mentioned. Soon enough, those personal records will be shattered.

College Football Rankings (thru 12/3)

...Rank|Last|Team|Record (Overall, Conference)...

1. (1) LSU (13-0, 8-0)
2. (2) Alabama (11-1, 7-1)
3. (5) Oklahoma State (11-1, 8-1)
4. (3) Stanford (11-1, 8-1)
5. (7) USC (10-2, 7-2)
6. (8) Oregon (10-2, 8-1)
7. (14) Wisconsin (11-2, 6-2)
8. (11) TCU (10-2, 7-0)
9. (12) Boise State (11-1, 6-1)
10. (10) Arkansas (10-2, 6-2)
11. (24) Southern Miss (11-2, 6-2)
12. (4) Houston (12-1, 8-0)
13. (18) Kansas State (10-2, 7-2)
14. (22) Clemson (10-3, 6-2)
15. (9) Michigan State (10-3, 7-1)
16. (16) Michigan (10-2, 6-2)
17. (6) Virginia Tech (11-2, 7-1)
18. (19) Baylor (9-3, 5-3)
19. (13) Georgia (10-3, 7-1)
20. (17) South Carolina (10-2, 6-2)
21. (20) Nebraska (9-3, 5-3)
22. (21) West Virginia (9-3, 6-2)
23. (15) Oklahoma (9-3, 6-3)
24. (23) Penn State (9-3, 6-2)
25. (NR) Northern Illinois (10-3, 7-1)

Dropped from Rankings: #25 Georgia Tech

Others receiving votes: Arkansas State, Auburn, BYU, Cincinnati, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, Missouri, Notre Dame, Ohio, Rutgers, Temple, Toledo, Tulsa, Virginia, Wyoming

College Football Rankings (thru 11/30)

...Rank|Last|Team|Record (Overall, Conference)...

1. (1) LSU (12-0, 8-0)
2. (4) Alabama (11-1, 7-1)
3. (5) Stanford (11-1, 8-1)
4. (17) Houston (12-0, 8-0)
5. (7) Oklahoma State (10-1, 7-1)
6. (24) Virginia Tech (11-1, 7-1)
7. (NR) USC (10-2, 7-2)
8. (14) Oregon ( 10-2, 8-1)
9. (NR) Michigan State (10-2, 7-1)
10. (11) Arkansas (10-2, 6-2)
11. (NR) TCU (9-2, 6-0)
12. (15) Boise State (10-1, 5-1)
13. (NR) Georgia (10-2, 7-1)
14. (2) Wisconsin (10-2, 6-2)
15. (3) Oklahoma (9-2, 6-2)
16. (12) Michigan (10-2, 6-2)
17. (22) South Carolina (10-2, 6-2)
18. (14) Kansas State (9-2, 6-2)
19. (20) Baylor (8-3, 5-3)
20. (19) Nebraska (9-3, 5-3)
21. (15) West Virginia (8-3, 5-2)
22. (8) Clemson (9-3, 6-2)
23. (NR) Penn State (9-3, 6-2)
24. (NR) Southern Miss (10-2, 6-2)
25. (10) Georgia Tech (8-4, 5-3)

Dropped from rankings: #13 Illinois, #16 Arizona State, #18 Auburn, #21 Texas, #23 Florida, #25 Navy

Others receiving votes: Arizona State, Arkansas State, Auburn, BYU. Cincinnati, Florida, Florida State, Iowa, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, Missouri, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio, Ohio State, Rutgers, SMU, Temple, Texas, Texas Tech, Toledo, Tulsa, Virginia, Washington, Western Michigan