A non-standard Tuesday update

Normally a Wednesday blogpost covers the midweek weather, but that won't be the case this week. So, here's a Tuesday morning update.

Temperatures around Mecklenburg County this morning bottomed out below freezing, necessitating a Freeze Warning until 9:00 a.m. This represents the official autumnal end of the growing season. The area is firmly in the grip of an Arctic air mass, which means very dry conditions as signified by the arid 13º dew point at the South Hill airport as this post is penned.

Air temperatures are below mid-November averages as well. Today's high will only reach the mid-40s, and blustery winds gusting over 25 mph at times means wind chills are in vogue. The latter readings look to be 7-10 degrees below the air temperatures. The quick switch from the past weekend's warmth makes the body's adjustment to these colder conditions a bit tougher than usual.

The changes continue Wednesday, with a relatively rapid return to warmer temperatures. Tomorrow will feature afternoon highs in the 60s, but with still gusty conditions under sunny skies. Then another dry cold front will sweep across the region tomorrow night. This next boundary will usher in a more typical Canadian (vs. Arctic) air mass, with highs on Thursday again near the 60º mark. Winds will be less raucous on the latter day.

This temperature outlook indicates a decent chance of warmer than average temperatures across the eastern half of the country over the next 6-10 days:

However, keep in mind these longer range outlooks are less accurate than shorter range forecasts, so always look at these with a grain of salt.