1/17 – Rob’s “Bitter Cold” Midday News Forecast

An arctic airmass will be firmly entrenched across the Gulf South this afternoon through Friday morning. Strong subsidence and dry air advection will also continue providing for clear skies, cold temperatures, and low relative humidity through Friday. With the cold air mass, I’m only expecting to see high temperatures above freezing for a few hours this afternoon. There will be some melting of the snow and ice during this period, but there will still be lingering snow and ice heading into tonight. Breezy conditions will also persist, and this will keep wind chills in the 20s this afternoon.

The heart of the arctic cold pool will finally begin to pull away from the area tomorrow, and temperatures should begin to modify a bit with highs rising into the middle 40s by Thursday afternoon. This modification in temperatures will continue into Thursday night as lows only dip into the 20s and lower 30s. A hard freeze will likely occur over the northern half of the region Thursday night…but not for our viewing area. Temperatures will continue to gradually modify, and expect to see highs in the middle 50s Friday afternoon. Lows on Friday night should finally remain above freezing across the area.

Temperatures will continue to warm as deep layer southerly flow takes hold, and moisture will also return into the region from the central Gulf of Mexico. With increasingly warm and moist air moving over the cooler nearshore waters, the prospect of sea fog increases dramatically for Saturday night. Temperatures will be in the upper 60s Saturday afternoon before dipping into the lower 50s Saturday night. Dew-points will also increase into the upper 40s and lower 50s by Saturday night. The next cold front will approoch and affect the area Monday with just a minor cool-down afterwards.