Holiday travel weather

Huge snowfall amounts from southwest Oklahoma over the weekend. Some areas picked up more snow in one weekend than they typically get all season long. Incredible. This is a big travel week as we prepare for Thanksgiving on Thursday. Are you traveling somewhere and if so, will you hit bad weather? It's a week where we get plenty of phone calls, emails, Facebook and Twitter messages, all questioning the weather. The storm system that delivered big snows to Texas and southwest Oklahoma over the weekend is moving east and will likely slow things down in major airport hubs. So if you plan to head that way, be sure to check the conditions.

The weather pattern will calm down for several days in the central US. That doesn't necessarily mean a warmup is coming soon. We will have to wait until late week when we finally turn the corner and head back for the 50s. Do you like cold weather? I find mixed opinions about it on social media, but I suppose majority would prefer warmer temperatures. Happy Thanksgiving. Millie and I will be on the air that evening, so if you get bored (or need a break from family), hope you'll tune in. Stay warm!

Severe weather outbreak

The severe weather outbreak on Sunday was well forecast by meteorologists around the country. The Storm Prediction Center had a high risk in place for much of Illinois and Indiana early in the day, and by afternoon, there must have been a dozen tornado warnings going at one time. While not completely out of line for November, to see such significant storms that far north is amazing to me. There was an incredible amount of wind in the atmosphere, with some wind speeds over 150 mph at roughly 10-15,000 feet. I'm always amazed at how destructive the weather can be with the right amount of wind and moisture. Below are images from the Storm Prediction Center showing their severe storm outlook and the storm reports to show how well the forecast verified.

Much colder air will invade the central and northern US later in the week. I'll have an update on that later.

Looking ahead...

November is zooming by and just two weeks until Thanksgiving. Something tells me December will go quickly too with the holidays here. I'm never ready, and every attempt at getting my Christmas shopping done early seems to fail. We shall see what happens this year. We had to shoot some holiday memory, promotional type stuff this week. Don't know when they will hit the air, but hopefully they will make you chuckle.

A few weeks back, I talked about the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and what that might mean for our extended forecast. It has been positive lately, and that's translated to near or above normal temperatures around the area. There have been a few days mixed in where it's been colder than normal, but overall, the milder weather should continue a little longer. However, look at what is happening to the AO now. It is swinging back negative now, so let's watch and see what happens. I wouldn't expect any significant change in the next 8-10 days, but let's watch the last week of November, and especially the start of December. If you like milder weather, we still have some time to enjoy that before the pattern changes in any significant fashion. If you like cold and want some snow, at this point, we are going to have to wait until the early start in December. There are still several changes taking place in our atmosphere this time of the year.

A School Visit to Remember

Millie and I had a chance to visit Remington Elementary School in Potwin on Tuesday and it was a visit that we won't soon forget. The kids changed the words to "October Rocktober" to "November Remember" and performed the song just before our weather presentation. Here are the lyrics, but the 2 minute YouTube video is well worth checking out.

http://youtu.be/kQQeisPTDU8

"Some folks like the springtime, some like summer, too. 

Others like the winter, I tell ya, that won't do! 

Tell us the forecast (tell us the forecast)

We need it real fast (we need it real fast)

Millie's a cool dog, she's not a hot dog!

Rain, snow, ice, sleet, or fog!

November, Remember, Millie and Ross are here

November, Remember, Watch Channel 12 all year!

Some folks like it humid, some folks like it hot!

Others like it freezing, I tell ya, I do NOT!

(repeat chorus...Tell us the forecast, etc.)"

Thanks again, to the faculty at Remington for inviting us to come up and see the kids. Maybe we sparked someone to become a meteorologist, but even if we didn't, the trip was so worth it to watch the kids perform "November Remember".