BLOG: What A Day!
Well, a day like today certainly grabs your attention!
We only topped out at 46 degrees with very gusty winds that made it feel like it was in the 30s most of the afternoon. Winds were gusting 30-35 mph this afternoon. The highest gust we saw was 41 mph near Frostburg n Allegany County. It's the same storm that moved through Thanksgiving that is responsible for these gusty winds today. The main low from that storm is spinning over Eastern Canada. Not only are the high winds bringing in cold air from Canada, but they are bringing that cold air over the Great Lakes, creating a lake-effect snow outbreak. There were snow showers and flurries in Western Maryland today, but they broke up the farther east they got and created clouds.
Tonight, the winds are going to back off a bit and skies clear—meaning that temperatures are going to drop. We are going down into the 20s overnight. The breeze will kick up again tomorrow, but not nearly as high as today. But that breeze will keep the chilly air around. Highs are only going to the upper 40s, still with a wind chill that will knock a few degrees off the temperature. There will also be more sunshine as the driving low pressure system weakens and loses its connection with the lakes. So be prepared if you are heading out to the Ravens game!
High pressure will build in Monday. That will shut the winds down and cut the bleeding of cold air from the north. Then, the winds turning around to the south by Tuesday as the next storm is already moving this way. We will top out near 50 degrees on Monday then jump all the way to near 60 degrees on Tuesday. Clouds will start to increase, but any showers should hold off until later Tuesday.
The next storm will bring some rain and showers through late Tuesday and Wednesday before the storm gets out of here on Thursday. Just like the last storm, expect gusty northwest winds to bring in a new round of cold air. Highs will be back down in the 40s again for Thursday.
A viewer of ours, Michael Traynor from Monkton, emailed us this "I wish you would discuss in your blog the concept of degree days." So here goes...
The National Weather Service's definition of a degree day is very thorough, so instead of me messing up words, I am just going to give you their full definition:
A degree day gauges the amount of heating or cooling needed for a building using 65°F as a baseline. To compute heating/cooling degree-days, take the average temperature for a day and subtract the reference temperature of 65°F. If the difference is positive, it is called Cooling Degree Days. If the difference is negative, it is called Heating Degree Days. The magnitude of the difference is the number of days.
For example, if your average temperature is 50°F for a day in September (meaning you take the high for the day, the low for the day, and then average them out), the difference of the average temperature for that day and the reference temperature of 65°F would yield a minus 15 degrees. Therefore, you know that you are going to have Heating Degree Days that day. Since the magnitude of the difference is 15 degrees, you know that you are going to have 15 Heating Degree Days. Electrical, natural gas, power, and heating, and air conditioning industries utilize heating and cooling degree information to calculate their needs.
So you have to "heat" something to maintain that threshold temperature of 65 degrees...hence a heating degree day when the number averages out to be below 65 degrees. Degree days can be useful for many different energy calculations.
I hope this helps.
If there's any subject that you would like us to discuss, feel free to email us at the station bmwoods@wjz.com or post a comment on this page.
