Santa Brings Plenty of Cold Air As We Keep Warm Thoughts of Our Veterans

I got a screaming phone call at work from my daughter Lauren while putting some graphics together for the show. Lauren and Mom were at the Tippecanoe Mall and that is right Santa was there! I told her to ask Santa if he likes all the cold weather. I think he rode the jet stream into Lafayette in record time since it is coming right in from his Elf workshop. I know his reindeer are thrilled. The pattern we saw move in late last week looks like it is here to stay. You can say Santa brought some of this cold weather with him. Jack Frost already made a visit to most of the area by 7 p.m. yesterday evening. We woke up today with our coldest morning since early April. What has happened to our warmest start to November in Lafayette recorded history? Up to this point we have had a terrific autumn if you like quiet and mild weather. We have only had four storm systems and an amazing 7 of our first 10 days in November have been sunny which for this time of year is quite a feat. Monday's scene on the John T. Myers Pedestrian Bridge shows the American flags flying once again in full sunshine!


The American flags will still be flying proudly today for Veterans Day but without the sunshine. Make sure you take your umbrellas to the Veterans Day ceremonies today along with your jackets. It will be a chilly rain this afternoon with highs struggling into the middle 40s. So what happened? It all goes back to Santa. Ho, Ho, Ho! The big change here at home can be traced to a change in the overall atmospheric pattern at the North Pole. For most of this season the atmospheric pressure patterns up near the North Pole have been unusually low.

You can see this depicted on the blue graph above with anything above the zero line considered lower than normal pressure or what is called a positive Arctic Oscillation. This has brought an early winter to Alaska along with plenty of big snowstorms across the northern tier of the globe. To compensate for this high pressure nature usually brings in warmer than average weather east of the Rocky Mountains in the middle latitudes where Lafayette is located. Notice in early November there was a big drop off in the graph above and the Arctic Oscillation went negative due to higher pressures at the North Pole. This in turn opened up the Arctic floodgates which moved our way this past weekend and early this week. There is usually a lag time of about 7 to 10 days. Now if you are looking for Indian summer to return it looks like that may be a long-shot. Take a look at the forecast Arctic Oscillation for the next couple weeks below.


The top graph is the one to look at with the forecast in red. It shows a mish-mash of all the different model forecasts of pressure and most are plummeting as we head into Thanksgiving week. It does look like it (the Arctic Oscillation) may briefly go positive this weekend which could give us a brief warm spell by turkey day before we get a late November.......SURPRISE in the form of cold and snow. We will see. I have been very stubborn not to change my forecast of a possible record snow in late November. So it would not be a surprise to any of the regular bloggers here on wlfi.com. I have the golden snow shovel ready! The Arctic Oscillation is telling me to stick by that forecast for now and that a colder than average rest of November will continue into December. Our White Christmas is right on track. Remember what happens in November nature remembers in December. Snow-lovers should be excited about 3 very active storm tracks this week that will track our way and bring rain amounts of about one-third of an inch to our area. We may have missed out on snow this time around but a couple weeks from now this active storm track will continue to help bring down even colder air for our storms to work with and increase our chances of snow. For now we will keep the umbrellas handy. Make sure to tune in tonight because we are tracking 3 different low pressures moving our way this week.


It may not be the prettiest of days outside today but we have a lot to smile about today. Our thoughts are with those that have sacrificed and served our great country. You are heroes and we will will always remember you. A salute to all the veterans! We also keep those Americans serving our country today in our thoughts and prayers. They are constantly in harm's way so that you and I can live in peace and live the American dream. Yes, it still is alive and well thanks to you. May you have a safe return home. God bless America!