It is So Cold the Squirrels Need Sweaters & Owls Seek Shelter!

Okay you have a right to complain. It was very cold walking to the Purdue-Maryland game last night. I know I warned folks on TV last night, but after I got off the set I became one of those fans walking to the game and it really was a biting cold. Thank you Julie for getting me a ticket to the team I grew up watching. Maryland and ACC basketball is all I knew. It was great seeing the Terps again in person but I did cheer for Purdue and it did not even feel strange. I moved to Lafayette the year Stephanie White-McCarty led our Boilers to the National Championship and have adopted them as my favorite team and followed them closely ever since. I think the Boilers may have their best team since the late 1990s. They have a lot of talent and played really well as a team last night. The coaching was outstanding. Sharon Versyp was quite a find. The Boilers played a heck of a game and it was a lot closer than the score indicated. To be able to stay with Maryland for more than 34 minutes told us they are very close to being one of the top teams in the country and I do not think we will have to wait until next year. They were worn down a bit toward the end but you would be too if you just got back from Hawaii and then your body had to somehow adjust from 80 degree weather to wind chills in the single digits in just a couple days. Yes, it all goes back to weather. So I am even blaming the weather.....not the weatherman...LOL.

Great job Purdue! Tonight if you are looking for a way to stay warm you can go cheer on the women's volleyball team tonight. I love taking my girls to this and it is a blast going in person. Hockey and volleyball are right at the top of the list for the most fun sports to watch in person. The Boilers are the 10th-seeded team in the NCAA tournament and should have no problem exceeding expectations. Have fun while staying warm!

You know it is cold when apparently some squirrels were spotted with sweaters yesterday in Lafayette. This is our anchor Niccole Caan's Dad's favorite saying and I think it is really funny, but not too funny if you do not have a hat, gloves, and scarf. The anonymous picture sent in above is the most bizarre squirrel picture I have shown since the squirrel with the big piece of pumpkin pie I showed you back in January 2007. Just a few weeks later we had a blizzard. Will history repeat itself? Well I am not looking for a blizzard but a ton of snow. Now I do like snow but remember your safety does come first and you should be safer than most since you know I will give you ample warning ahead of any big storms. That is why I have been talking so much about this on the blog the last couple nights. I do care about you and the latest models are showing our first chance of a bigger snowstorm next week. Timing is tough right now but Tuesday we will have to watch carefully. At least we can monitor it together. We need to name these snowstorms that bring 3 or more inches so I will come up with a list for you by Monday. Feel free to find some names for me. You all always do a great job with that.


You know whoooo also thinks it is cold outside? That is right! Sir Featherton. This was the name given to the owl above who was outside Erna Jo Atkinson's house in Lafayette on North 26th Street last night. Sir Featherton apparently was looking for a warm place and for good reason. We have eye-popping cold that is for sure. As of 11 p.m. last night Lafayette was colder than parts of the north slope of Alaska. (More specifically thanks to Jim in Alaska... it is in east-central Alaska which is pretty far north) Nome, Alaska checked in with 19 degrees while we were at 18. Amazing! Nome doesn't even have any sunlight to work with like we do. (Technically, according to Jim they have 4 hours of daylight on their shortest day but in my book that is not much sun to work with) For all in tense and purposes they are in the dark until March! I want to thank Jim in Alaska for helping me clarify these points. I think Jim in Alaska should be our northern pen pal here on the Lafayette weather blog. I will try to see what I can arrange. Thanks Jim for writing in!! I am humbled and honored to have Alaskan reader!

Now back to the contiguous 48 states. You have a right to complain too Sir Featherton. Lafayette also felt just about as cold with the wind chill as International Falls, Minnesota known as our country's icebox. So were we the country's cooler last night? You could make a case. International Falls will be getting ready for -40 next week without wind chill with exploding trees. Here in Lafayette we could even see sub-zero weather as well in the next 10 days.

So we all know it is already crazy cold outside but it is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. We have at least 4 big blast of cold air coming in the next 2 weeks and there are plenty of warning signs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans of enhanced convection and thunderstorm activity. I tell kids at school talks that meteorologists love watching those places far from home because if there is a flare-up in active thunderstorms or you have tropical storms or cyclones in the Western Pacific or Indian Oceans they can trigger changes in the jet streams or the high altitude winds that circle the entire earth. Sure enough look at all the action on the other side of the world. This is yet another warning sign for us.


This tremendous energy has to go somewhere. It usually feeds into the upper-level winds circling the globe causing big changes in the weather that can include storms, floods, and fires to fierce winter storms here in the United States and all over the world. There is a lag period. Notice the two tropical systems above that have arrows pointing at them....well they could eventually invigorate and shift the jet streams bringing a possible bigger storm to the United States in about 10 to 14 days which would be in the December 15th to the 19th range. We will see how it works out and time will tell. Check out the Joint Typhoon Warning Center's statement on the Indian Ocean cyclone (known as a tropical storm in the Atlantic).

TROPICAL CYCLONE (TC) 07B, LOCATED NEAR 7.7N 88.8E APPROXIMATELY
595 NM EAST-SOUTHEAST OF CHENNAI, INDIA, CONTINUES TO TRACK WEST-
NORTHWESTWARD AT 04 KNOTS. RECENT ANIMATED INFRARED IMAGERY AND A
050030Z SSMI MICROWAVE IMAGE SHOW CONVECTIVE BANDING TO THE WEST OF
A PARTIALLY EXPOSED LOW LEVER CIRCULATION CENTER (LLCC). UPPER LEVEL
ANALYSIS INDICATES TC 07B REMAINS IN AN ENVIRONMENT WITH MODERATE
VERTICAL WIND SHEAR. THE SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK WEST-NORTH-
WESTWARD ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE MID-LEVEL SUBTROPICAL RIDGE TO THE
NORTH. DRIER AIR IN THE NORTHERN BAY OF BENGAL COUPLED WITH SUSTAINED
MODERATE VERTICAL WIND SHEAR, WILL MINIMIZE THE DEVELOPMENT OF TC 07B
AND KEEP ITS SLOW FORWARD MOTION OVER THE NEXT 48 HOURS. THE SYSTEM
IS EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL INTO SRI LANKA AFTER TAU 60 AND WEAKEN.
MAXIMUM SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT AT 050000Z IS 12 FEET. NEXT WARNINGS
AT 050900Z, 051500Z, 052100Z AND 060300Z.//

We will watch our jet streams carefully in the next couple weeks. I think
this whole set-up favors more of a tropical connection for us or more moisture
to work with the plenty of cold air we have in place. Remember the big picture.

The NOAA 8 to 14 day forecast seems to verify this nicely. 


You can certainly see this cold air will not be alone but have ample
moisture as well.


This weekend though I have nothing that will spoil any plans or slow you down.
There will be just a few snow showers with less than an inch of snow on Saturday. The Alberta
Clipper is tracking too far north this time around for much of anything.

I will be back with your parade forecast and tell you why the high in the 20s may actually
feel much warmer than that! I will keep our glass half full even if it does have a coat of ice on it!
Have a great day!