It was a little past 1 AM on February 3rd, 1959 when American musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa along with pilot Roger Peterson. Weather conditions were certainly contributing factors in the plane crash as there was poor visibility on that cold night with snow blowing across the runway. Hours before, Holly and his tour mates were on the eleventh night of their “Winter Dance Party” tour through the snow-covered Midwest. It was a Monday and a school night, but 1,100 teenagers crammed into the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa for two sold out shows with the second one ending around midnight. The event later became known as “The Day the Music Died” after singer-songwriter Don McLean referred to it as such in his 1971 song “American Pie” which paid homage to the tragedy of February 3rd, 1959.
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Today marks the 39th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster which occurred on January 28, 1986, when the NASA Space Shuttle orbiter Challenger (mission STS-51-L) broke apart 73 seconds into its flight leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. STS-51-L was the 25th American Space Shuttle Program flight since the program began in 1981. It was also the first mission to have a civilian on board, American teacher Christa McAuliffe. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida at 11:39 EST (16:39 UTC). According to the Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, weather conditions were likely one of the factors that contributed to the incident. Tests conducted during the subsequent investigation showed that O-rings were much less resilient at lower temperatures, but the extreme cold at the Kennedy Space Center was not the only weather factor involved with this tragedy. Wind shear aloft may have been a contributing factor as well with two different airstreams in the vicinity of the launch site of the Space Shuttle Challenger.
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Bitter cold Arctic air persists across much of the nation with numerous daily low temperature records set across the southern and eastern states. In fact, a few all-time low temperature records were set this morning across southern Louisiana where clear skies, light winds, and a fresh, deep snowpack allowed temperatures to plunge to single digit levels across the region. A rare major winter storm has brought significant accumulating snow across the southern US from Texas-to-Florida-to-the Carolinas and, in some cases, this matched or surpassed the great winter storm of February 1895. The precipitation field associated with this southern storm will push off the southeast coast today, but the bitter cold will persist for a bit longer.
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A rare weather event has begun across the Gulf coast that will result in accumulating snow and ice in unusual places such as Houston (TX), New Orleans (LA), Tallahassee (FL), and Myrtle Beach (SC). NOAA has issued “Winter Storm Warnings” all the way from Texas to the Carolinas and - in an unprecedented fashion - even “Blizzard Warnings” have been issued from far eastern Texas to southern Louisiana. In this entire stretch of the southern US, there can be at least a few inches of snow by early Wednesday and an ice glaze may be included in the mix as well in many areas. By this evening, the accumulating snow can make it’s way as far north and east as southeastern Virginia and there can even be a touch of snow along the DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor. Arctic air that has enveloped the nation from coast-to-coast is the main contributor to this very wintry and rare weather event for the southern US.
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The next several days will feature the worst that winter has to offer across the nation with widespread brutal cold and multiple snow and ice threats. An Arctic invasion with a Siberian connection will get underway by Saturday as bitter cold air from Canada plunges southward through the central states. By Sunday, the Arctic air mass will spread eastward towards the Atlantic seaboard and by the time we get to Monday, Inauguration Day, most of the country will be in a deep freeze including the DC metro where outdoor activities are planned for the swearing-in ceremonies. In fact, the first couple of days of next week could be among the coldest seen across the nation in a long time as there will be bitter cold conditions extending virtually from coast-to-coast.
This cold weather pattern will come with as many as three threats of snow and ice during the next week to ten days. On Sunday, low pressure will form along the incoming Arctic frontal boundary zone and likely produce several inches of snow across the Mid-Atlantic region and Northeast US - and this includes in the big cities along the I-95 corridor from DC-to-Boston. Another storm is destined to form over the Gulf region by mid-week and its focus could be on the southern states with significant snow and ice a possibility from Texas to the Carolinas…the snow shield can potentially work its way into the Mid-Atlantic region. Yet another system can again develop way down in the southern states by the end of next week or during the subsequent weekend.
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The next several days will feature the worst that winter has to offer across the nation with widespread brutal cold and multiple snow and ice threats. An Arctic invasion with a Siberian connection will get underway by Saturday as bitter cold air from Canada plunges southward through the central states. By Sunday, the Arctic air mass will spread eastward towards the Atlantic seaboard and by the time we get to Monday, Inauguration Day, most of the country will be in a deep freeze including the DC metro where outdoor activities are planned for the swearing-in ceremonies. In fact, the first couple of days of next week could be among the coldest seen across the nation in a long, long time as there will be bitter cold conditions extending virtually from coast-to-coast.
This cold weather pattern will come with as many as three threats of snow and ice during the next week to ten days. On Sunday, low pressure will form along the incoming Arctic frontal boundary zone and likely produce several inches of snow across the Mid-Atlantic region and Northeast US - and this includes in the big cities along the I-95 corridor. Another storm is destined to form over the Gulf region by mid-week and its focus could be on the southern states with significant snow and ice a possibility down there. Yet another system can again develop way down in the southern states by the end of the next week or during the subsequent weekend.
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The next several days will feature the worst that winter has to offer with widespread brutal cold and multiple snow and ice threats. An Arctic invasion with a Siberian connection will get underway by Saturday as bitter cold air from Canada plunges southward through the central states. By Sunday, the Arctic air mass will spread eastward towards the Atlantic seaboard and by the time we get to Monday, Inauguration Day, most of the country will be in a deep freeze including the DC metro where outdoor activities are planned for the swearing-in ceremonies. In fact, the first couple of days of next week could be among the coldest seen across the nation in a long, long time as there will be bitter cold conditions extending virtually from coast-to-coast.
This Arctic invasion will come with multiple snow and ice threats including one later Sunday into Sunday night in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast US with several inches on the table, and another one at mid-week which could have a focus on the southern US. And, in the very short-term, snow is already falling today across the Great Lakes region with accumulations expected there on the order of a few inches, and occasional snow is likely to make its way into the DC-to-Philly-NYC corridor for the afternoon and early evening hours with accumulations possible of a coating to an inch or two.
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An Arctic invasion with a Siberian connection will get underway by the early part of the weekend as bitter cold air from Canada plunges southward through the central states. By Sunday, the Arctic air mass will spread eastward towards the Atlantic seaboard and by the time we get to Monday, Inauguration Day, most of the country will be in a deep freeze including the DC metro where outdoor activities are planned for the swearing-in ceremonies. Temperatures are going to fall to well below-normal levels across much of the nation for the bulk of next week which is quite impressive indeed considering this is right around the time of year with the lowest “normal” temperatures.
The Arctic front at the leading edge of the cold air outbreak will reach the eastern states on Sunday and a wave of low pressure is likely to form right along its boundary zone. This Arctic wave could produce some accumulating snow in the Mid-Atlantic region from later Sunday into Sunday night. Another storm system could develop way down in the Gulf region by the middle of next week potentially bringing snow and ice to parts of the southern and eastern US. Looking ahead, there is even the chance for a third system to form across the southern states by the end of next week.
One final note, even before we get to the interesting weather of this weekend and next week, there can be some snow in the near-term across the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast US.
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Widespread bitter cold air looks like it will overspread the nation next week and there can be multiple storm threats as well. Temperatures are likely to fall to well below-normal levels across much of the nation which is quite impressive considering the 3rd week of January is - from a climatological point-of-view - the coldest week of the year in many areas. An Arctic front is going to head into the eastern states later in the weekend and it will be at the leading edge of this incoming Arctic air mass...some of which may have its origins on the Siberian side of the North Pole. A wave of low pressure may form along the Arctic frontal boundary zone early next week potentially producing some snow in the Mid-Atlantic region for the period from late Sunday into Monday (Inauguration Day). Another storm threat could come at mid-week with its origins way down south and perhaps there will even be a third one during the late week time period.
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Low pressure that has produced accumulating snow today in much of the Mid-Atlantic region will shift to the western Atlantic Ocean during the next hour or so; however, it is not necessarily through with our area just yet. Snow is developing in the northwest sector of this eastward-moving storm system and this “backend” snow will impact the region from DC-to-the-Delmarva-to-southern NJ late today and early tonight and likely up across southern PA as well. In fact, there can be additional snow accumulations in some areas of up to a couple of inches before the precipitation shield finally fully departs the Mid-Atlantic region. On the backside of the storm late tonight and Tuesday, stiff NW winds will develop and can gust past 40 mph or so making it feel even colder than the actual air temperatures.
Looking ahead, this cold and active weather pattern threatens to produce another storm system late this week and weekend. This time, the location of the storm development will be way down south likely over the northwestern Gulf of Mexico by week’s end. As such, there can be an impact in the Deep South and this can even include significant accumulating snow and ice across places like Texas and Arkansas. After that, the low pressure system likely heads towards the eastern seaboard and the timing of its intensification along the coast will be critical in determining how much impact there can be in the Mid-Atlantic region and Northeast US. A quick intensification along the Mid-Atlantic coastline could mean significant accumulating snow in the DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor or the system may “wait” until it pushes farther to the north and east to intensify which would likely limit any big impact to eastern New England.
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