Mixed Bag for Thanksgiving, Dangerous Cold Black Friday
NOTE: See my final Thanksgiving 2010 blog "Thanksgivings Past and Present in Central PA" for additional details.
I am very concerned about folks camping out Thursday night into Friday for Black Friday deals, because of unusually cold air that is present over the northern half of the country. We could be talking dangerous RealFeel® temperatures and some people have already been camping out for a week! Think about it: You wouldn't camp out in the woods in January would you? Well, that's what it's going to feel like Thursday night.
RealFeel Temperatures Forecast Nov. 26, 2010
Above is a map of what it will feel like at 7 AM Friday. The purple areas are below zero! (We have more info on the Black Friday Forecast here). Purple is below zero and deep purple could freeze exposed flesh in 30 minutes, a much shorter timespan than people are planning on waiting for deals! (Due to a bad experience years ago, I do my Black Friday shopping indoors these days).
The other worry, for travelers, is that a mixed bag of precipitation will be moving through the Ohio Valley overnight tonight and into Pennsylvania tomorrow morning. Precipitation should be light, especially here in PA, but what makes me worried is that this is the first winter storm and historically the roads freeze over near freezing with the first storm (the rest of the winter, there is treatment already on the roads and rain - to wash it off - is rare). Here's the 4-KM WRF model's guess at what the radar will look like Thanksgiving morning:
WRF Model Forecast November 25, 2010
The interesting thing is, after the frame above, the precipitation almost completely dissipates as it moves northeastward into Central PA, so here in State College or to our north and east, there may be no worries, if this model is right.
Meanwhile, in the Plains they are getting ready for Thanksgiving Eve tornadoes!
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