Meteorological winter is upon us ❄️

Update #525

As you digest the last of the Thanksgiving dinner leftovers, here’s something else to digest: meteorological winter is upon us!

It felt like just yesterday that we (well, you) were dealing with the unrelenting heat of summer…

Meteorological winter, referring to the three-month period from December-February, starts on Thursday in the Northern Hemisphere! ☃️

Astronomical winter and the solstice is still a few weeks away, falling on December 21st this year.

At any rate, the new meteorological season will kick off on Thursday with a gusty cold front from Canada 🥶

It looks like we’ll be waiting another week for snow to re-enter our forecast, as I outlined in my premium post from yesterday. In fact, things could get pretty interesting during the 2nd and 3rd week of December, leading up to Christmas!

December weather detective 🕵️‍♂️

After a wet afternoon today (Sunday), things will dry out on Monday with a northwesterly breeze.

Tuesday will be dry again but a little cooler.

➡️ Wednesday and Wednesday night will have the busiest weather of the week. Mild, southerly winds will pick up ahead of a strong cold front. The chance for rain will increase during the afternoon with heavy falls possible later in the day and/or at night when winds may gust as high as 40 mph.

Waking up on Thursday, it won’t just be a new (meteorological) season in name: a cold air mass from northern Canada will make it feel like one too! 🌬️

Friday won’t be as breezy or cold.

The weather next weekend doesn’t look too bad at this point. There could be a weak front on Saturday, but it’s not certain.

The week of December 5th looks OK to start, but…

As you can see below, snowfall over the next 10 days will favor areas away from the East Coast, such as the Midwest, Plains, and Intermountain West.

After that, there’s a good chance that snow chances will shift east toward our neck of the woods, especially after about December 8th or so. Until then, we wait! ⏳ 🌨️

Back in New Zealand

After spending 3 weeks in the natural sauna that is the Philippines, Kate and I arrived back in the Southern Hemisphere, just in time for the start of meteorological summer!

📸 Seated happily by the window, I took the photo below just as we reached Auckland’s west coast, the prominent cliff marking a place called Manukau Heads.

Wave after wave along the west coast of Auckland

It’s been a wet and warm November around New Zealand, which has left the flowers happy and the people grumpy.

The Jasmine flower loves Auckland’s climate and people love its fragrance

🌅 But it’s not too long now before the sun sets on meteorological spring and rises on summer, which will be welcomed by Kiwis with open arms, along with the promise for a drier December.

Whatever the season, I hope your week is meteorologically magnificent ✌️