Deck the Halls with Active Weather
A Special Christmas SAWX forecast
Welcome to this special edition of Stone Age WX [SAWX], where we take a look at the weather forecast for Christmas Eve(ning) through Christmas Day! My love of the WX has compelled me to offer you this, a bonus drop from The Stone Age, and I hope you enjoy it.
So let’s talk about the weather, agenda-free as always…
When I was pre-preparing for this forecast last week, it seemed as if it was going to be a easy one - seasonal conditions and temperatures above-normal for many locales. While we are looking at manageable temps across most of the nation, two major systems have developed to threaten the 2024 holiday cheer.
[Well, three systems if you include the Pacific Northwest, but they almost always have weather-hiccups this time of year. In fact, a ‘major system’ for them is more like when they happen to experience clear skies and sunny conditions, instead of actual… weather! Nevertheless, seasonal rain is still technically ‘weather,’ thus we will call it three systems.]
The first of these systems is a broad band of showers stretching from east Texas northeast into south Illinois Tuesday evening; those in Texas have the potential to form into thunderstorms overnight, with up to a half-inch possible in some areas. These rains will reach further north and east overnight into Wednesday, covering the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys and all of Mississippi, although Day o’ Christmas rains are not expected to be heavy.
The second system is a massive disturbance which will affect north and central sections of the Rockies and Great Basins in the west. Rains (a few likely becoming heavy locally) will fall across most of the lower-elevations in the region, while higher elevations will get snows. Current models do not show particularly heavy blankets for those areas, however, so while it could get messy? Basic winter-preps should be sufficient to serve a majority of you.
Another feature many Americans could experience during this yuletide season is fog. Much of Minnesota can expect soupy conditions Tuesday night, with eastern sections of the Dakotas, western Texas, along with Kansas and Wisconsin, getting saturated overnight into Christmas morning. Nearly all of the low visibilities are expected to lift by noon EST, although California’s Sacramento and San Juaquin Valleys may see some fog in the late morning.
Then there is the aforementioned Pacific Northwest (which does include northern California) and their usual shenanigans. Rains in lower elevations (with localized heavy downpours possible), and snows in the higher elevations (again, some of which could be heavy). Second verse, same as the first.
Meanwhile, temperatures are going to be mild-to-warm for a vast majority of the nation, with some areas seeing marks 10°-15° above normal. The only real region of concern will be New England in the overnight hours tonight, with lows in the single-digits and teens across north-eastern New York, northern Vermont and New Hampshire, and pretty much all of Maine. Per usual for late-December, bundle up if you are in these areas.
Oh, and Florida will be in the 70°s - because of course it will…
And that is all for this edition of Stone Age WX, an exclusive weekly feature of The Stone Age. Be in the now, look up, stay weather-aware…
… and have a very merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy this season of love and joy.
Thank you for your continued support, and - if not already a subscriber - join me as we build a unique Substack subculture of information, entertainment, and enlightenment. Also consider becoming a paid Member, for additional content and other shenanigans!
Notes…
-- I am not a meteorologist; I am merely a weather enthusiast who loves discussing all things related to weather. As such, these forecasts are for entertainment purposes only.
-- To gather accurate, up-to-date forecasts for your area, or in the event of a weather-related emergency, always check with your local weather sources, your favored weather app, or listen in to your weather radio.
-- All information presented here is based on data gleaned from the National Weather Service, and is thus public domain.
-- Unless otherwise credited, all images were generated by the author, using Grok 2 or Substack’s AI Image Tool.
I’ve been willing the temps to stay in the high 40s here in the Rockies so all the snow we received rather early as winter goes. Unfortunately, 2-3 days of chemtrails around the clock blocked the sunny skies that were forecast. But it’s not too shabby today. Not looking forward to snow tomorrow 😂
Merry Christmas to you and yours!!
Yes. Great to hear from you. Just trying to navigate modern American life for myself and family. I've been very blessed as of late.... But I also walked a tough road for many years. I'm no stranger to suffering but it's probably the best thing that's happened to me. I do enjoy reading your thoughts. I have great memories of being in school with you and others... I didn't know how good I had it.