Weather Summary and Forecast 1/13/13

I'll be posting rainfall totals by tomorrow evening. I'm keeping a running total on my RainWatch post. You can check that out to keep current.

Impressive rain totals across western KY with some amounts exceeding 5" since Thursday Jan 10.

Cold front blasting through the state today, promises to crush our January thaw. In fact, some residual moisture may freeze, causing black ice concerns and the dreaded I-can't-open-my-car-door syndrome.

In other news, the western United States is undergoing quite the cold spell. They're talking about possible frost on the beaches of San Diego and for Tijuana's sunrise.

Las Vegas, NV recorded low temperatures at or below freezing only 3 times last year, and that was in December last month. So far this year, counting today, this is Las Vegas' 8th day at or below 32 degrees.

On the flip side, if you want to call it that, Alaska has been 'enjoying' much above normal temperatures lately. Despite Fairbanks recording 8 consecutive mornings below zero, their average temperature is 9.5 degrees above normal for the month.. At Bethel, they're running 18.7 degrees above normal.

One of the snowiest locations in Alaska is Valdez. They have received nearly 80" for the season. However, that is way below average for them. Normally, Valdez should have recorded 151.8 inches by now for the season. Last year, at this time, they had already recorded 322".

In Texas, so far, it's been very wet this month. At Navarro Mills Dam, about 35 miles east of Waco, 5.28" rain has been recorded. Waco has had 4.83", most of that occurring on January 9th when they received a record 3.79" for the date.

Our forecast is calling for an extended cold spell. However, the NWS seems to think temperatures will run about normal for the area. They're holding off on precipitation chances for the rest of the week. There will be systems out there that will be worth keeping an eye on, though.

The CPC has put out a medium-range forecast that has the region in below normal temperatures for the January 18-26 period. However, precipitation looks to come in at below to much below normal for the same time period. It figures.

MS