WEATHER
One big question today: how much sunshine breaks through the clouds? In the Triangle, I think the answer is “not much,” so temperatures will only reach the upper 60s. Farther south, a bit more sun will push temperatures into the mid 70s.
If the sun manages to break through to a greater extent, we’ll hit the low 70s in the Triangle — I don’t think it’s the most-likely scenario, but it’s within the realm of possibility.
Temperatures will drop off tonight as skies try to clear out. We’ll end up in the low to mid 50s in most spots, even some upper 40s in a couple locations!
Any lingering clouds won’t last long on Thursday, and temperatures will return to the mid to upper 70s — almost exactly “normal” for mid-October.
We’ll warm back up to around 80° on Friday, then into the low to mid 80s on Saturday. That’s warmer than normal, but it will be “comfortably warm” thanks to low humidity.
A few changes to the long-range forecast, most notably an increase to our rain chances Sunday and Monday. Several forecast models are trending in a wetter direction, including the usually-reliable European model — it shows a good chance of showers late Sunday into early Monday.
We’ve been so dry lately that I’m reluctant to push our rain chances up to even 50% yet, but it’s possible we’ll see some much-needed rainfall late in the weekend. Another decent rain chance heads our way by the middle of next week, just beyond the scope of the 7-day forecast.
TROPICAL UPDATE
We’re still tracking a few areas of disturbed weather in the Atlantic — none of which will directly impact our weather! Two of them are actually pretty close to the North Carolina coast, but they’ll move parallel to the coast even if they become tropical depressions. The National Hurricane Center estimates just a 20% chance of that.
The third disturbance has a better chance of becoming better-organized, but it is WAY out there in the Atlantic. Shipping companies will have to keep an eye on this one, otherwise it doesn’t look like a big deal.
LINKS
- While we enjoy some “normal” October weather, a winter storm and plummeting temperatures are taking aim on the north-central U.S.
- In the Pacific, “Hagibis” essentially went from tropical storm status to a Category-5-equivalent supertyphoon…in less than a day.
- Precipitation isn’t the only thing that shows up on weather radars.
- Power may be shut off for more than 700,000 customers in California to help prevent wildfires.
- For the 5th year in a row, the United States has experienced 10 or more billion-dollar weather/climate disasters.
- Due to the failure of wireless companies to restore service quickly in some hurricane-damaged areas, the FCC is pressuring service providers to improve reliability during and immediately after disasters.
- Up and down the mid-Atlantic coast, sea levels are rising rapidly, creating stands of dead trees — often bleached, sometimes blackened — known as ghost forests.
- This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to researchers who discovered exoplanets and explained the evolution of the universe.
- Is death reversible? An experiment that partially revived slaughterhouse pig brains (!) raises questions about the precise end point of life.
- You know how we’re all using social media and cable news to isolate ourselves in partisan news bubbles? Turns out there’s a lot of evidence suggesting that’s not actually happening.
- Today in “I knew it!” news: Dog ownership is associated with longer life, especially among heart attack and stroke survivors.