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It has been 80 days since the city of Seattle, Washington has had sunshine, but finally saw its first sunny day since Thanksgiving, while the south prepares for rain, sleet and snow as shoppers empty store shelves; plus, more of today’s top stories in weather news and forecast.
For people in Seattle, Washington, a sunny day hasn’t happened since Thanksgiving weekend 2019. Instead, they have suffered through 80 continuous days of cloudy weather.
But yesterday, the area had its first full day of sunshine – the first of the decade.
Keep in mind, how Seattle defines a “sunny day” may be a little different than how it’s defined elsewhere. A sunny day in Seattle is defined as having 30% or less of cloud cover between sunrise and sunset.
So it may not be a cloudless, clear blue sky – but with only a third of cloud cover, it’s the closest thing to a sunny day they’ll be able to get, so they’ll take it!
Widespread rain is forecast throughout the south and southeast today spanning from Texas to the Virginias.
Courtesy of a cold front will be some mixed precipitation and snow is forecast in some areas spanning from central and northern Arkansas across Tennessee, portions of Southeast Kentucky, and into the Carolinas and Virginia.
The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings for the following areas: central and northeast North Carolina; eastern Virginia; southern Maryland.
The National Weather Service has issued winter weather advisories for the following areas: Southeastern Colorado; northern and central New Mexico; northern Texas; the Oklahoma Panhandle; middle Tennessee; northern and central Georgia; Northwest and central South Carolina; all of North Carolina; Western and Southeast West Virginia; Western and Eastern Virginia;
Here are a few quick summaries of the top weather stories that have been around the US.
North Carolina: A winter storm warning has been issued for several areas and North Carolina in anticipation of temperature drops and snowfall that forecasters are predicting to be as high as 2-4 inches in the north and to the east. Other counties are forecast to receive between 1-3 inches, and others may see less than an inch.
Georgia: Winter weather warning and flash flood watch in effect for parts of North Georgia, as well as for counties south of I-20.
Florida: Wet weather it is in the forecast for all of Florida and temperatures are expected to drop as a cold front moves in.
Following winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories by the National Weather Service in various areas of the South, shoppers have made a rush on stores to stock up on supplies.
In North Carolina, Governor Roy Cooper encouraged the public to prepare – and that’s just what they did. Store shelves were left empty after shoppers descended on grocery stores there to grab as many necessities as possible before stores ran out of inventory.
However, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) made road preparations well ahead of the snow forecast.
NCDOT says the majority of the roads should be in passable condition, as ground temperatures are warmer than average.
Use prudence and judging conditions, but if you are caught without supplies you may still be able to travel to get them – your bigger problem may be finding them.
West: San Francisco 66, Los Angeles 80, Reno 55, Las Vegas 67, Salt Lake City 39, Denver 35.
Southwest: Phoenix 82, Albuquerque 50, El Paso 56, San Antonio 50, Brownsville 62.
Northwest & Northern Rockies: Seattle 55, Portland 62, Boise 39, Billings 36, Bismarck 36, Rapid City 41.
Central & Upper Midwest: Lubbock 42, Dallas 55, Oklahoma City 41, Kansas City 32, Minneapolis 16, Madison 17.
Ohio Valley: Chicago 24, Detroit 26, St. Louis 32, Cincinnati 34.
South: Houston 51, New Orleans 63, Memphis 44, Atlanta 43, Charlotte 44, Jacksonville 69, Tampa 83, Miami 81.
East: Norfolk 46, Washington, D.C. 41, Buffalo 24, New York 40, Boston 34, Bangor 8.
