Before we get to a clipper with the capability to produce snowflakes and early season Arctic air this weekend, my climate and folklore guru Steve Gottschalk has wrapped up his annual count of woolly bears, this being year #49. The tradition of using the woolly bear to forecast the coming winter weather dates back to the colonial era in America. The myth gained widespread national attention after a 1948 study by Dr. Charles Howard Curran of the American Museum of Natural Histo

From the looks of the latest data, confidence has increased over the past 24 hours that many of us will see our first snowflakes of the season this weekend. There is still some question whether or not it will accumulate, but there is evidence that some part of the area may see enough to stick on elevated surfaces such as grass and whiten things up a bit. Roads however are likely to be too warm for any accumulation, so no problems are expected. The best of both worlds as far a

It's been a long fall for a weathehead like me, one who enjoys the excitement of storms and the challenges they bring. The last 2 1/2 months have been about as slow as it gets, with an endless slew of dry, mild days. Most of you are going, hey Swails, what's the problem, we like this kind of weather? I respect that, but I'm just not wired that way, and I've come to the conclusion that's never going to change. Anyway, I'm in a pretty good mood tonight as I see some fire in the

There are always two sides to a story, and in the case of the upcoming weather pattern, two scenarios for a weekend storm system with the European and American (GFS) models with a similar idea of a weekend system Thursday night/Friday morning, but with critically different details such as timing and placement. The operational European has decent rain chances over the area as depicted above. While not a significant amount of precipitation, it would run in the ballpark of 0.25"

A cold and foggy start to your Sunday as we officially move into Standard Time across the region. Morning temperatures will be near to slightly below freezing locally, but with the growing season officially considered over, Freeze Warnings are not in effect locally. Percent chance of going above normal in the medium to extended period are looking rather high with analogs (above) hinting at 70-80% probabilities, but late this month the pattern could get a little more interesti