Good Saturday, folks. Frosty conditions were noted across much of the region this morning and the coldest is still to come. Readings drop into the high 20s over the next few mornings and that means the growing season is over. Of course, if you’re a regular reader, we’ve talked about this weekend cold blast for nearly 2 weeks. 🙂

Once we get past this big cold shot, better weather moves in for the week ahead. As that’s happening, the overall weather pattern will take on a very active look and could get a helping from the tropics. A late season surge of tropical activity appears to be on the way.

The first area to watch will be the Gulf of Mexico for the next week and change. This happens as a cold front moves our way from the northwest. Some of the models show the mid-week front wimping out, but have the next front picking up a tropical system from the Gulf and moving it our way.

The Canadian model shows this next weekend…

Canadian

Check out that massive plume of moisture showing up on that same model…

Canadian 2

The European Model is a touch slower, but has a very similar theme…

Euro

Given that kind of setup, some wild solutions are on the table for the final week or so of October. From there, we may see another system try to pop somewhere in the Caribbean.

As all this is happening, the snow pack across the Northern Hemisphere should rapidly expand. The European Ensembles show this well over the next few weeks…

Euro 2If you’re a local winter weather lover, that’s a sign that should put a smile on your face.

Speaking of winter weather, the new JAMSTEC winter forecast is out. This model has been very consistent in showing a colder than normal winter around here…

JMA 1

You can also see the above normal precipitation around here and, especially, to our south and east. Purely based on the looks of that, one could surmise a very active storm track from the Gulf up the east coast. Hmm.

More winter talk with the next update.

Enjoy your Saturday and take care.