Rivalry Weekend

Well guys today and this weekend is the weekend of the year. FSU vs. FLorida, Michigan vs. Ohio State, Alabama vs. Auburn, and most importantly for me, NC State vs. UNC. It's going to be an awesome day.

We've had some very interesting winter weather across the Eastern United States these past couple of weeks. Long synoptic-scale fronts have brought waves of winter weather to the mountains of NC and SC, and to Virginia and North. We have also had two serious Lake-effect snow storms in NY, the first of which produced 88 inches of snow just SE of Buffalo. These storms have since ceased though for the time being. The next wave is in the NW right now moving ESE. 

The weather in Raleigh tomorrow will be very different from the overcast, rainy conditions we've had for the past couple of days, though it will be chilly still. The low we will experience this morning in Raleigh is in the mid to upper 20's, but it's possible that the low-mid 20's could be felt due to clear skies allowing for quicker emission of infrared radiation. The high today will be in the low-mid 50's but the wind out of the southwest will make things feel a bit warmer. 

NC State is bringing the full band to UNC. Here is what we need to worry about for today:

1. Sunglasses. I believe we will be facing South or Southeast for the game and since we'll be playing at noon, it'll be important to protect our eyes from the bright almost-winter sun

2. Chap Stick. It's going to be cold outside today and our lips will get dried out. Keep the chap stick with you to keep them protected.

3. Game Day Intensity. Look, this is Rivalry weekend. Be crazy!

I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving and black Friday, and have a great weekend!

Christmas Time is Here! Well... Almost.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas in Raleigh, NC! Today marks the 70th anniversary of the Raleigh Christmas Parade, and there is no shortage of regulars and new attendees for the Parade! The Broughton High School Marching Band is opening the Parade as is tradition, Cary High School Marching Band performs right before Santa Claus, and North Raleigh Christian Academy Marching Knights are holding down the middle of the Parade. This year though we have a new, very large addition to the parade: the larger-than-300-person North Carolina State University Power Sound of the South Marching Band! This will be the first year in the Parade for the Power Sound since the early 1960's!

It's a nice day for a Christmas Parade too! Temperatures start off cold this morning in the mid 20's, rising to about freezing by the beginning of the Parade at 9:40. The high today should be around the low 50's, and conditions will remain sunny and relatively calm throughout the day. Tonight, though clouds will move in later this afternoon, the low will still get down to the mid 30's. If you're sitting at home tonight watching some of the later NCAA football games, it might be a good idea to throw a couple of logs in the fireplace and keep the living room warm!

This is going to have to be a shorter post because I am pressed for time, but I want to bring to everyone's attention the crazy winter weather we have going on around the Great Lakes. This past week a line of Lake Effect Snow blanketed parts of up-state New York between areas just south of Buffalo over to Rochester, as some areas had over 7 feet of snow, 5 of which fell in the first 24 hours of the event. Talk about winter weather. If that amount of snow came to Raleigh, we'd be gridlocked for about 3 weeks. Check out these totals! The areas which say 70+ inches actually received 88 inches of snow!

Right now the Great Lakes region is experiencing a good deal of freezing rain due to the  lake effect moisture and biting cold temperatures. The entire region is under a Freezing Rain Advisory! Keep in touch with your local meteorologists for updated information on these storms.

That's all for now! Have a great weekend!

Home Again!

After a long stretch of away games and bye weeks, the Wolfpack returns to Carter-Finley Stadium to take on the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech! If NC State wins this game, they become bowl eligible again. This would be the 3rd time in 4 years to be bowl eligible as a result of winning their second conference game since 2012. The Men's basketball team is playing tomorrow approximately 45 minutes after the football game too! It's going to be an awesome day.

Weather here in Raleigh really couldn't be more perfect for an early November weather report. The high in Raleigh tomorrow is forecasted to be in the upper 50's with sunny skies and a gentle northerly breeze, but being as early of a game as it is, the temperature will be in the mid 30's for the beginning of that tailgating so bring a jacket!

A high pressure system is sitting over the Ohio Valley right now and is dominating the weather for our region, making for clear skies and much cooler temperatures in some places. Parts of Atlanta and South Carolina in the Southeast, and most of Montana in the Northern Midwest.We also have a lot of wind over the Great Lakes and off the coast of the New England States and watercraft advisories and gale warnings are being issued for these areas.

This has been a short post, but for right now fortunately there is no severe weather news to speak of in the United States. I may have a post later this weekend concerning global weather phenomena considering we have a super typhoon in the Pacific and the Volcano in Iceland is still spewing ash 1000's of feet into the air.

Game Day Essentials:

1. Chap Stick or some sort of lip protection - with the temperature and dryness of air we will experience today, lips will dry out and get chapped quickly, so be sure to protect them.
2. Jacket - It's going to be chilly tomorrow, especially for tailgating. Be sure to dress warm in the morning but have layers to spread and put back on throughout the day. I believe we are going to have our belongings on the bus.
3. (As Usual) Game Spirit - Voice, Attitude, Passion. We need to win more games, and we need you guys to do it!

First Real Signs of Winter

Not only is the temperature dropping significantly for a few days, but snow is also falling or getting ready to fall in numerous regions across the the United States, and winter storm watches and warnings are being issued in a handful of states. Raleigh probably will not be experiencing any of this winter precipitation in the next week or so, but if you are heading to the Appalachian mountains in NC, KY, VA, or TN then you may be in for a pre-winter treat! Raleigh will be cold this weekend.

Mountains

Boone, NC has 3.5 inches of snow forecasted over the weekend, and other areas in the upper elevations have up to 10+ inches forecasted! It has already been snowing in Boone overnight. Depending on how quickly the cold front moves across the mountains, we will see more or less precipitation than that, but those are some rough forecasts.

Coast

If you are headed to the coast for this weekend, then be careful of wind. High wind warnings and small craft advisories are in effect for much of the eastern Seaboard as there is a deepening low pressure system ahead of a intensifying digging trough. (What does that mean? Well, our weather is typically generated by temperature and pressure gradients and trough-ridge systems. A high pressure system is typically associated with a ridge, and a low pressure system is typically associated with a trough. A digging trough means that there is a strong jet stream on the western side of the trough which is enhancing the pressure and temperature differences across the area, making winds stronger and precipitation heavier.) Due to this strengthening trough, precipitation will occur in the mountains and winds will occur at the coast. I do not have the image now, but last I looked the low pressure system was generating sustained surface winds of almost 70 knots (80 mph) so be careful if headed east.

Around the US 

Mr. Bill Bleach took this photograph and Meteorologist and
Storm Chaser Reed Timmer shared the photograph.

Yesterday we had some pretty crazy weather up near the Great Lakes! Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, IL was experiencing some serious storm surge from high winds, and some waves 20 feet tall were breaking and rolling over the road. Parts of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois on the southern coast of Lake Michigan are all under a Lakeshore Flood Advisory.

Western Montana and Eastern Idaho are under a winter storm warning.

Western Utah is under a high wind warning.

Texas is under a child abduction emergency.

North Central California is under a winter storm warning.

Game Day

It's game day again! After a bye last week, NC State is traveling to Syracuse in an attempt to win our first conference game since 2012! We have not had much success this year, and no success in the ACC, but hopefully that will change today! Kickoff is at 3:00 pm today in the Carrier Dome. The weather for Syracuse is cold and wet. The low should be getting down to about 40 this morning and the high will not be much warmer in the upper 40's with a good chance for rain throughout the day. Tonight into tomorrow (Sunday) morning the temperature will drop to about freezing and rain showers could turn into snow showers. These snow showers could last through Sunday as the high temperature on Sunday is only supposed to be in the low 40's, though little to no accumulation is expected.

Cary Band Day

One of the biggest, if not the biggest, high school band competitions in the state of NC takes place at Cary High School, and today there will be 41 bands performing including two exhibition bands: Cary High School Marching Band (the host school's band), and us, the NCSU Power Sound of the South Marching Band. I am so excited about getting to see many of these bands and getting to relive many of the great memories I have from high school. What's more is that our band at NC State is almost 200 marching members larger than the biggest high school band there. We are about 320 members strong this year, more than 3x's the size of many of the bands that will be there, and we can't wait to show them what it's like to be a part of something this big.

So, what is the weather going to be for today? Well, let's just say it's not going to be very conducive to an outdoor band competition. The high is supposed to be very close to that in Syracuse, NY interestingly enough in the upper 40's, and it is supposed to rain until around dinner or even a bit afterward. The Raleigh/Cary area could see up to 0.5 inches of rain today. We will need ponchos for our first performance, but I think we should be okay for the night performance. When we change out of uniform, it would be a good idea to have warm clothes and maybe even a towel packed. If you have your marching band rain jacket, that will be good to bring. I will be using mine tonight.

Daylight Savings Time

Remember that this weekend we fall back! This is the longest 2 day weekend of the year, and I will be taking full advantage of that extra hour of sleep. Don't forget to set your clocks back!