Getting Colder

As if there hasn’t been enough of a chill in the air lately, yet another round of Canadian air will take hold of our area for a few days. Of course a lot of people say that if it’s going to be this cold there might as well be snow, but this system doesn’t have much moisture to work with.  Temperatures in the Dakotas were almost 30 degrees below zero Wednesday night!  You’re not only going to want all of your warm weather gear, but the hand lotion as well.  This is textbook arctic air which means that it’s not just very cold, but it’s very dry…originating over land.  In fact, by Friday it looks like you’d have to cool the air down to below zero before it would be saturated.  That’s a huge deal!  Normally in the winter we’d have a “dewpoint” (called “frostpoint” when it’s below 32) in the 30s, fluctuating with time as south winds bring in Gulf or Atlantic moisture periodically. 

So what’s your take on this latest round of bitterly cold air?  It’s been 4 years since we’ve seen a setup like this with two consecutive days with lows in the teens.  I think there are two camps here:  one of them wants more cold weather PLUS a chance of snow, and the other camp is wishing for Spring!  Which one are you in?  Let me know!  Personally I’m wishing for a trip to the tropics!!