The persistent chill of recent days moderates only slightly Wednesday as Thanksgiving
approaches. The three surges of cold air over the past week have put November's
temperature ranking in free-fall. The month's average temp -- once the mildest for a
November in the past 31 years -- has slipped to 40.3 degrees -- 1.2 degrees below
the 137-year average. That places November 2008 among the coldest 35 percent of
Novembers on record here since 1871.
Travel weather in the Midwest couldn't be much better as the Thanksgiving holiday gets
under way. But snow may occur before the holiday weekend ends. The moderately
colder air that hits with flurries Friday is followed by a stronger cold outbreak Sunday
and Monday which could interact with a buckling jet stream and some lake moisture to
generate snow here.
CALIFORNIA RESIDENT FEAR MUDSLIDES AS FIRST STORM OF RAINY SEASON
HITS
More rain may fall from San Diego to Los Angeles in the region's first storm of the
annual rainy season than typically falls in an entire November. Phoenix will see its first
measurable rain in 86 days.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune
