2011.12.09 by ekonon on Flickr

The shadows are long in mid-December. The weak sunlight can't much compete against a cold air mass and gusty winds, so at best we'll see the temperature hold steady for a few hours today before dropping to near 40 degrees by late afternoon. A quick look at the surface weather map this morning shows a low developing over Atlanta. As that moves offshore it normally would be a candidate for a nor'easter, but the high pressure system that will be over us the next couple of days is going to shunt that storm way out to sea.

Instead of a storm we are looking at a chilly mix of sun and clouds this weekend. Tomorrow's high will be in the lower 40s and Sunday's is only expected to reach the upper 30s.

This weekend's coolness is an aberration in our warm December. As the high pressure system moves offshore the temperature will rebound to near 50 on Monday. The forecast models start disagreeing as to what will happen once Tuesday rolls around and a storm approaches from the Midwest. Generally, it looks like a chance of rain Tuesday night and Wednesday, with temperatures staying above normal all week. We feel pretty confident there won't be a white Christmas in the Big Apple this year.