As we wait for the cold front to move through the Southeast tonight into tomorrow, I noticed that the highest temperatures in Georgia are in the northwestern part of the state. That is the area closest to the front, and is in an area of fairly strong winds blowing in from the southwest. Those winds are bringing the warmest air into the state even though it is late in the evening, which just shows the power of advection to control temperature when the weather is in a very dynamic state. Cloud cover and increased moisture may also be contributing.

By contrast, in southeastern Georgia we have clear skies and no wind at all, which is allowing the temperature at the surface to drop quickly as heat is radiated out to space. If we had a vertical profile of the atmosphere there we would probably see an inversion developing, with warmer air above the surface and cold air pooling at ground level. That will all change tomorrow as the strong front mixes up the air and brings cold and dry air across the region. The temperature map is from the University of Georgia weather network at www.georgiaweather.net and the wind map is from https://hint.fm/wind/ (it is animated there).

     

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