Wake Forrest Forecast:
“Wakey Wakey, hands off snakey”
Chief D-7 Meteorologist Bob Wevodau (quoting Earl Hickey)
THE INTRO:
Here it is, the biggest game of the year. We all knew this one was going to be huge, but for all the wrong reasons. Going through our schedule I had us projected as 5-6 and needing a win over Wake to become bowl eligible. On the other side of the coin, I had Wake in basically the same boat, and as it turns out they are in the same boat as us, except the boat is a lot different than the one I had imagined in my head back in August. There is still a lot of scenarios to play out over the next two weeks, but it looks quite possible that this game could be for the Atlantic Division Title (if we win the Division do we put that up on the field house like we do the Conference Championships??).
Regardless, who would have ever imagined after we eked out that FIU game that we would ever control our destiny for a BCS bowl this late in the season? I remember painting and listening to that game on my XM, and hearing FIU driving down the field. All I can remember is how angry I felt. I was angry, mostly because I was painting, but also because I was tired of this crap. I’ll never forget where the program was when we were in school, and I hate to sound spoiled, but I was angry people were calling for Ralph’s job, I was angry other local schools were having so much fun following their teams, I was angry because I was worried we would never recapture the magic of 2001-03. But now, I’m not angry. In fact I couldn’t be more happy.
Regardless of what happens these last few weeks, let’s be grateful for the 2006 season. We were given a team that was too young, and too inexperienced to dream about ever competing for a BCS bid, yet here we are. And maybe the fact that this was so unexpected is what makes it so great. It kind of reminds me of the 1989 O’s. They came out of no where and that is why you love them so much. Sure 1997 they went wire to wire, but they kind of were expecting to. And maybe that’s why I can remember more games from 1989 than I can from 1997 despite it being 8 years earlier. We have truly been lucky this season having so many memorable games. The 2006 Terps kind of reminds me of 2001 version, but that is tough standard to live up to. So for now, lets just be happy for what we’ve got. The November 25, 2006 Maryland Wake game could be for a chance to go to Jacksonville, but even if it isn’t, that’s okay. It’s been a great year for football, and a great year for Tailgating, and what more could you ask for in life?
Anyway, enough sap, lets get on to the weather:
THE HISTORY:
The average high in College Park, MD for November 25th is 54 F° and the average low is 37 F°. The record high for this date in College Park is 79 F° which occurred in 1973. I’m not sure if the Miami game 2 weeks ago set a record high, but needless to say it is probably too much to ask for another high in the 70’s. The record low is 18 F° which occurred in 1950 (See The X-Factor).
THE FORECAST:
According to the Almanac the weather for this hopefully crucial match up is Fair, then very unsettled with squalls moving in. Does that mean we are going to be invaded by Indian girls or does that mean rain? It’s so hard to tell with something as old as the Farmers Almanac. There is basically two ways to interpret that two part forecast, take the first part and run with it, or take the storms coming in and run with that. You have to figure we are due for a bad weather day after the Miami miracle, but like a lucky guy at the blackjack table, the shoe that is the “2006 Tailgating Weather” is hot, and I’m about to press my bets.
The forecast for the November 25, 2006 “Most Unlikely of all Atlantic Division Championship Game” is for typical November weather. It will be cold in the morning, but that’s okay because we have a 7:45 start for this one. Around noon we should see about 50 and as we move into the warmest part of the day we should top out at about 57. Overall not a bad day. Of course it’s pretty common this time of year to have some breeze, but we should probably escape the Indian attack. As for the low, it will hit at about 6:00 am and should be about 39 F. I’m not calling for anything other than a few clouds.
There will be no advisories for this game.
The game day sunrise in College Park, MD on November 25th is for 7:01 am. The sunset is scheduled for 4:48 pm which after our Boston trip will feel like the artic circle in June! As for the moon, it will be up around 11:29 AM, and won’t set until early Sunday morning. It will be a waxing crescent with 21% illumination.
THE SNOW REPORT:
Alright, once again we have something to write about here. Way back in 1938 (when Hitler was just some wacky guy we didn’t need to worry about) College Park was blanketed with 6.5” of snow. So I have got to admit there is certainly an outside chance we could see some white stuff for this one. Though the odds are still pretty long. Regardless the arbitrary number that I pull out of my head for the snow forecast will be 4% this week. Nothing to worry about, but if it happens, don’t say you weren’t told there would be a 1 in 25 chance of it happening!
Look here for further updates, as we get closer to game day.
THE CHARITY PLEA:
Don’t forget to save your
loose change and stray bills to donate to our “Save the Terrapin” fund.
Remember with every $15 we raise we can save/adopt one terrapin through the
Terrapin Institute, which will be saved (by being tagged) from commercial
harvest. All “STT” progress will be monitored on the website.
“Save us!”
As mentioned in the last Tailgate Recap, we are currently up to $286 and have saved 19 turtles. Lets try to at least double our yearly goal of $150 and finish up over $300. That would make a lot of Terps happy.
Look here for further updates, as we get closer to game day.
THE X-FACTOR:
Just to show you some extremes that could happen and have happened on this particular date in weather history.
- 950 - A great storm hit the Northern and Central Appalachians with snow and high winds. Winds reached hurricane force along eastern slopes of the Appalachians, with gusts to 100 mph at Hartford CT, 110 mph at Concord NH, and 160 mph at Mount Washington NH. Heavy rain also hit the eastern slopes, with eight inches reported at Slide Mountain NY. The western slopes were buried under heavy snow. The storm produced record snowfall totals of 27.7 inches at Pittsburgh PA, and 36.3 inches at Steubenville OH. The snow, and record cold temperatures, resulted in 160 deaths. (25th-26th) (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
- 1970 - The temperatur
- 1e at Tallahassee, FL, dipped to 13 degrees, following a high of 40 degrees the previous day. The mercury then reached 67 degrees on the 26th, and highs were in the 70s the rest of the month. (The Weather Channel)
- 1983 - The "Great Thanksgiving Weekend Blizzard" hit Denver, CO. The storm produced 21.5 inches of snow in 37 hours, closing Stapleton Airport for 24 hours. The snow and wind closed interstate highways around Denver. Visibility at Limon CO was down to zero for 24 hours. (The Weather Channel)
- 1987 - An early morning thunderstorm in southeastern Texas produced high winds which rolled a mobile home east of Bay City killing two of the four occupants. Thunderstorms produced locally heavy rains in central and eastern Texas, with nine inches reported at Huntsville, and 8.5 inches at Wimberly. Snow fell across northern and central Lower Michigan, with totals ranging up to nine inches at Cadillac. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
- 1988 - Thunderstorms produced severe weather in Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma and northwest Texas during the day and into the night. Thunderstorms in Texas produced softball size hail at Alba, and wind gusts to 80 mph at Krum. Hail and high winds caused nearly five million dollars damage at Kaufman TX, and strong downburst winds derailed twenty-eight freight cars at Fruitvale TX. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
***This is a disclaimer to remove all responsibility on myself if this forecast is wrong. Being that it is very difficult to predict the weather greater than 48 hours in advance, the odds of needing this disclaimer are about 100%. However I do believe this forecast will be pretty close to what we can actually look to expect.