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Boston College Forecast:                                                                                        

“If we can’t win the ACC we’d might as well try to ruin someone else’s season.”

                                                            -Bob W.                                                                                          Target Boise

THE INTRO: 

Well unfortunately things in October did not pan out the way we were hoping.  After barely holding on to beat Ga Tech, we lost a heart breaker to UVA, and were quite frankly out matched versus Clemson.  And now the out look for our season isn’t so good.  The UNC game this weekend is pretty big being that we need to win 2 more games and we only have 4 left. 

But what I think is the most depressing news of all is that the Boston College game is our last tailgate of the year.  I can’t believe the season is already over.  Why do we have to finish with two road games?  At least as a compromise the ACC or the TV people have rewarded our hard fought tailgating efforts with a night game.  So at least I no longer have to set my alarm for tailgates this year (though honestly I can think of worse problems). 

And though we don’t really have anything specific to play for, other than making sure we get that elusive sixth win, this game is going to be fun because not very often do you get a chance to knock off a school in the top 2 of the BCS rankings.  In terms of the conference, it is probably good BC is having such a great year, but in terms of being a Maryland fan, F THEM!  This is our chance to be the lead story on Sports Center.  This is our chance to generate some buzz for the program.  This is our chance to knock off the #2 team in the country. 

Let’s get realistic here, I’m not sure when was the last time Maryland knocked off someone ranked this high, but the chance to even accomplish that doesn’t come along very often. In addition…seriously, if we are ever going to beat a #2, isn’t this the time to do it?  Is BC really the 2^nd best team in the country, or are they there by default?  I think we all know the answer to that.  Now granted our team is but a shell of itself with all the injuries, but the way this season has gone, why can’t we win this game? 

Regardless of our chances, this is the last chance we will all have to hang out for a little bit.  Even if we do make a bowl game, in say Charlotte, and everyone goes, that is still almost 7 weeks away.  So because we are playing the #2 team in the country, and because it is an 8:00 start, and because it is the last tailgate for a while, there is really no reason why all of us shouldn’t be in attendance, and completely 100% “up” for this game.

So lets look at the forecast:

THE HISTORY:

The Terps are back for Senior Day so we go back to the College Park weather history for this one.  The average high for this date in College Park is only 59 degrees.  The average low is 42.  This is unfortunately our last realistic chance for the elusive ACC “Snow Game” but the odds of that happening are still pretty long to say the least.  For the first time this year, thanks to my hell week, we actually have a start time for the forecast.  This one kicks off at 8:00 so though tailgating might not be that cold, by the time the game starts things could be pretty chilly.   The record high for this date is 76 set way back in 1999, and the record low is 27 which was back before “The Great War” in 1914. 

THE FORECAST:

This is actually a big forecast for me.  I rallied a little with the Clemson one, but it was far from perfect, and the two forecasts before that were bombs, so I need to come strong on this one.  The Farmers Almanac doesn’t really seem to care though and the only tip I got for this day was that there will be light snow in New England (perfect time for a road trip for Bix!).  So I’m going to assume that means the temperatures down here will be slightly cooler than normal, but no precipitation.  So here we go:

The forecast for the November 10^th “Terps vs. the DDT Eaters” game is that it is going to be chilly.  The high should be in the mid to lower 50’s, we’ll say 54.  The low should be in the upper 30’s, we’ll say 38.  Please keep in mind though that we will begin tailgating during the warmest part of the day, but it will cool off quickly once that sun starts to dip. The winds should be breezy, as they often are this time of year.  I’ll put them in the 10-15 mph range.  The sky will be partly cloudy, but precipitation won’t be an issue.  So overall I’m saying High 54, Low 38, mostly sunny, with just a moderate breeze.  For mid November, really not that bad of a day. 

There aren’t really any warnings for this game.  Maybe a breeze warning, but that is it.  We shouldn’t need any rain gear, and definitely won’t need any sunscreen.

The game day sunrise for College Park, MD on November 10, 2007 is 6:44 AM.  The sunset should be around 4:58, yep that’s right.  I had to double check, but it’s time to set your clocks back.  Hello dark depressing winter. 

As for the moon, it won’t be very visible since it will be rising at 7:33 AM and setting at 5:02 PM.  Even if it were out at night, it is 100% new, so you wouldn’t see anything anyway.   

THE HURRICANE REPORT:

Go figure, the first real hurricane threat of the year comes in November.  Of course Noel will be long gone by next Saturday, but I did have to flirt with the idea of changing the UNC forecast, but Chapel Hill is far enough inland that most people won’t know there is a storm out in the Atlantic, expect that it may be a little more breezy than usual.  But for Boston College we are going with a ranking of 4.

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THE SNOW REPORT:

Here we are.  Unless we get snow for the NC State game this is our last shot, and I don’t think it is a very good one.  The record low is 27 so it is certainly possible, but it doesn’t appear as if we have had any snow to note on this day in history, so I am comfortable to say that Maryland will not play in the snow this year.  Of course that could change if we get invited to the Boise Bowl.  Man I would kill to do that weather forecast! 

THE X-FACTOR: 

Just to show you some extremes that could happen and have happened on this particular date in weather history. 

• 1861 - A hurricane near Cape Hatteras, NC, battered a Union fleet of ships attacking Carolina ports, and produced high tides and high winds in New York State and New England. (David Ludlum)
• 1966 - Santa Anna winds fanned fires, and brought record November heat to parts of coastal California. November records included 86 degrees at San Francisco, 97 degrees at San Diego, and 101 degrees at the International airport in Los Angeles. Fires claimed the lives of at least sixteen firefighters. (The Weather Channel)
• 1968 - A tornado touched down west of Winslow, AZ, but did little damage in an uninhabited area. (The Weather Channel)
• 1987 - Early morning thunderstorms in central Arizona produced hail an inch in diameter at Williams and Gila Bend, and drenched Payson with 1.86 inches of rain. Hannagan Meadows AZ, meanwhile, was blanketed with three inches of snow. Unseasonably warm weather prevailed across the Ohio Valley. Afternoon highs of 76 degrees at Beckley WV, 77 degrees at Bluefield WV, and 83 degrees at Lexington KY were records for the month of November. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)
• 1988 - Low pressure brought gales and locally heavy rain to the northeastern U.S. The rainfall total of 1.46 inches at Newark NJ was a record for the date. New York City was soaked with more than two inches of rain. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 1989 - A strong cold front ushered snow and arctic air into the north central U.S. Snow whitened North Dakota and the Central High Plains Region. Up to five inches of snow blanketed Denver CO. Yellowstone Park WY was the cold spot in the nation with a morning low of 4 degrees below zero. (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.