Home
Up

North Carolina State Forecast:                                                                                        

“Would you like more wolf with your Turkey and Mashed Potatoes?”

                                                            -Bob W.                                             

THE INTRO: 

Somewhere along the line it appears that a tradition has been started where we play NC State on Thanksgiving Saturday.  I’m not saying this is a bad thing, in fact I think this is a great idea, because as much as both schools hate to admit it, we have a lot in common.  We both wear read, we are both named after endangered species, we both have Ag Schools (little know D7 fact is that Bob W applied to and was accepted by NC State), and we both seem to be the odd man out in the end of the year Rivalry Dance.

Clemson-South Carolina, Virginia- VT, Duke-Carloina, FSU-Miami, Georgia Tech-Georgia.  Name an ACC school and you can almost automatically name their rival, but when it comes to say NC State and Maryland, you kind of draw a blank.  Now maybe NC State does have a rivalry, but when you think of the state of North Carolina, you immediately think Carolina-Duke.  So as much as we don’t care to admit it, Maryland-NC State can work.   In fact it needs to work.  We’ve talked about Rivalry Games before; WVU isn’t happening again for a few more years, Penn State will never happen, Rutgers will probably never happen, and Navy just doesn’t feel right.  It is hard in this day and age to root against a service academy, so why not NC State?  They’re easy to root against!

Then again, do we really need the word “Rivalry” to take this series up a notch?  I’m already perfectly aware they don’t like us, on this side we all know “It’s great to hate…”, and throw in the fact that this is a divisional game, and well I guess there is enough drama already.  So though this doesn’t have a fancy name like “The Endangered Species Bowl”, it’s still a big way to end the year, and that is all you can really ask for. 

I dedicate the rest of this forecast to the Snively family.  I have a great time every time I go down to the NC State game, win or lose.  I would also love to be there for a full afternoon (or morning depending on game time) of ACC horse racing.  After all that is it’s birth place.  I will also miss all the great food.  I’m only not coming due to the pending birth of my first child, but if it was the second or third kid, I’d probably make the trip. 

Anyway, this forecast is for you: 

THE HISTORY:

We’re obviously in the Tar Heel State for this one, though I wonder if NC State Alums refer to it that way?  Regardless the average high for Raleigh on November 24^th is 60 and the average low is 37.  The record high for this date is 82 set back in 1973, and the record low was 15 set in 1970s.  It looks as though we will have a noon kick off for this so the temperature shouldn’t be too bad, plus you know my rule for on the road success, the earlier the start time the better, so let’s get to the forecast.

THE FORECAST:

Yikes looks like we just missed a bad storm, luckily for us the Farmers Almanac is calling for clear but cold weather for North Carolina on the 24^th.  That’s acceptable, I mean it is November, if it was too warm it’d probably freak a lot of people out.  It’s time for crisp days.  The good news is that there is no rain in the forecast, so all you have to worry about is layers, not rain gear.  So here we go:

The forecast for the November 24^th “Endangered Species Bowl” (Hey it’s gotta start somewhere) game is looking at some cool, but overall pleasant weather.  The high should be in the mid 50’s, we’ll say 54, and the low should be in the lower 30’s.  We’ll say 32.  It will be a day game so the temperature shouldn’t be too bad for most of the day.  The only problem may be in the morning where it may take some time to warm up.  The winds will be minimal, say 0-5 mph, and the sky will be mostly sunny.  Overall a great November day, and hopefully it will be the same on the field!  So overall I’m saying High 54, Low 32, mostly sunny, with just a slight breeze. 

There is a code yellow hat and mittens warning for this one, but that will probably be lifted after about 9:00 am.  Otherwise there should not be any need for any other advisories. 

The game day sunrise for Raleigh, NC on November 24, 2007 is 7:00 AM.  The sunset should be around 5:03. 

As for the moon, it will be 100% full.  It will rise at set at 7:08 when the tailgating should just about be in high gear, but it will rise again at 4:53 PM, It’s sort of doing the reverse sun thing on November 24^th. Since it’s full there is no waxing or waning, just a moon.      

THE HURRICANE REPORT:

I think we can wrap this up for the year.  It seems do to geography, North Carolina and Florida both play a big role in the Atlantic Hurricane season.  Though half of the ACC schools play in those two states, we have made it through the 2007 season with little trouble.  I guess that’s for the best, but I feel the Hurricane Report suffered from the slow season.  Oh well.  Maybe it will be back in 2008, but we’ll have to see how I feel.  Regardless, the ranking is zero, or I guess 1 since I just noticed I don’t have a zero on the scale. 

. 

THE SNOW REPORT:

There is no measurable snowfall in Raleigh on this date, unless the website I use just choose not to list it.  Snow is certainly possible, but I’m not expecting to see any.  But remember back when the Cowboys played in Dallas in the snow on Thanksgiving?   If it can snow in Dallas in November, why can’t it happen in ACC country?  I don’t get it.  But it never seems to happen.

THE X-FACTOR: 

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

• 1812 - Southwesterly winds of hurricane force sank ships and unroofed buildings at Philadelphia and New York City. (David Ludlum)
• 1863 - The "battle above the clouds" was fought on Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga. Pre-frontal clouds obscured the upper battle- field aiding a Union victory. (David Ludlum)
• 1950 - The temperature at Chicago, IL, dipped to 2 below zero to equal their record for the month established on the 29th in 1872. On the first of the month that year Chicago established a record high for November with a reading of 81 degrees. (The Weather Channel)
• 1982 - Hurricane Iwa lashed the Hawaiian Islands of Niihau, Kauai, and Oahu with high winds and surf. Winds gusting to 120 mph caused extensive shoreline damage. Damage totalled 150 million dollars on Kauai, and fifty million dollars on Oahu. The peak storm surge on the south shore was six to eight feet. It marked the first time in 25 years that Hawaii had been affected by a hurricane. (The Weather Channel)
• 1987 - Showers and thunderstorms produced heavy rain in southern Missouri, southeast Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma. Flooding was reported in Greene County of southwestern Missouri. Springfield MO was drenched with more than six inches of rain. Thunderstorms over southern Texas produced more than eight inches of rain in Caldwell County and Hayes County, and thunderstorms over south central Oklahoma produced one inch hail at Temple twice within an hour. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 1988 - Low pressure brought heavy snow and high winds to the Northern and Central Rockies. Snowfall totals in Colorado ranged up to 40 inches at Wolf Creek Pass, with 27 inches falling in 24 hours. Telluride CO received 32 inches of snow, and winds atop Mines Peak gusted to 95 mph. (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.