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NC State Forecast:                                                                                       

“Carter Finley, the most southern point in Maryland (since we own it)”

            Chief D-7 Meteorologist Bob Wevodau

There are two games between now and the NC State game and it is really hard to summarize what this means to us until those games go final.  We win one of two and this is basically a playoff game for the post season.  We win both of those and well this is the difference between playing before X-mas or after.  We lose both, and at least we can get drunk.  But let’s try not to think about that last scenario.  It looked for a while that this game could be shockingly easy.  NC State was struggling, had to come from behind to beat Southern Miss in Raliegh (sans Brett Favre), a feat that doesn’t exactly send chills down their opponents spine, but then the FSU game happened.  I don’t know if it was State (I have a feeling it was) but they soundly defeated FSU in Tallahassee, which is more than we can say.  Now NC State always gets up for the Seminoles, but watching that game I was thinking to myself, if the Pack and the Noles played 10 games in a row.  I think NC State would win 6-7 of them.  They really looked like a better team than FSU.  So who knows which team will show up for this match up, but I would like to remind everyone, the Terps have not lost at Carter Finley in this millennium, in fact some of our greatest football moments have happened in Raleigh (no one will ever forget the Orange Bowl clincher, or “The Hit”).  Let’s just hope Ralph and the boys have one more great moment for us in 2005.  Now on to the forecast. 

NC State Update:

Could this be the last update of the year?  Let’s hope not.  The latest buzz is that the ACC Scrambled this week and guaranteed all it’s bowl eligible teams spots.  Of course that is pretty irrelevant until we beat NC State.  For Saturday, lets just hope the Terps are looking a little more sharp than the weather desk.  We predicted a high of 63, and as of now that isn’t going to happen.  The National Weather Service is calling for a high of 52 and a low of 28.  So we are overly optimistic by 10 degrees.  Of course a lot can change between now and Saturday (I am not conceding the L just yet!).  The good news is that the precipitation forecast is correct (screw you Farmers Almanac that was all me!).  Should be a sunny day, perfect for playoff caliber football, which after all, is exactly what this game will be. 

As usual we don’t have a game time this far ahead.  I am going to go out on a limb and say this is going to be a night time start.  If both teams have 5 or more wins coming in, it is basically a huge game for both programs.  I would hope that the powers to be would recognize this fact and reward these teams with a prime time affair.  If it is a night time game then obviously it will be a little cooler.  This is going to be a tough forecast to make.  I think we were in shorts the last time we traveled down to Raleigh and you just don’t ever know what you are going to get out of the Carolina fall.  Looking at the past history the normal day time high for Raleigh, North Carolina on November 26^th is 59 F°, the average low is 37 F°.  The record high for this date is 76 F° set back in 2001 (OH YEAH!!!) and the record low is 14 F° set back in 1950.  Can you imagine going to an ACC game in 14 F°.  Once again, I am much too level headed to call for anything close to either of those marks. 

When it comes to the Almanac there is good news and not so good news.  The good news is that it will be fair on Thanksgiving in North Carolina, the bad news is rain should be moving in by Saturday.  I am going to go out on a limb.  Let’s face it, the Almanac isn’t perfect and there wouldn’t be much to this if I just followed it blindly every Saturday, so I say we are tossing it out the window this weekend.  I am going to call for a typical NC fall day.  The high will hit 60 F°, possibly even topping out at 63 F°.  The low will be in the mid 40’s.  We’ll say 46 F° if you need an exact number.  The rain the farmers almanac is calling for, forget about it.  Don’t even pack a poncho (it will just take space away from the beer storage).  But it isn’t going to be all rainbows and lollypops I think we will also see a somewhat breezy day.  The kind of day that rattles even the most steady flip cup hands.  So there you have it.  I am tossing out all aides and am going strictly on my instincts.  The weather desk is having a pretty successful year so far and perhaps I am getting a little full of myself, but sometimes you have to take risks in this wacky business.  So to put this regular season officially in the books (sniff, sniff) here you go:

The forecast for the November 26, 2005 “Beat Back the Pack Bowl” is for great weather.  We are going to call it ideal football conditions.  The clouds will be few and far between (slight, slight chance of a late season sun burn) The morning will obviously start out a little cool, but by the time we leave Waffle House it should be in the mid 50’s.  The high WILL reach 63 F° by 2:00 pm or so and if we do get a night game that will be just about when things start heating up drinking wise.  By night time (I just know we are getting a night game I can feel it in my bones!!!) the temps will be back in the 50’s but nobody will be worried about the temperature at that point.  The main story for November 26, 2005 will be on the field.   Winds could a little bothersome with gusts between 15-20 mph, but nothing will ruin this tailgate.

The game day sunrise in Raleigh, NC on November 26^th is for 7:02 am.  The sunset is scheduled for 5:02 pm.  Hopefully we will be tailgating well until dark, and if we are the moon will rise 1:52 AM and will be up until 2:09 PM, ok so we won’t see the moon at night.  If we did we would see a waning crescent 26% illuminated. 

SNOW REPORT

With the addition of BC to the conference I just know the ACC will soon be in for their first snow game.  Hence starting in November (assuming I remember next  year) we will issue the snow report to keep an eye on this upcoming historical event.  By the way this event won’t be the Maryland-NC State game.  No measurable snow has ever fallen on Raleigh on November 26.  Chance of Historical Game 0%.      

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. 

• 1888 - A late season hurricane brushed the East Coast with heavy rain and gale force winds. The hurricane passed inside Nantucket and over Cape Cod, then crossed Nova Scotia. (David Ludlum) Wow something like that would really F up this forecast!
• 1896 - Snow and high winds hit the Northern Plains and the Upper Mississippi Valley, with a Thanksgiving Day blizzard across North Dakota. The storm was followed by a severe cold wave in the Upper Midwest. The temperature at Pokegama Dam MI plunged to 45 degrees below zero. (David Ludlum)
• 1987 - A Thanksgiving Day storm in the northeastern U.S. produced heavy snow in northern New England and upstate New York. Snowfall totals in Maine ranged up to twenty inches at Flagstaff Lake. Totals in New Hampshire ranged up to 18 inches at Errol. Gales lashed the coast of Maine and New Hampshire. A second storm, over the Southern and Central Rockies, produced nine inches of snow at Kanosh UT, and 13 inches at Divide CO, with five inches reported at Denver CO. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)  That ACC snow game is out there somewhere!!
• 1988 - Thunderstorms produced severe weather over the Central Gulf Coast States during the late morning and afternoon hours. Five tornadoes were reported in Mississippi, with the tornadoes causing a million dollars damage at Ruleville, and in Warren County. In Utah, the town of Alta was blanketed with 15 inches of snow overnight, and during the day was buried under another 16.5 inches of snow. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 1989 - A massive storm over the western U.S. produced heavy snow in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. The storm produced more than two feet of snow in the higher elevations of northern and central Utah, bringing more than sixty inches of snow to the Alta Ski Resort in the Wasatch Mountains. Winds in Utah gusted to 60 mph at Bullfrog. The storm brought much needed snow to the ski resorts of Colorado, with 19 inches reported at Beaver Creek. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)