Wake
Forecast:
“Time for a little Deaconstruction”
Chief D-7 Meteorologist Bob Wevodau
Though not the first game outside of Byrd this year, you can consider this our first “true” road game of 2005. If I understand correctly a bunch of D-7’ers will be making the trip so I had better not just mail this forecast in. The Terps make their first trip south this year to take on those pesky Demon Deacons. Wake is one of those teams that seems like every year they are on the verge of breaking out, but just can’t get it done. I hope things don’t change. This is a very big game for the Terps (in 2005 they are all big), and scoring a road win here would be great for the program. We know what the Gold and Black will be bringing but what does Mother Nature have in store for September 24, 2005.
Update:
The forecast for the Wake Forest game looks pretty good as of now, of course so did the WVU game at this time last week, but I think this one will stick. The National Weather Service (those hacks!) is calling for a sunny day, with a high of 83 and a low of 63. Our forecast was for a high of 80 and a low of 56 which all things considered is pretty close. No chance of rain though, which the farmers almanac had called for, though the D-7 weather desk quickly downplayed that prediction. So looks good for the Terps, hope we can say the same for the on field performance.
For the first time this year we are doing a forecast for a TBA game time. I am guessing this one won’t be a prime time affair, but since we don’t know for sure we have to be ready for anything. The average high for September 24th in Winston Salem, NC….Ok I have to confess I could not find any weather data for W-S, so I had to use Greensboro, I wasn’t going to say anything, but this way if I bust the forecast I now have an out… anyway the average high is 78F°. The average low is about 54F° which is a little chilly, but hey it is football season. The record high for the date is 93F° (1980) and the record low is 39F° (1963). Again, not a week to worry about any extremes, though anything close to 39 would suck.
The Farmers Almanac is calling for showers and thunder in the South East. Now their forecast area is from the VA/NC border the whole way down to Key West so I wouldn’t really call that a brave prediction. So just to be safe I will issue a Poncho Warning code yellow. Code yellow of course means you most likely won’t need it, but keep it in mind, just in case an unexpected shower or storm were to show up. I am going to go with my gut though and call for a rather pleasant day. Maybe a chance of late day showers or thunderstorms, but they shouldn’t be anything to worry about, especially if we get a noon kickoff.
The forecast for the September 24, 2005 “Reeking Deacon” game is for a pretty good day. Since we don’t have a kickoff time yet we’ll say the morning low will be 56F. As the sun comes up the temperatures will rise quickly and by 11am be in the 70’s. I think we will top out the late afternoon with a high around 79 or 80. The winds will be mostly light around 5 to 10 mph or so with occasional gusts, perhaps more gusty if we do get some storms. Again, though there is a chance for rain, it seems at this time to be pretty limited.
The game day sunrise for Winston-Salem (cough Greensboro) on September 24th is for 7:10 am, WS is a lot further west than one might think. Since we don’t know the kickoff time this may or may not be a factor. The sunset will be around 7:14 pm. Again we are just about at the midway point for the sunlight-nighttime ratio. The Carolina moon will be a wanning Gibbous which is about 58% full.
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.
- 1926 - The temperature at Yellowstone Park dipped to nine degrees below zero. It was the coldest reading of record in the U.S. during September. Severe freezes were widespread over the northwestern U.S. causing great crop destruction. In Washington State, Spokane County experienced their earliest snow of record. Harney Branch Experiment Station in Oregon reported a temperature of 2 degrees above zero to establish a state record for the month of September. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
- 1950 - A smoke pall from western Canada forest fires covered much of the eastern U.S. Daylight was reduced to nighttime darkness in parts of the Northeast. The color of the sun varied from pink to purple, blue, or lavendar. Yellow to grey-tan was common. (24th-30th) (The Weather Channel)
- 1972 - Lightning struck a man near Waldport, OR, a young man who it so happens was carrying thirty-five pieces of dynamite. (The Weather Channel)
- 1987 - The first full day of autumn proved to be a pleasant one for much of the nation, with sunny skies and mild temperatures. Thunderstorms again formed over Florida and the southwestern deserts, and also formed along a cold front in the northeastern U.S. A storm spotter at Earp CA sighted a couple of funnel clouds, one on the California side of the state line, and the other on the Arizona side. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
- 1988 - Thunderstorms developing along a stationary front produced large hail and damaging winds in the southeastern U.S., with reports of severe weather most numerous in North Carolina. Golf ball size hail was reported at Tick Creek and a number of other locations in North Carolina. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) yikes!
- 1989 - Forty-seven cities between the Rockies and the Appalachians reported record low temperatures for the date. Lows of 38 degrees at Abilene TX, 34 degrees at Jackson KY, and 36 degrees at Midland TX established records for the month of September. The low of 36 degrees at Midland smashed their previous record for the date by thirteen degrees. Fayetteville AR and Springfield MO reported their earliest freeze of record. Thunderstorms produced torrential rains in northeastern Florida. Jacksonville was deluged with 11.40 inches of rain, and flash flooding resulted in two deaths. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)