Frost possible this weekend

The cold weather is expected to get colder this weekend as temperatures drop into the mid-30s overnight Saturday and Sunday. Assuming that the winds remain calm and these clouds finally clear out, this will lead to a chance of patchy frost both nights. It shouldn't come as any surprise that the weather in September (too warm) quickly gave way to October (too cold), with little in between. That's pretty typical for Missouri, where beautiful days in the upper 60s and lower 70s are worth their weight in gold. Hopefully next week will be better. ** Winter outlook The latest outlook from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is calling for average temperatures with less-than-average precipitation this winter. Southeast Missouri is right between projected warm areas (to the northwest) and cool areas (to the southeast). We are just barely located in a bubble where drier weather is expected. NOAA is basing much of their forecast on a strengthening El Niņo pattern. NOAA's temperature map: NOAA's precipitation map: ** "Winter Storm AC/DC" As you may recall, last winter I named approaching winter storms after characters from "The Simpsons." It was quite appropriate that the worst storm of the season was "Winter Storm Flanders" since, of course, "Everybody Hates Flanders." Earlier this year, I ran a poll asking for the best naming scheme to use during the upcoming season. The results were inconclusive. Switching to "Family Guy" characters was the slight favorite, but many people weren't too thrilled with that choice. Some suggested using names from rock bands or song titles. OK, so let's try this again. Vote for your favorite naming scheme, or submit your own:

What naming scheme should the Weather or Not Blog use for winter storms during 2009-2010?  Keep using "Simpsons" characters  Switch to "Family Guy" characters  Adopt names from rock groups or song titles  Use names of famous villains, criminals, and politicians from history  Go with something else

Your comments: (Optional) (And if you think this whole thing is silly, well tough. It's much better than the coverage on TV, where every approaching storm is immediately dubbed "Winter Storm 2010" complete with its own logo and soundtrack plus live reports from Broadway where nothing is happening. We can do better.)