Cold front to bring temperatures in teens

A cold front that has moved into the region will drop temperatures well below the average Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.

"It is going to get well down into the teens over the next couple of days," with the average temperature being 25 degrees, said meteorologist Jim Packett of the National Weather Service at Paducah, Ky.

Precautions should include adding extra heating and blankets, bringing pets inside and storing extra antifreeze, Packett said. Also, temperatures below freezing tend to affect the batteries and oil in vehicles, so people need to be aware that their vehicles might not immediately start Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.

A brisk wind out of the northwest will last most of today and die by tomorrow, which will allow colder temperatures to set in.

"You could think of it as a big area of molasses slowly moving across the area," he said of the front. High temperatures are expected to be in the mid-30s Tuesday and in the 40s from Wednesday to the end of the week.

Fast-moving cold fronts flowing from the northwest are normal winter patterns, Packett said, and they usually last two or three days.

But Southeast Missouri has experienced an unusual pattern of moist, warm fronts from the southwest that have brought rainy weather and temperatures in the mid-50s and 60s.

If the area remains in the normal pattern of fronts from the northwest, Packett said, the conditions could allow another low-pressure front to move in and bring snow that will "stick and stay."

By Sunday, forecasters will be able to more accurately predict whether Christmas will be white, he said.

jmetelski@semissourian.com

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