COLD WEATHER GREETS WINTER'S ARRIVAL TODAY

A chance of rain or snow followed by partly cloudy skies and colder temperatures will accompany the arrival of winter today in the Cape Girardeau area.

The cold weather will continue the rest of the week, with a chance of snow flurries on Christmas Eve.

According to the "Old Farmer's Almanac," winter officially arrives today at 2:26 p.m. CST. The winter solstice is also the shortest day of the year, and marks the end of the sun's southward journey into the southern hemisphere at an angle of 23 degrees south of the equator. Today is also the first day of summer in the southern hemisphere.

Since late June the days have grown shorter. After today, the days will grow longer until next June. However, for the next few weeks, because of discrepancies between clock time and solar time, lengthening of the days will take place only in the afternoon. The sun will continue to rise later in the morning until mid-January.

The coldest average temperatures of winter normally occur here between mid-January and early February. Al Robertson, climatologist and professor of geosciences at Southeast Missouri State University, said that's because of the time lag caused by the slow cooling of Earth and large bodies of water during the fall and early December.

The same is true in summer. For the long-term average, the hottest time of the year in Southeast Missouri occurs not in late June but in mid-July, after the sun has heated the Earth and bodies of water.

After a four-day cold spell in late November, temperatures this month have remained on the mild side. The coldest morning so far this fall was 24 degrees on Nov.27

That's in sharp contrast to the bitterly cold Christmases of 1990 and 1989. Southeast Missourian records show the morning low on Dec. 22, 1990, was 11. On Christmas Eve morning that year the low was 8, and when Christmas Day dawned there were several inches of snow on the ground.

But even those temperatures are mild compared to the bitter cold wave that gripped the region between Dec. 12-26, 1989. On four mornings -- Dec. 20-23 -- all-time daily record lows were set, including minus 4 degrees Dec. 20, minus 7 degrees Dec. 21, minus 11 degrees Dec. 22, and minus 9 degrees Dec. 23.

The low on Christmas Eve morning that year was zero, but it didn't set a record. There was also a trace of snow on the ground.

The cold wave abated a few days later, and by Dec. 27 the daily high was back in the 50s, where it remained through the end of the year.

The National Weather Service said highs Friday will be in the 30s and lows in the mid 20s in the Cape Girardeau area. Forecasters say chances of another white Christmas are very remote now.