DON'T DREAM OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS

Area residents got a calling card of cold weather Tuesday in advance of today's official start of winter.

But weather forecasters predict area residents won't see a white Christmas. In fact, temperatures are expected to warm up this weekend.

Temperatures are expected to be in the 40s on Saturday, Christmas Day. On Sunday, temperatures could climb into the mid-50s and possibly reach 60, said Doug Boyette, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky.

Winter officially began at 1:44 a.m. today, marking the winter solstice. That's when the sun appears at its most southerly latitude, directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer. In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year.

Mother Nature also is marking the occasion in another way. Today marks the first full moon to occur on the winter solstice in 133 years. The last time was Dec. 21, 1866.

Since the moon's orbit is closest to the Earth at this time, the moon will appear about 14 percent larger than it does at the point in its orbit when it is farthest from the Earth.

It also will appear brighter, said Southeast Missouri State University physics professor Dr. Michael Cobb. Since the Earth is several million miles closer to the Sun at this time of year than in the summer, sunlight striking the moon is about 7 percent stronger, making it brighter.

The low at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport early Tuesday was 21 degrees. A cloudy sky and a brisk breeze greeted bell ringers like Raymond Barnes of Cape Girardeau. With the spread of sunshine later in the day, temperatures climbed into the 30s by mid-afternoon.

Barnes spent Tuesday ringing a bell at the Salvation Army kettle in front of the main entrance to West Park Mall.

He wore three layers of clothing, including a coat and gloves.

When it is cold enough, Barnes said, he wears two pairs of gloves.

"Today is the coldest day," said Barnes, who walked around a little to keep warm.

"I figured it would have gotten colder a lot sooner," he said.

During the holiday season, Barnes on occasion has been given coffee by passersby.

The cold weather is good for the Salvation Army. More people drop money in the red kettles when it is cold, said the Army's Maj. Robert Gauthier.

The Salvation Army's goal is to raise $80,000 from donations to its kettles. "We are at $61,000," Gauthier said Tuesday. The bell ringers have been on the job since Nov. 12.

Donations to the kettles increase just before Christmas, he said.

Ringing those bells can be a cold job. Gauthier spent two years ringing the kettle bells in Chicago during the Christmas season. "We're talking cold," he said. At times it was so cold that he and other bell ringers could only man the outside kettles for 30 minutes at a time.

It wasn't that cold in Cape Girardeau Tuesday. But for area residents like Barnes, it was cold enough.

The winter chill was expected to linger through Thursday, with cloudy skies and the possibility of snow flurries in the forecast. "The atmosphere is cold enough that anything that falls will be snow," said meteorologist Boyette.

But he said there's no sign that the white stuff will rise above the level of flurries.

Local climatologist Al Robertson said December temperatures have been slightly above normal for the first 20 days of the month. The average daily temperature has been 43 degrees, he said.