Coldest morning of the season, so far!

Forsyth Missouri - Shiver me timbers! Our first shot of really cold air of the fall season occurred on the morning of Friday, October the 29th when temperatures dropped to the mid twenties (27F) in some parts of southwest Missouri! A combination of high pressure, clear skies and calm winds all created a situation where radiational cooling could have maximum effect. Think about it. Temperatures in the twenties and it’s not even November yet. Wow!

The temperature fall overnight was an impressive one. All the way from the mid fifties in the late afternoon to a chilly 34F just after midnight. By 3AM, the mercury had fallen to thirty degrees and then after that things really got seriously cold with a 6AM reading in the mid twenties. Brrr! I can tell you that when it gets this cold, the old electric meter is really spinning that little metal disk! I’ve got my furnace turned on and set to 71F. I even have a couple of space heaters deployed in keys areas to supplement it.(See my article on heat conservation due later this winter). With some electric customers having suffered a recent 14% hike in their rates, a cold and long winter season could have a measurable impact. Just how cold can it get? Well, in 1905 in Warsaw Missouri on February the 13th the temperature plummeted to 40 below zero! If that wasn't bad enough, it can also get cold for a long time. The current record for our state was the winter of 1978-79 that posted an average temperature of only 24.1 degrees. I'd hate to see the electric bill from back then!