Windswept day to impact travel

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -Late this Sunday morning the overnight shower pattern has quickly moved on with the sun breaking through in time for church goers heading to Advent services or the start of the long trip back home after the Thanksgiving holiday. But lurking in the heavens is a ribbon of strong winds that is soon to be sucked down to the ground.

While we slept, showers passed with little fanfare even though in the clouds above winds were blowing at 50 miles per hour a mere 5,000 feet overhead. The process of dragging those winds down from the clouds to terra firma (dry ground on earth) is known as downward transport and can only be completed with the action of the sun. Like a giant vacuum cleaner sucking air from the heavens to ground, the sun will be relentless in making the wind blow all afternoon. Leftover leaves on trees will come tumbling down leaving behind new piles to be raked or blown away!

For travelers those winds will make for unpredictable crosswinds on airport tarmacs from O’Hare to Dulles and from Yeager and HTS to Laguardia, Logan, Douglas and Hartsfield airports. So delays due to wind and of course the high volume of traffic should be expected to Chicago, DC, NYC, Boston, Charlotte and Atlanta.

For those finishing the installation of outdoor Christmas lights be especially careful of using a ladder since the warm southwest will boost temperatures into the 60s while gusting to 30-40 miles per hour as Andy cautioned us last night.

Any leftover afternoon shower would be brief though a spring rumble can easily be heard in the distance.

One last word of caution focuses on fall brush fire season. Last night’s rains amounted to less than a quarter inch for many so a few hours of drying will render leaves dry again.