monsoonmartin

First of all, I want to wish my nephew a happy birthday.  He's a year old today!  Love ya, Griffin.

Anywho.  The scuttlebutt is that there's some snow in the forecast this weekend.

I wondered where the term "scuttlebutt" came from, and thought it had to do with coal or fireplaces (for there is mention of a "coal scuttle" in Dickens' A Christmas Carol), but I was not quite correct.

The term, nautical in origin, actually refers to a cask or barrel (a butt) of drinking water kept on the deck of a ship; this vessel had a hole (or scuttle) in its lid so that sailors could access the water.  Since the sailors often exchanged gossip whilst partaking in this fresh water, the term for a rumor became scuttlebutt.

So the scuttlebutt was literally the water cooler of the 19th century.

Sailors round the scuttlebutt, portrayed as far more staid and polite than they actually likely were.And for those who are now wondering what in Dickensian hell a "coal scuttle" is, it's a bucket or pail (a scuttle) which contains a modest supply of coal for feeding a coal-fired stove or heater.

This what happens when I decide to write a forecast: I cannot simply activate the prognosticational portion of my brain without activating all of it.

The weather.

It now looks pretty certain that the snow will stay to our south, giving us just a dusting.

The deets.

Light snow moves in about 8 or 9pm Saturday.  Little or no accumulation, but remember that even a dusting can cause travel woes on untreated roadways.  Maybe a snow shower or two overnight and early Sunday morning, ending by 5am and accumulating a coating to seven-eighths of an inch.  Lingering light snow shower through the rest of Sunday morning, but no big.

Cold.  (I mean, January.  Expect that shit.)  Saturday, Sunday, and Monday will see highs just at or below freezing (32) and lows in the upper teens or low 20s.  Calm wind, though, which will make a significant difference. 

Tuesday (pronunciation in Philly and immediate suburbs: TOOZ-dee) it'll get all the way up to 40.  A frickin' heat wave.

Looking at a smaller system for Wednesday night into Thursday that could give us snow and/or freezing rain.

That's all.

Monsoon