Weather
By Dan Skeldon
Thanksgiving: a time to reflect on all that we are thankful for. I think we’re all thankful that we’ve made it through one of the most turbulent two year stretches on record. From the pandemic to politics to yes, even weather, it’s been a tumultuous trip through time in 2021. But as this is a weather column, let’s focus on the meteorological marvels that we can be thankful for this Thanksgiving. And I’ll throw in some personal points of gratitude as well.
With the end of November comes the end of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. While the season got off to a busy start, the last few months have been eerily calm. Of course, the defining storm of the season was Hurricane Ida, which brought devastating flash flooding and unusually powerful tornadoes to western and northern New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. We can be thankful that the Jersey Shore was spared the worst of Ida’s wrath, and weathered another hurricane season fairly well.
Given the seemingly marked increase in tornadoes in New Jersey over the last few years, I’m thankful that the number of fatalities through all Garden State twisters remains at zero. That’s the number one goal of meteorologists, really through any violent and destructive weather. Property can be rebuilt, but life cannot.
If tornadoes are to indeed become at least a little more common in the Northeast with climate change, then I am increasingly thankful for the improvements in forecasting over the last few decades that greatly increases the accuracy and lead time of severe weather forecasting. Likewise, I’m thankful for the incredible strides in technology, particularly with cell phones, that allow for warnings and vital weather information to reach so many people so quickly. There will always be a place (I hope) for a broadcast TV meteorologist. But how we get our forecasts has changed and continues to do so each year.
While I’m a snow lover at heart, I’m thankful that the last few winters have been free of any major nor’easters or powerful coastal storms. We haven’t gone entirely unscathed, but we’ve been spared any multi-day, slow moving storm that brings damaging winds and major flooding to our coastline. Let’s hope that streak continues…
Nevertheless, I’m still thankful that an entire winter lies in front of us for hopeful opportunities to scratch that snow lovers itch that becomes increasingly itchy around the holidays. And I’m thankful for the forecast of a colder than normal December, which hopefully ups our traditionally meager chances for a white Christmas. Hope springs eternal for the South Jersey snow lovers, especially this time of year.
While parts of the country have been ravaged by massive wildfires, extreme drought, flash flooding, hurricanes, and tornadoes, Atlantic and Cape May counties have had a comparatively quiet year weather-wise. Our changing climate has and will continue to lead to more heartbreaking disasters each year. We can always hope to be spared, but if not, then to be prepared when it’s our turn.
On a personal note, I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to forecast, broadcast, and write about South Jersey weather for almost two decades now. And I’m thankful South Jersey has great meteorologists, like my meteorological mentor the great Jim Eberwine, the entire staff at the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly, and Joe Martucci at the Press of Atlantic City, just to name a few, all watching over us. Meteorologists like these are dedicated individuals who often eat, sleep, and breathe weather, all with the common goal of keeping us safe, prepared, and informed.
I’m thankful that the days will start to grow longer in less than a month. While I’m a fan of the snow and cold, the early darkness and shorter days can be a little bit of a downer this time of year. Granted, we’ll only add less than a minute of daylight per day onto each day a month from now, but you have to start somewhere.
I hope to be thankful that Mother Nature decides to not produce a major snowstorm for this snow-loving meteorologist on the eventual day that my second daughter comes into this world. We’re expecting our baby on Christmas Day, if the doctor’s “forecast” is correct. So getting to the hospital safely has to trump my desire for a storm that would bury us all.
Whatever it is you’re thankful for, here’s forecasting you and your family a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving Day!
Meteorologist Dan Skeldon has a degree in meteorology from Cornell University. He has forecasted the weather in South Jersey for the last 18 years, first on the former television station NBC40 and then on Longport Media radio. Dan has earned the American Meteorological Society Seal of Approval for Broadcast Meteorologists, and now does television broadcasts on WFMZ-TV in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley.
