Dangerous wind chills across the South Plains

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Dangerously low wind chills are expected across much, if not all, of the KCBD viewing area Thursday and Friday. We’ve designated both days as First Alert Weather Days. We do this when the weather may interfere with activity and disrupt our day-to-day routine.

Wind chills as low as -15°F are likely Thursday and may drop as low as -25°F by Friday morning in some parts of the viewing area. Northerly winds from 20 to 30 mph, with gusts up to around 45 mph, are expected behind tomorrow mornings cold front.

A WIND CHILL WARNING, issued by the National Weather Service, covers roughly the northern two-thirds of the viewing area. This includes Lubbock, Levelland, and Plainview. Wind chill warnings are rare for the Lubbock area.

In addition to the extreme wind chills, temperatures will be the coldest we’ve experienced in any December in more than 30 years.

As noted the past several days, a few snow flakes or snow grains may fall but there will not be any accumulation. I do not expect any measurable precipitation.

Sub-zero wind chills will continue through about midday Friday. Wind chills near zero are likely through Friday afternoon.

If you don’t have to be outside, stay inside. If you must go out, dress for it. At the forecast wind chill factors frostbite (to exposed skin) and hypothermia may begin in less than 30 minutes.

- Leave no skin exposed, especially nose, fingers, and ears

- Dress in several warm, lightweight layers

- Limit time outdoors to less than 30 minutes

- Check on elderly and infirm family and friends

- Pets need protection from the cold

- Animals outside need shelter from the wind and the cold

Also, don’t forget pipes. Outdoor pipes should be drained and wrapped, or allowed to drip. For inside pipes, don’t set your thermostat too low, open cabinets under faucets on outside walls, and let some faucets slowly drip.

The Winter Solstice

Winter begins today. Why? Because the Winter Solstice is today. It marks the point when Earth’s axial tilt shifts the North Pole farthest from the Sun, which translates to the fewest hours of sunlight of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

Each day for the past six months the sun has appeared a little lower in the sky. Today, December 21, is the date the sun stops moving southward in our sky, it pauses. After today it will move a little higher in the sky each day. This pause is the Winter Solstice, marking the astronomical beginning of winter.

It is the tilt of the Earth, and not the distance from the Sun, that causes the winter and summer solstices and the seasons. Each hemisphere’s cooler months happen when it’s tilted away from the sun, and its winter solstice (December in the north, June in the south) marks the point when that half of the globe is tilted at its most extreme angle relative to the Sun.

It’s called the shortest day of the year, a reference to the amount of possible daylight from sunrise to sunset. It is, however, not. Due to the discrepancy between clock-time and sun-time, the shortest day precedes the solstice by about a week or so.

For Lubbock:

Earliest sunset of the year - 5:39 PM (CST) around December 4

Latest sunrise of the year - 7:53 AM (CST) around January 8

Earliest sunrise of the year - 5:37 AM (CST) around June 12

Latest sunset of the year - 8:02 PM (CST) around June 29

Maximum daylight (shortest night) is in June, when the length of day is about 14 hours and 20 minutes. Minimum daylight (longest night) is in December, when the time from sunrise to sunset is about 9 hours and 55 minutes.

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