Explosive cyclogenesis coming

We've had an unusually mild fall so far, and even the rains haven't been so bad -- they've come in bursts, followed by days of relative dryness. But now the weather forecasters are warning that cold is on its way, and possibly snow as well.

I've put off rigging up a system to keep the chickens warm 'til now. A 40-watt light bulb in one of those caged outdoor/shop fixtures is now sitting by the door. Greg is going to try to affix it to the roof of the chicken coop tomorrow, while I'm at work. I hope it's enough to keep the chickens warm.

One of my coworkers with chickens is going to leave his birds as is -- he pointed me to a discussion on backyardchicken.com in which the author said he just let his birds adapt to cold weather and thought it made them hardier.

I don't know enough about meteorology to completely understand what the National Weather Service is talking about in its forecast discussion, but it sounds dramatic and interesting!

MODELS ARE ALL CONVERGING ON EXPLOSIVE CYCLOGENESIS ALONG THIS OLD BOUNDARY AS NORTHERN STREAM ENERGY DROPS SE ONTO THIS BOUNDARY. ALL GLOBAL AND MESO MODELS DROP SURFACE PRESSURES WITH THIS DEVELOPING SYSTEM FROM AROUND 1024 MB AT THIS TIME...TO BETWEEN 978 AND 985 MB AS THE LOW MOVES INLAND ALONG THE CENTRAL WA COAST 00Z FRI. THAT IS NEARLY 40 MB IN ABOUT 30 HRS!

But wait, there's more:

THERE IS STILL A GREAT DEAL OF UNCERTAINTY IN THIS VERY DIFFICULT WEATHER FORECAST SITUATION. JUST A DEGREE OR TWO TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE...AND A SLIGHT TRACK SHIFT OF THE LOW CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE ON HIGH WIND OR NOT ALONG THE COAST AND IN THE STRAIT...AND IN THE POSSIBILITY OF LOWLAND SNOW LATE FRI AFTERNOON AND FRI NIGHT OVER PORTIONS OF THE INTERIOR LOWLANDS.

I love snow.