THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 8, 1994 TAG: 9412080436
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Santa shouldn't trade the sleigh for a surfboard just yet.
Wednesday's balmy high of 78 - by one degree the warmest Dec. 7 on record locally - made it seem as if the day had been misplaced from springtime. But today, the cold chill of reality - and near-winter - is expected to return.
Today's high may be about 25 degrees colder than Wednesday's, with the temperaturenot likely to exceed 50. And by tonight, the mercury could dip to near freezing.
That's just what Nicole Paul of Chesapeake was afraid of Wednesday, so she was at the Solar Wash on Indian River Road in Chesapeake, vacuuming and washing her car.
``I took advantage of the warm weather,'' Paul said. ``I know later this week it's going to be cold, so I better wash it while it's hot.''
She wasn't alone. While there was no waiting for a stall, cars were moving through the wash at a steady pace. And other folks also were making the most of a summer's day, raking yards, riding bikes, playing with their children outside and, of course, shopping.
Paul, who started her Christmas shopping Tuesday, thought the weather was unusual for December. ``It's supposed to be cold with snow coming down,'' she said.
Instead, the average temperature Wednesday was about 67, well above the normal average of 55.
Wednesday's record high beat the old mark of 77 set in 1951. It was hard to even imagine that on the same date in 1954 a record low of 21 was set in Norfolk.
The absence of freezing weather was of no concern to Roland Beasley, however. ``It's all right. Don't bother me,'' said the owner of Beasley's Farm Market on Indian River Road in Chesapeake, where fresh flowers and vegetables have given way to lines of Christmas trees.
Beasley lounged in a chair behind the counter, enjoying an easy day as he counted down to vacation.
``We'll sell trees up to Christmas Eve and then close until spring when we'll start selling flowers,'' he said.
Cold weather isn't essential to spur tree sales, Beasley said. But he conceded that people are a little less picky when Jack Frost is nipping.
``When it's cold, people want to get in the car and go and get warm. So they just pick a tree and go,'' Beasley said. ``When it's warm like this, they like to look too much.''
Not so, said a customer, Debbie Ivory of Virginia Beach. ``It has to be a perfect tree all the time'' no matter what the weather, she said as she zig-zagged through the evergreens.
Still, ``I don't remember ever shopping for a tree when it was this warm,'' Ivory said. ``It's really strange to go Christmas tree shopping with short sleeves.''
Getting into the holiday mood might be a bit easier if warm weather were to relent, Ivory said. ``I think it's better if it's a little cooler,'' she said, ``but it doesn't have to be snowing - or raining.''
She should get her wish today.
The forecast:
Today should be sunny with a high around 50. North winds of 20 mph this morning should diminish to 10 to 15 mph by late afternoon.
Tonight is expected to be fair with a low in the low to mid-30s and northeast winds of 5 to 10 mph, shifting to the east.
Friday should be partly sunny with highs again in the low to mid-50s.
The seasonal shift comes as a cold front which was near the Great Lakes on Wednesday was to dive southward through Virginia and into the northern part of North Carolina overnight. A chilly area of high pressure will then build over the region from the north. ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by LAWRENCE JACKSON/
In Virginia Beach, the ocean is cool, but who cares? Joel Schroeder,
5, front, and Zaine Jack, 4 - who live in the Hilltop area - played
in Wednesday's tide.
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It's a record
Wednesday's highs in the mid-Atlantic:
Norfolk - 78, at the National Weather Service office at Norfolk
International Airport. Old record: 77, set in 1951.
Washington - 68, at Dulles International Airport. Old record: 65,
set in 1980.
Charlotte - 75. Old record: 74, set in 1956.
KEYWORDS: RECORD TEMPTERATURE by CNB