Well, making light of the dreary situtation we're in, at least we're not experiencing quite the predicament Californians were faced with over the weekend. Nearly a foot of rain fell in some locations of northern California, destabilizing muddy cliffs, leading to mudslides. And in the first time in nearly half a century, the Rose Bowl Parade was accompanied by brisk winds, and a deluge of rainfall, all thanks to The Pineapple Express, feeding moist air into the west from the deep tropics over the Pacific Ocean.

We'll be clearing out very gradually over the next few days, but low clouds and fog will persist around the region even into Thursday. By Thursday evening, however, most of the low-level moisture remaining over our region will have been scoured out by a cold front associated with a little clipper low to our northwest.

Things will turn much colder over the weekend as high temperatures fall into the upper 30s in most locations. There is still a small possibility a few snow flurries make their way into the region Friday afternoon, primarily east of the I-95 corridor. With that said, the weekend looks to be shaping up a dry, but cold one.

Spaceweather:
During the end of December and early January, the earth's elliptical orbit takes us directly through the leftover debris of 2003 EH1, producing one of the most spectacular meteor shower displays of the year. This is known as the Quadrantid Meteor Shower.

Just before dawn, the meteors can be seen radiating out of the constellation Bootes in the eastern sky, producing anywhere from 50-120 meteors per minute (quite a high amount). Unfortunately for us, clouds will obstruct the view of this spectacular event--maybe next year...