April 1, 2014

This morning we had mist that froze once it hit the ground which formed some slippery ice I noticed on the way down the hill. A low pressure system is centered just about us and now we're in the cold air mass. The polar jet stream has formed into another trough allowing for this cold air mass to form. The coldest regions ( in the middle of the cold air mass) are just to the north of North Dakota. Temperatures in North Dakota are very chilly today around 6 degrees while here in Wisconsin (on the edge of the cold air mass and high pressure) we're at 25 F.

The GOES satellite imagery is showing a comma shaped water vapor pattern that is curving up the east coast around the Great Lakes to Minnesota. Northeastern Minnesota is receiving a good amount of snow and is in a winter storm advisory because of this. Currently winds are 23 mph with gusts upto 32 mph out of the west. As this low continues to shift I would expect the wind direction to become more north or northwest. With the steep pressure gradient created by this low and the high pressure moving in winds have picked up from yesterday. Barometric pressure is slightly higher than yesterday at 1005 mb and I would expect it to continue rising. Below I have a picture of later week forecasts showing the this cold air mass pushing through while warm humid maritime gulf air pushes up creating snow and rain.