February 28, 2014

It appears the high pressure system left a lot sooner then I thought it would. We now have an occluded front just west of us coming through Minnesota. This weak clipper system is drawing warm air from the south which is making for above zero temperatures. We're going to be getting about 1 to 3 inches. Winds are out of the southwest at 5 to 10 miles per hour. Right now temperature is 9 F, and dew point is 2 F. I would expect in these next couple days that it's going to get colder and drier as atmospheric pressure and wind direction shifts.

February 27, 2014

Pressure has continued to climb since yesterday and now Wisconsin is in the center of a big low pressure system. We won't be seeing any storms because of the high LI. We also will have little to no cloud cover for tomorrow i'm guessing. Right now it's -15.2 F, and I would expect it to get even colder tomorrow. I'm basing this on the fact that we have no warm air coming from the south and most of the wind is moving outward from Wisconsin. This will make for dry conditions as well as much of the moisture drifts away from our surrounding atmosphere. The GOES water vapor map agrees with this hypothesis. Finally we have little to no wind as I said earlier because the high pressure is so widespread.

February 26, 2014

Today I walked outside to an overcast sky and very high winds. I almost lost my pizza from Davies to Phillips because of the wind. Wunderground is recording a steady 6 mph from the southwest, and gusts are reaching 17.4 mph. This makes sense because the surface map has short isobars over Wisconsin. We have a low pressure system churning in Canada just above lake superior. Part of it is pushing a cold front down on us. Temperature is 15 F and dewpoint is 4 F.

February 25, 2014

In Eau-Claire it's -2 degrees F with windchill it feels like - 11 F. We have a polar vortex that's bringing down cold air and a high pressure system over Montana. The stationary front over the Rockies is acting as a dam for the cold air as you can see from the front following the mountains perfectly. The jet stream is forming a sort of trough, but it's not very deep. Deeper troughs create steeper pressure gradients which means higher winds. The sub tropic jet is bringing warm, moist air to southern California which is in desperate need. Air isn't very saturated in the Midwest because of the difference in temperature and dew point. The KI index is -27 which means we won't be having any storms. The air is going to stay very stable and dry for now.

February 23, 2014

Today we have cold air blowing in from the west again. Were still caught in a high pressure system, and aren't really on any fronts at the moment. According to wunderground.com wind is 7.6 miles per hour out of the southwest. It's more southerly because the wind is curving as it goes south. The atmosphere is still pretty dry but we have some vapor building in Canada. It looks like we have a big storm building off the Gulf of Mexico close to Florida so I would expect they're seeing some rain now. Nothing really interesting is going on with our weather right now, but I will keep you posted as weather continues to change.

February 22, 2014

Today we have clear skies and winds out of the west at 2 mph. Were caught in a high pressure trend, and it doesn't look like it's leaving anytime soon. It's cool to look at this low pressure system by Hudson bay right now because it's such a pressure change from Eau-Claire. The isobar ranges are very small so there must be a lot of wind too. It feels pretty cold out right now because were getting that cold air from the north now. Temperature is 22 F and dew point is 11 F. I'm also surprised how dry it is in the atmosphere since that storm passed by.

February 20, 2014

Right now it's cloudy and snowing with a dew point of 32 F. Temperature is 33 F and humidity is at 97%. The wind pattern is very interesting, we have warm air from the golf circling up through the great lakes which is cooling it and bringing it back down into Wisconsin. We also have some colder air blowing from the north that's meeting this warm air. We are in the center of this storm system right now, and it looks like tomorrow we might get even more snow as the warm front continues to push up through the eastern states and the cold air continues pushing down from Canada. The mid-latitude cyclone doesn't look like it's going anywhere any time soon as you can see from this surface map.

February 19, 2014

Right now we have a warm front swooping through that's leaving a mix of snow and rain because of the warm air churning up from the high pressure system in West Virginia. There is also a lot of water vapor from these converging pressure systems surrounding us as you can see from this map.












The low pressure clipper coming in from the north should start hitting early Thursday morning with some light snow, but the biggest storm will hit Saturday as the pressure system north of Texas shifts Northeast and converges with the clipper.

Right now it's 36 F and partially cloudy. Dew point is 30 F, just below our temperature so we won't have much precipitation yet. Winds are also continuing to blow out of the South at around 2.2 mph.

February 18, 2014

Wisconsin is currently in the center of a large low pressure system that has made for some above normal temperature today. Winds are coming out of the south and should start shifting to an east/northeast wind by Thursday or Friday. We have another big low pressure system just south of the Hudson bay that's sucking up all this warm air blowing in from the warm Gulf of Mexico. This is going to make for another clash that will push up warm air and form percipitating clouds. Today we had some scattered clouds left over from the last snow storm that's still caught in the upper atmosphere. It currently feels like 35 F with a dew point of 24 F.

February 17, 2014

It looks like were going to be experiencing above average temperature area wide through the end of the week. A major storm is on its way to the Midwest that's going to bring everything from heavy snow up in Wisconsin to flooding rain in Illinois. As always, it's really going to depend on the specific track of the system to understand who gets what but here's a general outline.



It's going to be a clash of winter and spring as warm air pushes up and cold air pushes down. Today we had a low pressure system pass through bringing heavy snowfall at times throughout most of the day. It was also cloudy almost all day as snow fell. Right now it's 22 F, and tomorrow it's really going to warm up to almost 39 F. Winds are calm coming out of the South East at .7 mph. I think the main reason for this warm up is that wind direction and the fact that the two big high pressure systems have moved south and paved the way for the next few days for low pressure to settle in.

February 16, 2014

Right now we have sunny clear skies and temperature at 24 F. Wind is coming at 2.2 mph from ESE. We have a pretty big high pressure system over us and another big high pressure system center north of us. Currently the barometer reads 1021.66 mb. We have a low pressure system moving over the rockies that's going to bring in some warm air. The pressure difference between these two systems is making for some very strong winds in the Dakotas. As this system moves in from the west I'm sure we're going to see some snow, and in fact we have a 100% chance of precipitation on Monday. The stationary front is generating most of this precipitation.

February 15, 2014

Today were getting some light snow and a bit of fog. Were currently in a low pressure system that is pushing warm air up from the south and mixing with cold air from the north as it swirls around. Right now were at 17 F and it feels like 22 F. This is because of the warm air pushing in from the south. The next few days it's going to continue to warm up as another low pressure system pushes up. Thats all for tonight have a good weekend!

February 14, 2014

Currently we have a high pressure system centered in the lower minnesotas that is making for colder air and mostly clear skies. We also have some warm air pushing across the Dakotas right now that we'll feel by next week. Right now it's 11 F, but it feels like 1 F. By tomorrow, and into Sunday we're going to start feeling that warming trend with highs reaching the low 20s. Right now we have winds out of the North, but it's very calm since the high pressure is spread so widely.

February 13, 2014

Today has been mostly cloudy with on and off snowfall as this Alberta Clipper passes through. We can expect skies to clear up tomorrow as cold air pushes its way down from the south with another high pressure system. Right now it's 21 F, but like I said we have cold air moving in so I wouldn't expect to see any highs near 21. Winds are coming out of the southwest right now at 4.5 mph. I would expect the wind to shift to a more westerly/north westerly wind by tomorrow as the low pressure system moves out of Wisconsin. Currently it's hovering over northern Wisconsin and moving east. Here is a picture of weather predictions on the east coast for the weekend. In a previous post I mentioned this storm, and it doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon as the low pressure we experienced moves towards this.

February 12, 2014

So I know I said a low pressure system was moving its way in from the west. It still is, but we currently have a small high pressure system that should move its way out by tomorrow. The low pressure system is going to bring snow and warmer weather as we climb into 22 F for a high today. The jet stream is still bringing us air from the north, but it's bending along the cold front and making it come from the west at 4mph. Today it's going to be mostly cloudy, a sign that the low pressure is making its way here, and snow should be here by later today and tomorrow.

February 11, 2014

As barometric pressure continues to climb at our met station in Eau-Claire we can expect to see more dry cold air. Currently barometric pressure is still rising rapidly and was last recorded at 1019.75 mb. We still have that jet stream pushing cold air down to us from the north. This makes the wind westerly at about 4mph. I would expect wind to start picking up as this low pressure system in the west starts moving in. There is also a warm front in the Dakotas right now which is going to bring in some warmer air hopefully. Weather predictions on Thursday looks like were going to have highs in the 30s!

February 10, 2014

Today I did exercise 1 so I will have a bit more information. We didn't have much precipitation today and that's because of this large high pressure system that's now just below Wisconsin. We have a jet stream that is bringing in cold air from the north which is why it's currently -9 F.


Barometric pressure is continuing to rise so we will continue to not see any snow untill this system moves out. This also means that cold dry air might stick around a little bit longer.



Winds will also remain pretty calm since the barometric pressure is dispersed quite a bit as you can see by the range of the isobars in this surface map.

February 9, 2014

Tonight is going to be a little bit more chilly with lows at -17 degrees Farenheit. As you can see from this surface map we have a long stationary front and one of those rare occluded fronts on the east coast. It's looking like we're going to be stuck in this high pressure system for a little while. The low pressure above Illinois is going to keep moving east bringing snow to the east coast. Winds are coming out of the south west at 5.4 miles per hour.

February 8, 2014

Today we had that low pressure system that was out west move to a position below Wisconsin. This system brought some moisture to the area south of us, but we remained dry. We had mostly sunny skies today with highs in the two digits throughout most of the state. However locations nearby are getting some snow. Winds are out of the Southwest at 3mph making windchill 9 degrees Farenheit. Lows tonight are expected to reach -4 degrees Farenheit.

February 6, 2014

The high pressure system I talked about yesterday is still west south-west of us and working its way south-east. On the west coast we have a low pressure system working its way in that could be here by this weekend which would generate some snow. Right now it's -12 degrees Farenheit outside, but with windchill it feels like -17. Winds are still out of the west, but now are at 10-15 mph which is making the air feel even colder. Pressure is relatively the same at 30.36 in., but i'm guessing the pressure ranges are shrinking making for some of these stronger winds we're seeing. Here is a surface map of the high pressure system I was just stalking about. As you can see we also have very little going on as far as precipitation.

February 5, 2014

Today we had a few clouds in the sky but not to many. These are because of the low pressure system below us. The high pressure system I talked about yesterday looks like it is moving from west of us to south of us. This is going to start making the wind come in from the west with that cold dry air. Right now the wind is very calm. Pressure hasn't really changed much and is currently at around 30 in. This means we've been stuck in an isobar range for a few days. Temperature is currently 2.7 degrees Farenheit, and will get down to -10 degrees. There is also a windchill advisory tonight from midnight to 11 am.

February 4, 2014

Today we had an overcast sky, but the sun did come out later in the afternoon. Temperature remained mostly in the single digits as more cold air comes blowing in from the north at 4 mph. There is a big snow storm to the south of us in parts of northern Wisconsin, but mostly in the central plains. There is also a high pressure system lingering to the west of us which should make the winds start blowing from the west in a few days.

February 2, 2014

Yesterday we had partly cloudy skies with wind coming WSW at 13 mph. Without much cloud cover, and the fact that the polar vortex is moving its way back south to us things are pretty chilly. The low last night was -12, but it looks like things are going to be warming up by the end of the week. It looks like the high pressure system is moving south, but were still caught in that cold air as the wind carries it up to us. It looks like were caught in between two systems so it's going to be interesting to see what happens.

February 1, 2014

Today, it has been mostly clear skies and temperature has hovered around 10 degrees Farenheit most of the day. Right now it's 8 degrees Farenheit which will drop down to -10 tonight. Pressure has remained about the same since yesterday and the wind is very calm since most of Wisconsin is in one isobar range.