Geography 341 (Weather & Society) Blog

Friday, May 4, 2018 Temperature: 67ºF Sky: Mix of clouds Precipitation: None Wind: W 8 mph May the fourth be worth you! Happy Friday! We've been given what looks to be a fantastic spring weekend. Today has been mild with some good sun. A little windy indicating some changes in the next could of days. That is also noted below on the surface map. Now that all the mess is past us, we should be cooling off as the cold front to our North comes down and draws the cooler continental polar air mass with it. There is a possibility of some rain with it, but it shouldn't be much of anything. My forecasting has been pretty good this week. It's not really hard when we start in on warm temperatures and occasional rain. As things develop nationally, that line of storms is still doing damage now from the Rio Grande region all the way up to New Foundland. Its super interesting as Texas is seeing this high pressure system push its way through. Im hoping for the high pressure system...

Thursday, May 3, 2018 Temperature: 75ºF Sky: Mixed cloud cover Precipitation: Moderate in the late night hours (0.3 in) Wind: ESE 4 mph Another let down. After lectures on thunderstorms, I seem to be hooked in watching them develop and track them across our region. As it inched closer on the radar, it became apparent we were not in its path, and another good system has passed us by. We did get the very top of it which brought some rain, but nothing to get excited about. Take a look at it! It just never came far enough north. Its really too bad, it could have been a good one. But we will wait agin for the first good storm. Still, I'm grateful for the rain we got as my lawn is finally starting to look green again! For this weekend, I would expect a perfect May weekend, lots of sun and warm temperatures. Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 2, 2018 Temperature: 71ºF Sky: Mixed cloud cover Precipitation: Moderate in the early morning hours Wind: SW 1 mph What a let down. I spent all day yesterday tracking the storm system and watching it develop. I showed all my buddies the forecast maps and showed them how the moisture and jet stream conditions were setting us up for a great first storm of the season, and then it wasn't anything to bat an eye at! I stayed up for what little storm we had. Around midnight the thunder began and then the lightning. We got some moderate down pours but nothing close to what we could have gotten! To be fair, the storm did not disappoint, it just didn't come put on a show for us. Today we were back to spring in Wisconsin, nice and warm and sunny. That Southwest winds keeping us warm but also hinting at some rain in the forecast (more on that later). Those high pressure systems quickly pushed out those storms and they dissipated. Now most of the Great Lakes regi...

Tuesday, May 1, 2018 Temperature: 73ºF Sky: Near 100% Precipitation: None Yet Wind: N 8 mph With this new heat and the weather gods coming together, we may actually get our first good storm! A cold front is coming in from the west and converging with a warm maritime tropical air mass. Winds from the south west are bringing in moist warm air that when mixed with the cold front, have the ability to produce some hefty thunderstorms! Check out this graphic below for a better representation! With the help of the jet stream, the lower Midwest is set up for some great storms. I would predict that we see some scattered thunderstorms this evening starting around 6pm. It looks like our possibility for severe weather has come and gone, but we should get a good soaking. For the rest of the week, we should stay pretty warm and see a beautiful spring weekend!

Monday, April 30, 2018 Temperature: 81 ºF Sky: Cloud Cover Moderate Precipitation: None Wind: N 4 mph It feels like yesterday that we were hunkering down for the late winter storm of the decade, but today we are blessed with perfect summer weather. April, while not exactly holding to its history of showers, has decided to give on last parting gift. It looks like May not be so nice! Check out the mess headed for us! Hints of a stationary front with low pressure systems on either side and it looks as though it is tracking straight for us. Tonight and tomorrow should offer our first glimpse at thunderstorms and possibly severe ones. Our high pressure systems of last week are long gone and finally things are going to get interesting. Look at the size of this system reach as far south as the border with Mexico and north into Canada. Take a look at the surface wind activity below. Pretty stark frontal line and you can see why this storm could get nasty. The moisture from the Gulf of...

Happy Earth Day all! Today Mother Nature has given us a hint of spring after last weekends walloping. Temperature: 61 ºF Sky: Cloud Cover 0%. Beautiful blue sky Precipitation: None Wind: SSE 7 mph Our friendly High Pressure system made its way through in the past few days and has left us with sun and lots of it! Looking at the map, you can see our neighbors in the south are not having quite the same Earth day as we are. They are being pounded with rain and thunderstorms to the point of possible flash flooding in the deep south. This is due to the moisture that the Gulf of Mexico provides and the colliding of the warm and cold fronts with the low pressure system. For today back at home, I would expect more of the same. Warm temps with lots of sun. Today should remain as it is now (1:00pm). Tomorrow I expect similar to today. Sunny and warm again with the chance of a cool off later in the week as the cold front in the Western Great Plains makes its way to us, drawing that co...