Geography 341 (Weather & Society) Blog

Monday, February 26th, 2018 Temperature: 46 ºF Sky: Cloud cover less than 10%, small infrequent clouds have come throughout the day Precipitation: 0% Wind: South 9 mph Everyones favorite Southern winds have returned and with them brought mild, balmy temperatures! On my walk to class this morning I had to ditch the heavy winter jacket to prevent getting to warm. That is a problem that I am happy to have. The winds from the south are bringing warm moist air back into the region and should continue for the next couple of days. Yet eventually that cold front above the Dakota's has to come through. This weekend, I spent Thursday - Sunday in Columbus, OH for a conference with my Fraternity. We drove down and came through the region that was recently dumped on by a major rain event. As we drove through Indiana and into Ohio, we passed dozens of flooded fields that looked like lakes. We crossed a few rivers with the water breaching its banks dramatically. With the interstate sli...

Monday, February 19th, 2018 Temperature: 24 ºF Sky: Overcast, Cloud cover 100% Precipitation: Wintery Mix of Freezing Rain and Snow Wind: North/North East 15 mph After last weeks relative pleasantness, we return to winter. The recent warm temperatures made for great puddles and wet sidewalks only to be frozen by return of the colder temperatures due to the cold front that came through. The current Low pressure that is associated with this front is responsible for the precipitation. Thanks to the Weather Channel for this surface map. It looks like we missed the brunt of this system that is now taking aim at the New England region. Take a look at the Wisconsin - Illinois border where our two fronts, cold and warm, are coming together. Also, below that where the heaviest precipitation is happening. Its quite the mess swooping through the US currently. Check out this surface winds map provided by Nullschool.net. You can clearly see that swooping cold from in the middle of the ...

Tuesday, February 13th, 2018 Temperature: 25 ºF Sky: Overcast, Cloud cover 100% Precipitation: None Wind: South 13 mph A nice warm up starting today. The strong southern wind indicating some changes in our week. Today is the first day in the warm up. Tomorrow we should reach near 40 ºF, which is a much needed break from the cold temperatures we've been seeing. Other than the climbing temps, its been pretty quiet weather wise. As you can see from this surface map provided by AccuWeather, our warm up is unlikely to last as the jet stream dips below the state pulling that cold Canadian air down with it. Additionally, our pressure is slowly falling as a low pressure system makes its way from the Rockies. Off My Back Porch Not exactly exciting, but a good look at the sky!

Monday, February 12th, 2018 Temperature: 8 ºF Sky: Partially Cloudy early on, turning to overcast at mid day Precipitation: None Wind: West 3 mph Not a bad start to the week. Another cold and bright day and I'll take it. Interestingly, the surface map today is dominated by Low Pressure system. It would seem that the midwest and specifically Wisconsin is in a middle state from low to high. The Alberta Clipper that missed us moves on to the eastern seaboard. I'm enjoying this stretch of snowless weather, and I'd bet we continue the current trend for most of the week. Here todays look off my back porch. Captivating, I know. Enjoy!

Sunday, February 11th, 2018 Temperature: 10 ºF Sky: 0% cloud cover Precipitation: None Wind: West 12 mph I've been horrible at remembering to do this! Heres to getting better at it. Today is my first "Off my back porch" photo. As you can see, the sky is cloudless and a beautiful deep blue color. Thanks to a bit of a high pressure system we are seeing the sun much more often.   We got lucky this weekend! The Alberta Clipper known as Winter Storm Mateo swept to the south of us and brought along with it a dumping of snow. My mom lives in Milwaukee and has been battling the snow for the past 3 days. I can't say I'm jealous. Tomorrow I'd expect much of the same cold temperatures with sunny skies, and hopefully remember to post again!

Tuesday, February 6th, 2018 Temperature: 3 ºF Sky: 0% cloud cover Precipitation: None Wind: None Today is bright and cloudless. The high pressure system sitting on the midwest keeps the sun shining and our temperatures frigid. I'll take the sun though! You can only have so many consecutive cloudy days. With the high pressure system around, probably not going to see any snow in the near future. When looking at this surface map provided by The Weather Channel, you can see the high pressure system sitting right over the Great Lakes region. The system is also related to the polar continental air mass that is keeping us particularly chilly. Not particularly exciting weather wise today, but we will get our excitement eventually.

Monday, February 5th, 2018 Temperature: 12 ºF Sky: Overcast with close to 100% cloud cover Precipitation: None as of 3:45pm, but expecting snow flurries tonight Wind: Little to none Another cold day makes my walk to class miserable. When I left the house it was around 8 degrees and that was midday! The sun was shining a bit making the snow reflective and made the walk even more difficult. I've come to the conclusion that I only like snow around the holidays. Looking forward to the thaw! Tomorrow we should have much of the same, cold and quiet weather wise.

Hey everyone, this blog will serve as a place for me to record daily weather conditions and patterns as well as include photos and links to some interesting weather related sites and events. I'm pretty excited to get started on this because my grandfather used to do something similar. He lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at the most northernly point of the Keweenaw Peninsula in a town called Eagle Harbor. While it is a popular summer spot for people, it averaged around 13 people in the dead of winter, my grandfather being one of them. He started his own blog about the harbor some 15 years ago and included weather reports, pictures and some of his favorite links relating to cool spots in the region. He posted an "Out my front window picture" everyday to the day he passed in 2011. The picture of the day before he passed still greets you when you look at the page. As inspired by my grandfather, I will attempt at doing a consistent photo of the day off of my back por...