Geography 341 (Weather & Society) Blog

Monday, March 26th, 2018 Temperature: 36 ºF Sky: Overcast Precipitation: None as of 11:00 AM, but some expected Wind: East South East 14 mph It's been a while since I updated this blog, but I've been traveling the past 10 days for another class's trip. For Geography Field Seminar (GEOG 368) we traveled to Cincinnati, OH, Chattanooga, TN and Knoxville, TN. We studied gentrification in these cities as well as the urban development and history of each place. We also chased the warm weather of the south and was lucky enough to catch one or two 70 degree plus days! The biggest weather related event I witnessed was on our way back on Saturday. While driving up through Illinois, we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of Winter Storm Uma. We faced whipping winds and white out conditions as we crept along the highway at about 30 mph. For 2 hours, we slowly made our way through the storm passing some 25 cars in the ditch as well as 5-6 semi trucks in the ditch. I snapped...

Monday, March 12th, 2018 Temperature: 27 ºF Sky: Little to No Cloud Cover Precipitation: 0% Wind: North West 6 mph Today was about as mild of a March day as you can get. With cold temps in the 20s, little wind and no precipitation, it is just a reminder of how long it takes for Northern Wisconsin to warm up. Spring cannot seem to come sooner. With that cold front sweeping down, it doesn't look like that warmth will be coming anytime soon. Additionally, the high pressure system behind it may keep us dry, but cold as well as it brings down a continental polar air mass. Lucky for me, I am headed down to Tennessee for class research and hopefully will be chasing warmer weather. It will be a much needed break from the hat and gloves. Look for some more exciting pictures during my travels! Cheers!

Tuesday, March 6th, 2018 Temperature: 33 ºF Sky: 100% Cloud Cover Precipitation: Small flurries this morning Wind: North East 13 mph With that storm coming through last night, we were set up for a major snow event! With the low pressure system bringing precipitation and the relatively slow speed of the storm, we should have gotten dumped on. The north east winds would bring moisture from the great lakes into the area, feeding into the storm and producing high snowfall amounts. Instead, the occlusion that is evident on the surface map below, cut off that moisture, leaving us with just a few flurries. It still left us with a couple of inches, but boy did we get lucky. You can see how that moisture gets pulled into the region with the winds in this moisture map.

Sunday, March 4th, 2018 Temperature: 42 ºF Sky: Moderate cloud cover today changing to pretty clear skies this afternoon Precipitation: Small flurries this morning Wind: East 15 mph This weekend was a much needed break from the cold and the snow. It made me think the groundhog was wrong this year! But alas, tomorrow we are slated for 4-8 inches of snow. The southerly winds helped keep us mild but as the winds shifted today and going into tomorrow, we are sure to see the cold return. Looking at the surface map, we can see it is almost night and day from East coast to West coast. The east has been quiet weather wise, and the west is packed with different systems. I'd bet we start the week wet and cold, but then finish strong nice and warm and dry!