A New Week!

Current Conditions:

Temperature: -5º F
Wind Chill: -5º F
Wind: Calm (noaa.com)
Dew Point: -13º F
Precipitation: 0 inches in the last 24 hours

Today was bitterly cold according to The Weather Channel. The skies were relatively clear all day long and sun was very bright, yet the temperature has persisted to stay very low. We have been stuck in a cycle of high pressure systems over the past week or so and thus have had very chilly temperatures. The temperature is projected to drop even more tonight and get below -10º. Needless to say, it was a good day to stay inside with a warm drink in hand. Image 1 below shows just how cold the Midwest currently is.

Image 1: This image shows the variation of temperatures in the Midwest. The majority of the region is in the extreme left of the spectrum.

The forecast for the day was pretty spot on with open skies and frigidly cool air. It was somewhat windy earlier which fueled the wind chill to drop even lower. Image 2 below shows the pressure systems that are moving across the United States. There is currently a low pressure system to the north that is projected to move over Wisconsin by Wednesday and bring with it, warm air.

Image 2: This pressure map, overlayed with radar and isobars shows the movement within the United States currently. 

My predictions for the weekend were a bit off considering I projected the low pressure systems (found in the southern U.S. in Image 2 above) would move into our region and with them bring warm air with cloudy skies. High pressure systems most likely have more of an effect on the low pressure systems than I had originally thought.

Image 3: This image shows a map of the winds in the Midwest via the use of wind vanes. As can be seen, Wisconsin is experiencing almost no wind in the NW part of the state.

I think that tomorrow will be much like today based on the High pressure systems in the area along with a lack of surface air movement. The temperatures should also be similar if not colder as the high pressure moves above Wisconsin. It should be windier tomorrow though since there is a projected low pressure system moving into our area by Thursday. This could increase the wind chill temperatures and make it even colder until the warmer air is right above us.