The Eastern Storms!

Current Conditions:

Temperature: 20º F
Wind Chill: 10º F
Wind: 9 MPH W
Dew Point: 16º F
Precipitation: 0.2 inches of snow in the last 24 hours

Today was yet another great day! The University got the sidewalks cleaned before 8 AM and it was relatively warm today. The weather was nice and the snow stayed to a minimum throughout the afternoon. The sky was very overcast all day and the wind whipped around at points as well. While Wisconsin had decent weather today the east coast can't say the same. Earlier in the week Georgia and other southern states got nailed by a huge snow/ice/rain storm caused by converging cold and warm air off of the coast. Today the storm moved north along the east coast and has been buffeted them all day. This can be seen in image 1 below.

Image 1: The image above shows pressure systems, fronts, radar data, and wind isobars. A storm can be seen buffeting the eastern coast. The U.S. is currently smothered in low pressure systems.

The temperature has increased so much in the Midwest over the past two days and this is apparent in image 2 below. It is currently much colder in Minnesota and the Dakotas than Wisconsin. This is most likely occurring because of the southerly and westerly winds from the low pressure system.

Image 2: This image proved by noaa.com shows the current temperatures across the Midwest.

The Midwest is encountering some crazy precipitation in the weather currently. This is apparent in image 3 below. Eau Claire, WI is getting a nice dusting of snow according to the radar and from the looks of it we may be getting more continual throughout the night.

Image 3: This image is presented by noaa.com and shows the type of precipitation that a region is currently receiving. Our area is currently covered in snow and receiving more.

My predictions from yesterday were decent, but I was incorrect in assuming that the temperature wouldn't increase to 30º. Today in class we learned more about diabatic and adiabatic pressure, so hopefully I will be able to show some examples of them as the season goes on.

Image 4: This image shows the current surface winds and what mischief that they are up to.

I think that the weather tomorrow could be very nice in respects to cloud cover, but with changing winds there is a chance of colder air moving back into the area. I would expect there to be partly cloudy skies with temperatures in the teens. As can be seen in image 4 above, the surface winds are still moving in a counterclockwise motion which means that the low pressure system is still sitting on top of the Midwest. Don't expect much to any snow tomorrow or over the weekend! Until next week, stay classy!