Historical day!

Current Conditions:

Temperature: -11º F
Wind Chill: -29º F
Wind: 9 MPH NW
Dew Point: -23º F
Precipitation: None
Pressure: 1023.1 mb

It is frigidly cold outside today. The temperature, as can be seen above, is well below zero, and the wind chill has dipped to nearly 30 below! Image 3 below shows the temperature across the Midwest and the color gradient gives a great picture of just how bitterly cold that it is. The winds have died down since yesterday, but the gusts are really driving the temperature even farther down. I also decided to add the pressure into the current conditions to describe whether we are in a low or high pressure dome. This feature will help to explain many weather phenomena throughout the rest of the semester. Newscasters are saying that today has the potential to be the coldest it has been on February 27th in 100 years, but we will see how the rest of it pans out. Another important event that is occurring today is the launching of the Global Precipitation Measurement satellite which will help identify water in the atmosphere. This was a global initiative put together by NASA and a Japanese aeronautical firm. Today is full of historical moments and desperately cold conditions.

Image 1: The image above provided by AccuWeather shows the arctic air mass that is being plunged across the Great Lakes region. Wisconsin is currently sitting on the cusp of this freezing air mass.

The jet stream is locking polar air over the Midwest and driving the continental polar air mass over the top of us. This explains why we are experiencing such frigid temperatures. Image 1 above shows the jet stream and the pushing of the cold air mass over the Midwest. In image 2 below you can see the current conditions of the polar jet stream via a 250 mb wind map. The blue regions describe areas of strong upper atmospheric wind strengths.

Image 2: The above image was created by UNISYS to show the polar jet streams direction and strength. The blue regions show where the winds are the strongest. There is a definite trend across the Midwest where the jet is riding and dipping over the Great Lakes region.

Image 3: The above image shows the temperature gradient in the Midwest. Looking at the scale bar at the top of the image it is apparent that northern Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin are experiencing bone chilling conditions.

Image 4: The image above shows the Minneapolis weather balloon sounding of the atmosphere. The yellow line on the left side of the diagram shows the air parcel. The white line on the right shows the temperature which if you look closely is showing quite the phenomena which is described further below.

FUN FACT: The image above shows some interesting data and phenomena present the atmosphere above us. We are experiencing an irregular formation of heat in the atmosphere where the air is warming as it is rising rather than cooling. The ground temperature is much cooler than the air just above us which could be creating a smog/haze over major cities due to pollution from vehicles.

Image 5: This UNISYS image shows current surface winds direction and speed. Minnesota and Wisconsin are receiving winds from the NW which is blowing even more of the arctic air into our region and thus cooling us further.

Predictions: I predict that tomorrow will be much like today. This arctic weather will most likely stick around for at least a few more days. The jet stream has locked the Midwest into a freezing frenzy with almost no end in sight. The temperatures will probably be low again tomorrow since the high pressure dome is still floating above us. The winds have been killing us the past few days and they will probably continue to do so over the next day or so.