Update

Over the next couple of weeks I will be moving to Fargo, ND. As i do so I will be updating the related link page in order to provide Fargo weather resources. I just wanted to let you know that there will be some new resources coming to my blog as I make the transition to a new city. Excitement! Toughest Weather City here I come!

Tuesday and I'm Back!

So sorry for leaving you for a few days. It is finals time and I've been super busy. Anyways you don't want read my excuses you'd like to have a weather update. So this weekend has been really nice and today has been even nicer. I wish I could have spent more time outside but there will be plenty of time for that once school is done at the end of the week. Today's temperature is currently 67.6 deg F with a wind chill of 61.5 deg F. The dew point is at 21.2 deg F creating a relative humidity of 17%. Clearly no rain showers are going to occur in the near future. The skies are also currently 100% clear of clouds. The wind is at 8mph from the northeast. The barometer is at 1015.0 mb. this map from the Weather Channel shows that Eau Claire, WI is in a high pressure dome at the moment and that there is a low pressure system to the south and a dry line to the west across the Rockies.

I forecast that we will remain warm for a few days. Depending on the development of the low pressure systems moving across the rockies there may be a chance of rain showers on Friday.

Thursday Observations

It was foogy when I left my house today. The fog has since cleared up. Today's temperature is currently 69.4 deg F the windchill is 70.3 deg F. The dewpoint is 61.9 deg F creating a relative humidity of 77%. The wind is 2 mph from the NW. The 1008.1 mb which is still fairly low. The sky is 50% covered with altostratus clouds. I forecast rain this evening or tomorrow morning. This map from the Weather Channel shows the low pressure system that has moved south of us. It also shows the line of precipitation that is moving accross the plains towards us.

Wednesday's Observations

So right now is the perfect time for weather blogging in Eau Claire since I can hear the thunder outside my office in Davies Center. It is currently raining outside. The temperature is 64.2 deg F with a windchill of 64.2 deg F. The relative humidity is 54.4 deg F creating a relative humidity of 73%. The winds are blowing at 10mph from the west to northwest. The barometer is 1007.6mb. The skies are 100% covered with nimbostratus clouds. This map from the Weather Channel shows that the midlatitude cyclone i mentioned yesterday is directly over southwestern Wisconsin. I predict rain and thunderstorms all day with potental for some severe weather and strong winds.

This is the curren radar for the region from WEAU-Weather

On a side note be sure to check out the photo page today since I will be adding some photos from a friend of mine of the severe weather in Minnesota yesterday where they had several tornado warnings.

Tuesday's Observation

Today's temperature is currently 77.7 deg F with a wind chill of 75.4 deg F. The dew point is 58.6 deg F creating a relative humidity of 52%. The barometer is at 1002.8 mb which is still very low. The wind is at 9mph from the east. The sky is about 50% covered with cirrostratus clouds. This map from the Weather Channel shows that indeed the low pressure system is still in the region. the low pressure system is beginning o form a comma shape meaning that it is a mid-latitude cyclone. However the occluded front indicates that the system is beginning to die out and lose strength.

I forecast that there is a chance of thunderstorms overnight and into the early morning however I also forecast that Eau Claire is going to be seeing more consistently warm temperatures throughout the rest of the month.

Monday's Observations

So wow today has been quite the weather filled day. Today's weather began with thunder that shook my house and woke me up. A facebook friend of mine caught this photo of the dark storm clouds approaching (this is the same cloud bank that I saw form my window this morning). Heavy rainfall and blustery winds were soon to follow this cloud bank.

So today's temperature is currently 58.1 deg F with a wind chill of 55.8 deg F. The dew point is 50.2 deg F creating a relative humidity of  75%. The wind is at 10mph from the southeast. The barometer is at 1008.6mb which is much lower than yesterday. The skies are currently 75% covered with altocumulus and cirrostratus clouds. This map from the Weather Channel shows a culmination of low pressure systems off to the west which explains the drop in the barometer as the low pressure systems move into the areas.

This map of the jet stream from Intellicast shows that there is a trough in the jet stream over the rocky mountains. This trough could potentially dip down over the Midwest as the low pressure systems move westward.

I forecast that the temperature will remain cooler tomorrow and that we could potentially see more rainfall by Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Sunday's Observations

Surprise! I'm blogging from outside on my step today! It has been beautiful this weekend compared to our last 9 months. So sorry I didn't post on Friday I totally thought that I had but when I came back today there was nothing. So to start off Friday began our stretch of warmer warmer (sadly I did not get to enjoy it much as I was inside all day). Here is a picture I took of the skies on Friday afternoon over the Chippewa River near Water Street. It shows Cumulus humulus clouds.

And luckily the warm days has stuck through the weekend.  here is a picture of the beautiful skies over downtown Eau Claire and the Chippewa River that I took yesterday. it shows some cumulus congestus  clouds.

I was near 65 deg F on Saturday and today is proving just as nice. Soooo here is today's lovely weather update...

The temperature is currently 67.3 deg F with a wind chill of  61.5 deg F. The dew point is 34 deg F creating a relative humidity of  29%. The wind is at 6mph from the SE. This breeze is a little cooler creating the cooler wind chill today. The skies are 50% covered with half  thin cirrostratus clouds and half slightly lower altostratus clouds. The barometer is at 1014.4mb and falling as another low pressure system approaches the midwest. The stratus clouds tell us that there may be precipitation in 15-20 hours. This map from the Weather Channel shows the low pressure system over the rockies and the precipitation over Minnesota. We can expect to see this rainfall in Eau Claire as the evening appraoches.

Thursday Observations

Today has again been wet. The temperature hasn't dropped to be too cold but it is still coat weather. Ick!

Today's temperature is 55.9 deg F with a windchill of 48.9 deg F. The dew point is aty 41.4 deg F which in turn creates a relative humidity of 58%. The wind is at a blustery 16 mph from the West. The barometer is at 1011.4 mb. This is a large drop form yesterday's barometer meaning that indeed the low pressure system has moving into the region. The skies are 100% covered with stratus clouds. This map from the weather channel shows that yes the front of the low pressure system is currently moving across the Minnesota and Wisconsin region.

I predict more rain and cloudy skies through the night and then some clear skies tomorrow as the high pressure dome moves into the region.

Wednesday Observations

Sorry I did not post yesterday I was way too busy to get to sit down and write. Yesterday saw cumulocirrus clouds scattered across 10% of the sky and tempertures in the high 40s. The wind was still a bit chilly.

Today's temperature is 57.6 deg F and the windchill is 52.3 deg F. The dew point is at 21.9 deg F creating a relative humidity of 25%. the wind is from the southat 7 mph. The barometer is at 1028.8mb. This shows that we are still in the high pressure dome that I talked about on Monday. However this map from teh Weather Channel shows that as I predicted the low pressure system from the west will be moving into the region by tomorrow.

Weekend Recap and Monday's Observation

So sorry for no weekend update. I was in Nebraska since Friday for a regional conference. I will however report that Saturday in Nebraska was beautiful and sunny. I sat outside just to soak in some of its warmth. It is not however that wonderful warmth has sadly not come to Wisconsin. I was obviously wrong about my predictions for a warm up in Eau Claire.

Today's temperature is 37.8 deg F with a wind chill of 31.6 deg F. The dew point is 22.1 deg F creating a relative humidity of 53%. There is a chilly wind blowing from the North at 7mph. The barometer is at 1025.9mb which is considerably higher than last weeks low mb readings. The skies are currently 80% covered with stratocumulus clouds. I believe that this indicates that tonight will still be cool but that the night will be a cold one and that the clouds will dissipate over the next couple of days. This map from the Weather Channel shows that indeed Wisconsin is in a high pressure dome currently. I would like to note that there is a low pressure system over the west coast. I predict that this will bring Eau Claire more stormy weather by Wednesday.

Thursday's Observation

Hey all! So there will most likely be more updates coming by the beginning of next week I hope to have added some data to the analysis page by Monday.

Anyways for today's depressing weather... Today I awoke to some large wet snowfall. Throguhout the day the snow stopped however the cold wet feeling remained. As for the temperature... it is currently 42.3 deg F with a windchill of 38.7 deg F. The dew point is at 37 deg F creating a relative humidity of 82% (hence the precipitation).  The winds earlier were from the Northwest but are now from the southwest at 8mph meaning that a high pressure dome is beginning to move into the region. The barometer is a 1012.0 which has been slowly rising throughout the day (also suggesting the higher pressure). The skies have been 100% covered with either nimbostratus or stratus clouds all day. This map below from Intellicast shows that there has been a slight trough in the jet stream causing some polar air to move into the region.

This map from the Weather Channel confirms the high pressure dome moving in.

Most people are predicting clear blue skies and some warming temperatures provided by the clockwise rotation of the high pressure dome. However as I see the small trough in the jet stream and I see the cold low pressure system over the northern rockies. I predict that here in the upper midwest we will see yet another mid latitiude cyclone bringing cold wet weather by Saturday morning.



Wednesday's Observations

So today is another cold spring day. As I was walking to school today it snowed for about 1 min. Today's temperature is 39 deg F with a windchill of 34 deg F. The dew point is 32 deg F creating a relative humidity of 76%. The barometer is at 1000.6 mb which is a little higher than yesterday. Teh wind is from the norht at 7 mph. The skies are 100% covered with stratus clouds.This suggests precipitation to continue. This map from the Weather Channel show that the mid latitude cyclone (with the occluded front) is dying out as it finishes moving across Michigan. this means that the high pressure dome is moving into the area form the west.



Graduation and this blog

I have recently been asked on weather I will continue this blog after my graduation in May. I've come to find out that many of you who read my blog from other countries would like to like to continue to hear about the weather in the Midwest. With that I am announcing that I will be doing a trial run of continuing this blog throughout the summer. I am enjoying the bloggin that I am currently doing and I would like to continue. The only catch is that I will be changing locations at the beginning of June. I will be reporting from Fargo, North Dakota. this city has most recently been voted "The Toughest Weather City in the U.S.". So I believe that this will bring some interesting new events to blog about :)

Updates!

Hello Everyone! I just wanted to let oyu know that I've been working on alot of updates lately so be sure to check it out. I have a few more pictures to add to the photos page and I hope to add some more explainations and examples in the data analysis page. So be sure to check out the new info!

Tuesday's Observations

Rain Rain go away! Oh well at least it held off and gave us a beautiful and sunny weekend! Obviously it is raining this morning here in Eau Claire. The temperature is currently 43.5 deg F with a windchill of 39 deg F. The dew point is 40.8 deg F creating a relative humidity in the air of 90%. This amount of moisture in the air explains why we currently have precipiation falling. The winds are from the northwest at 10mph. The barometer is at 997.8 mb which is much lower than the previous days. This indicates that we are in the middle of a low pressure system. The skies are 100% covered with nimbostratus clouds with a light to moderate drizzle of rain. This surface map from Unisys shows the perfect counter clockwise rotation of the low pressure system (the center is over the MN, IA, WI corners).

This map from the Weatehr channel shows the low pressure system and rainy weather that we are seeing in the midwest as well as the High pressure dome currently on the west coast. I predict that this High pressure dome will slowly make its way to the midwest providing some warmer weather by Thursday.

Friday's Observations and Recap

Ok so after I wrote about the Colorado Low on Tuesday my predictions came true. It started snowing around 4pm on Tuesday afternoon and continued to lightly snow through Wednesday morning. Although Eau Claire did not receive substantial amounts of snow accumulation on the ground the southwestern portion Wisconsin received over 6 inches of snow. To prove it my family received a picture form my cousin of her daughter (who's school had a snow day on Wednesday). The little girl made snow bunnies for Easter and put out a sign for the bunnies to say "Why now?"

Yesterday's skies began clear and eventually clouded over with stratus clouds. The temperature was moderate in the mid 40s. It began to sprinkle rain at around 6:30 pm.

Today the temperature is 40.5 deg F with a wind chill of 34.3 deg F. The dew point is at 39.4 deg F creating a relative humidity of 96%. That about of moisture in the air would explain the wet ground outside. The barometer is at  1006.0 mb. The wind is from the East at around 16 mph. The skies are 100% covered with nimbostratus clouds producing some scattered rain showers. This map form the Weather Channel shows a low pressure system and and occluded front moving across the Midwest. This indicates that the cold and wet weather that system that has been plaguing the Midwest this week is dying out and will lead to some drier days and hopefully a bit more sun as the high pressure system behind it moves into the Midwest.

Tuesday's Observations

Seriously Mother Nature!?! It is April 19th and you think it is funny to be sending the upper Midwest some more SNOW! I do not find it funny at all.

Sorry guys I just had to get it out of my system. Yes there is really supposed to be more snow here in mid April. And yes I believe that I am officially giving up on Summer ever coming to the upper midwest. Unless Mother Nature decides to ever become my friend again I believe I will bundle up and sulk with my cup of hot chocolate while simply looking at a picture of green grass and sunny skies.

Today we are seeing what is known as a Colorado Low move across the country and into our neck of the woods. A Colorado low happens as a result of a cool low pressure system the begins to form on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. This low pressure system is almost always associated with producing series of storms across the plains states and dropping large amounts of snow on the upper midwestern states. Which is going to be the case for us this time.

Today's temperature is 36.7 deg F with a wind chill of 28.4 deg F (no wonder I had to bundle up in my winter coat and gloves this morning). The windchill is 20.7 creating a relative humidity of 52%. There is an 8mph wind from the East. The barometer is at 1016.3 and is expected to decrease throughout the day. The skies are currently 100% covered with stratus clouds which leads to a forecast of precipitation within 15 hours. This map below from the Weather Channel shows the low pressure system moving across Nebraska and Oklahoma with the dry line stretching from the Midwest to Texas. In front (east) of this dry line is where storm systems are likely to develop.

So all in all I advise people to not put away their winter gear just yet and prepare to see some snow today. And I would like to leave you with a short converstaion as was heard in our class last week.

Teacher: "So what is the saying? 'When the winds are from the East.....' "

Student: "Shit gets real!"

(The correct response was 'it is fit for neither man nor beast' but I liked the other response better because thanks to mother nature. Today in Eau Claire, WI shit will get real!)

Monday's Observations

Today's temperature is 46.6 deg F with a wind chill of 44.2 deg F. The dew point is 21.6 deg F creating a relative humidity of 37%. There is a wind from the East at 3 mph. The barometer is at 1015.3 mb. The skies were 60% covered with cirrocumulus clouds when I looked this morning. This map from Weather Channel shows that there is a string of low pressure systems crossing horizontally across the country. Wisconsin is currently in a high pressure system but is still seeing colder temperatures for the time of year.

I'm predicting that the cold temperatures for the region will continue tomorrow along with the cloudy skies.

Thursday and Friday's Observation

Ok so yesterday was an interesting day for weather but yet again I was too busy to make it to the computer to blog. So here is a recap. As I was walking to school early in the morning the wind was coming from the east at around 12 mph hours. Half the sky was filled with cirrostartus clouds and the other half was filled with lower stratus clouds. (I caught a beautiful picture of the defined front that was present in the cloud formation). Then later in the day the wind had switched to the northeast indicating the the low pressure system that was moving into the region was going to pass to the south of Eau Claire. The temperatures were cooler all day and the skies remained 100% overcast for the entire day.

Today's temperature is also cooler at 45 deg F with a windchill at 35.2 deg F.  The dew point is at 23.2 deg F creating a relative humidity of 42%. The barometer is at 1017.7 mb. The wind is at 15 mph from the East. The skies are 100% covered with altostratus clouds. Therefore I predict that we will see rain or possibly snow within 18-20 hrs. The map from the Weather Channel shows that there is a clearly defined mid latitude cyclone (visible in a comma shaped pattern) in Kansas and Missouri. This is the same low that moved to the south in Thursday's observations. The occluded front (pink line) in the mid-latitude system means that the system is in its end stages and will be dying out in the near future.

Severe Weather Awareness

Ok so this week has been declared Severe Weather Awareness Week in Minnesota and Wisconsin. This includes the annual checking of each state's weather announcement systems. Now here is my small rant about these announcement systems... in the state of Wisconsin the sirens are not controlled by the weather service but instead by each municipality. In the state of Wisconsin the warning sirens are used not only for tornado warnings but for severe thunderstorm warnings. Not this causes a great amount of problems. For instance I am a Minnesota resident so sirens are only sounded when there is an actual tornado warning in the area. I have always taken this sound very seriously. It usually involve me and my mother shooing my two younger brothers downstairs and me gathering blankets and flashlights as quickly as I can while my mother tunes into the weather station for more information. So naturally we I heard the sirens sounded in Eau Claire, WI during Sunday's storms I flew from sitting on my bed to gathering my laptop and cellphone in my arms and started to move downstairs. That is when I remembered that Eau Claire used the sirens for thunderstorms as well. I was unsure whether I should still be concerned or not. Instead I returned to my room and checked the alerts on my laptop.

How am I supposed to tell the difference between a thunderstorm or a more serious tornado. My other roommates even ignored the sirens all together. This is not ok! The sirens should warn of immediate danger to the area not just weather concerns. In the case of a real tornado I don't believe that any Wisconsin residents would be properly warned to take cover because they would think it was just a thunderstorm if they even took notice of the sound at all. I believe that many residents have become desensitized to the siren sounds altogether.

Just to put things in perspective throughout last Sunday's Wisconsin storms there were in fact 10 reported tornado touchdowns throughout the state. Which is the largest number of touchdowns in a single day in the month of April recorded for the state. The warning for these events should not be taken lightly. Citizens need to be aware of possibly weather dangers and alerted properly based on the situation.

Tuesday and Wednesday's Observations

Yesterday we saw cirrocumulus clouds covering about 75% of the sky. The temperature was around 62 deg F with the dew point at 32 deg F creating a relative humidity of 33%. The winds were from the west at around 9 mph. The barometer was at 1030.6 mb which is much higher than the sudden drop in the pressure that we saw on Sunday when the larger storms were in the area. Yesterday we were in a high pressure dome with an approaching cold front over the Dakotas. I predicted rain overnight however this proved to be wrong.

Today's weather looks to be a bit gloomy. The temperature is at 52.5 deg F with a wind chill of 49.1 deg F. The  dewpoint is at 38.3 deg F creating a relative humidity of 58% meaning that there is alot more moisture in the air then yesterday. The wind is from the north at around 5 mph. The barometer is at 1017.5 mb which is a bit lower than yesterday this means that the lower pressure system that was off to the west yesterday is moving through the area today. In the eastern sky this morning I see cirrocumulus clouds however in the western sky I see a blanket of gray nimbostratus clouds. These western clouds are going to be bringing rain showers to the area throughout the day and into the night. The map below from the Weather Channel confirms that the cold front is indeed stretching across the western side of Wisconsin. This is bringing the cooler temperatures and cloudy skies.

Sunday and Monday Observations

Yeserday presented quite the array of weather. It began with Thunderstorms overnight on Saturday followed by overcast stratus cloud Sunday Morning, followed by partly cloudy/ slightly sunny midday. Then the winds picked up and the clouds turned darker and looked more like cumulonimbus clouds. Severe Weatehr Sirens sounded at around 4:30pm. Then the darker clouds drifted off around 6pm. However at  around 8pm they were back and the wind was blowing at around 15 mph. The temperature dropped throughout the day starting at around 55 deg F.

Today's temperature is 60.6 deg F with a wind chill of 54.9 deg F. Teh dew point is 28.2 deg F creating a relative humidity of 29%. The wind is blowing at around 10 mph from the northwest. The barometer is at 1010.0 mb. The sky is about 10% covered with a few cirrocumulus clouds. The map below fromt he Weather Channel shows that there are no new front moving into the region therefore I predict warmer temperatures adn clear skies for tomorrow.

Saturday Oberservations

Today the temperature is 55 deg F with a wind chill of 53.6 deg F. The dew point is at 47.7 deg F creating a relative humidity of  76%. The skies have been 100% covered by nimbostratus clouds all day. There was some light rain this afternoon but it has currently stopped. There is a wind from the east blowing at around 5 mph. The barometer is 1005.6 mb which is lower than recent days. The surface station map from Unisys shows that we are in near the center of a low pressure system. There is a cold front moving in from the west which is pushing the warm moist air upward and going to cause thunderstorms to occur. This can be seen in the Weather channel map also below.

I predict cooler temperatures with the approaching cold front and thunderstorms overnight and into the early morning.

Thursday and Friday Observations

Yesterday (Thursday) was my 22nd Birthday! Woot! The weather was awesoem so I wore a dress. The temperature was 58.5 deg F with a windchill of 54.5 deg F. The dewpoint was 25.3 deg F creating a relative humidty of 28%. The wind was fromt he Southeast at 3 mph. The sky was only 25% covered with some high cirrus clouds. The jet stream was mostly normal with zonal pattern.

Today temperature is currently 42.3 deg F with a windchill of 39.6 deg F. The dew point is 34.3 deg F creating a relative humidity of 73%. The wind is from the Northeast at 5mph. The barometer is at 1016.9 mb which has been slowly rising over the past couple of days. The skies are 40% covered with some cirrostratus clouds. The surface station map from Unisys shows that we are very close to the center of the higher pressure system due to the clockwise motion of the wind directions centered over central Minnesota.

Additonally the map below from the Weather Channel shows that there is a warm front approaching fromt eh southwest. This will help continue our warmer weather trends.

I predict temperatures in the high 50s to low 60s today and tomorrow as we continue our warming trend, with partly cloudy to clear skies.

Wednesday's Observation

I saw beautiful cumulus humulus clouds covering 25-50% of the sky. The wind was from the north at 3 mph. The temperature was 49.5 deg F the windchill is 48.2 deg F. The dewpoint is at 28.4 deg F creating a relative humidity of 44%. the barometer is at 1012.6 mb (which is higher than it was yesterday). The jet stream image from Intellicast shows that there is no longer a trough in the jet stream across the midwest therefore there is no longer polar air spilling into the area and thus the temperatures are beginning to get warmer.

There is a high pressure system moving in from the west.

I predict more warm weather tomorrow with some clear skies.

Tuesday's Observations

Today I noticed cumulus humulus clouds covering around 75% of the sky. The wind is currently form the southeast at 5 mph. The temperature at the Phillips Hall metstation reads 50.2 deg F with a windchill of 48.6 deg F. The dew point is at 25 deg F creating a low relative humidity of 37%. The barometer is at 1003.2 mb it has been slowly dropping over the past couple of days. There is currently a low pressure system moving in from the west. There is a strong squall line along the southeastern U.S.

As you can see in the ACCU weather map above the low pressure system is off to the west this morning and the remnants of the mid-latitude cyclone from last week off along the east coast.

I forecast increasingly warm temperatures and maybe a chance of rain tomorrow depending on the path of the low pressure system center.

Update Post and Monday's Observations

So I've been gone for awhile. However, here is an update on my weather experiences. Last Wednesday was clear skies. then Thursday I presented the weather briefing for class. I worked on it in the morning when the skies were 100% covered with altostratus clouds. The wind was from the southeast. Temperatures were in the low 40s. However by the time I was to present the winds were from the northeast and the sky saw a mix of cumulus humulus, cumulus mediocris, and cirrostratus clouds covering about 50% of the sky. The weather indicated the approach of a mid-latitude cyclone. I predicted rain/snow overnight.

Friday morning I woke up to wet snow mix. I had to drive through snow and radiation fog as I drove to the cities. Around 10 am the fog disappeared completely. Later that day as I drove towards Fargo, ND I saw a beautiful cumulonimbus cloud to the northeast. you could see where it leveled off at the tropopause in the atmosphere. There were also winds coming from the north to northeast. Overall the weekend remained fair weather for me in Fargo, ND with clear skies.

This morning I saw a west wind blowing at around 15 mph. The sky was 85% covered with altostratus clouds. Then later today I noticed that the clouds had changed to cumulus humulus clouds. The temperature is 36 deg F with a windchill of 31 deg F. The dewpoint is 19 deg F creating a relative humidity of 50%. The barometer is at 1006 mb. The winds are now only at 5 mph and is coming from the northwest. I predict that there is a chance of rain tomorrow due to the change in the obvious changes in the weather.

Tuesday's Observations

Ahhh I forgot to blog again yesterday. Taking a week off has made me forgetful. Ok so yesterday's skies were completely clear making the day colder without insulation. High temperatures in the low 30's. I noticed that there was a slight breeze blowing at 4 mph from the northeast.

This morning I noticed that the sky was 50% covered with cirrostratus clouds. The flag again told me that there was little to no wind. However the air outside is still bitterly cold today. The temperature outside is 19.8 deg F with a windchill of 19.4 deg F. The dew point is at 10.8 deg F which means that there is a relative humidity of 68%. The barometer reading is at 1029.1 mb. The surface weaather map from the Weather Channel shows that we are currently in a high pressure system.

This can be reaffirmed by the surface station map from Unisys below.

You can see that there are winds from the south east on the right of us and winds from the northwest on the left of us with wind from the northeast below us. This is a clear clockwise pattern that is associated with a high pressure system.

This map from Intellicast shows that the jet stream is drawing its cooler air from the Pacific Maritime Polar air mass. This creates cooler upper air in the atmosphere over the U.S.

I forecast that today and tomorrow will see partially cloudy days with a cold evening tonight.

Welcome Back Weather

Hey so sorry for not posting for a week. I've been on my spring break. I've been spending it in Fargo, ND and the weather here has been quite the experience. Ok so let me update Eau Claire, WI really quick and then I will recap Fargo...

Eau Claire, WI. Today's temperature is 25.2 deg F with a windchill is 18.3 deg F. The dew point is 9 deg F creating a relative humidity of 50%. There is a 5 mph wind from the East. The barometer reads 1023.9 mb tooday. The sky is about 50% covered with a thin blanket of cirrostratus clouds. The surface map below from the Weather Channel shows that there is no impending front that is in the midwest which means that the skies will be calm for the next couple days. There is low pressure system currently over the northern Rockies.

Now for Fargo, ND we had nice weather the beginning of the week. Then on Tuesday morning I looked out the window and saw a thick blanket of stratus clouds with a wind from the Northeast. I predicited precipitation within the next 15-20 hours. Then on Tuesday night the winds picked up and it began to thunder and lightning. The rain began to fall then became freexing rain then became a sleeting mix of rain and snow. The precipitation turned to small graupel. Eventually the precipiation turned to just thick wet snow. The sky was still thundering and lightning. It was a crazy storm to watch. It left Fargo with 5.5 inches of thick wet snow with underlying ice. The road began to melt as the sun came out midday on Wednesday. Since then it has been colder clear skies with highs in the upper 20s.

I am heading back home today to Minnetonka, MN where they reportedly recieved anywhere between 5.5-7 inches of snow in the same storm system that we experienced.

I will write again this weekend as my spring break wraps up and I return to Eau Claire on Sunday afternoon. For now I say thank you to all of my blog viewers. I'm still gaining views from around the world and it inspires me to write more!

Thursday's Observations

So with the chaos of all of my midterm testing I did not get a chance to post yesterday. Yesterday was beautiful. The sky was approximately 25% covered with cirrus clouds. And the temperture was around 45 deg F for the high. I was almost tempted to wear just my sweatshirt when walking outisde on campus.

As for today. I would like to first thank all of the international viewers who have been looking at my blog. I've had viewers from Europe, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and Northern Africa. That is awesome! Now for today's weather... According to the Phillips Metstation the temperature is 51.3 deg F with a windchill of 51.1 deg F. The dew point of 44.4 deg F creating a relative humidity of 77%. There is a slight breeze blowing at 4 mph from the South. The barometer is a 1003.6 mb which is clear that the pressure is dropping in the area. The skies are 100% covered with a blanket of stratus clouds. This means that there is a chance of rain later in the afternoon. As you can see from this weather station map the low front that I spoke of yesterday is crossing the state of Wisconsin right now. Which is also clear by the Weather Channel Map below.

Tuesday's Observation

Today is wonderful and makes me excited for the continual warming up towards spring. Today's temperature is 46.8 deg F with 43.2 deg F. The dew point is at 26.1 deg F.  The wind is from the southwest blowing at around 5 mph. The barometer is at 1017.3 mb which is down almost 10 mb from yesterday. This shows that the pressure is dropping in the area as the low pressure system moves in from the west.  The skies are around 80% covered with cirrostratus clouds today. This is keeping some of our warmer air in therefore increasing our outside temperatures. This surface station map from Unisys weather confirms the clear skies and southwest winds in the region. You can notice where the low pressure system is moving across the Dakotas and nebraskaas that is where the wind directions are from the north or west.

I predict some rain showers in the early morning as this low pressure system pushes into Wisconsin.

Weekend Recap and Monday's Observations

So this past Saturday I awoke to hear howling winds outside my window. These 20 mph cold winds made playing with the dogs at the Chippewa Valley Humane Association a little bit difficult. But my boyfriend and I survived about an hour of the outdoors before it was too cold. Sunday's weather was beautiful it was sunny and temperatures were in the low 30s.

And now for today. I looked outside my window this morning and there were clear blue skies with no clouds in site. The temperature is 42.3 deg F with a windchill of 38.7 deg F. The Dew point is 23.9 deg F creating a relative humidity of  48%.  There is a calm breeze of 5 mph from the south. The barometer is at 1026.5 mb. The clear skies and the south wind is confirmed by this UNISYS weather station map

This map fromt eh weather station confirms the clear weather over the midwest region and shows that we are currently in a high pressure system.

I forcast clear skies for tomorrow but another cool down on the way mid week when the cold front that is over the rockies moves across the country.



Thursday and Friday's Observations

Ahh I woke up this morning and realized that I forgot to blog yesterday so here is the update. Yesterday's highs were close to 40 deg F. There were some cumulus humulis clouds scattering the sunny skies. There was a northwest wind blowing at around 6 mph. Overall it was a very nice day.

Now for today. I stepped outside today and noticed the cirrostratus clouds coving 100% of today's skies. I also notice the hoar frost on many branches. This was very cool looking becasue it was standing in ice crystal stick straight out from the surface it was on. Now for today's temperature it is currently 20.1 deg F with a windchill of 14.4 deg F. I still opted to take the bus this morning as the air still had that winter nip to it. The dew point is currently at 18.5 deg F. This puts the realative humidity at around 93% meaning that the air is almost fully saturated with moisture. This is most likely due to the warmer temperatures yesterday. The weather station reports that the eau claire area is misty. Further due to the saturation of the air.

The barometer is at 1018.7 mb. There is also a southeast wind blowing at 4mph. As we can see from the surface map from the Weather Channel there is a low pressure system moving in from the west and is currently associated with and occluded front. This means that niether the warm front nor the cold front is prevailing.

I forcast snow or rain showers in the late evening tonight or early morning tomorrow due to the occluded front moving in from the west.



Wednesday's Observation

It was snowing as expected this morning. Today's temperature is 34 deg F with a wind chill of 27 deg F. The dew point is at 28 deg F. The barometer is at 1016.9 mb. There is a wind from the North at 8 mph. The skies were 100% covered with nimbostratus clouds today dropping several inches of large sticky snow flakes (beter known to meterologists as sector plate ice crystals).  As we can see in the map from UNISYS weather the center of the low system has moved off to Northern Illinois indicated by the circularr motion of the wond directions.

This map from the Weather Channel confirms that the low pressure system has indeed moved off to the east.

I predict that the overcast skies and snowy weather should clear out of the area by tomorrow night.

Tuesday's Observations

Today's temperature is 33 deg F with a wind chill of 24 deg F. The dew point is 26 deg F creating a relative humidity of 75%. There is a wind coming from the east at 12 mph. The barometer is at 1022.9 mb. The skies are about 50% covered with altostratus clouds. This map from the UNISYS weather shows that the eye of this low pressure system continues to be stationary over central Iowa. The winds continue in a counterclockwise direction. I continue to forecast for snow and nimbostratus clouds to occur over night dropping several inches of snow throughout this slow moving system.



Monday's Observations

Today started off with some snow flurries. This was very disappointing as I am sick of the snow and wish for warm sunny days with green grasses. Anyways the temperature is 32.2 deg F with a windchill of 32 deg F. The dew point is at 25 deg F therefore there is a relative humidity of 75%. There are currently calm winds blowing at 5 mph from the Northeast in Eau Claire, WI. The skies are completely overcast with nimbostartus clouds. This map of surface station data from Unisys Weather shows how there is a distinct change in the wind direction, speed, and precipitiation moring in a clockwise direction with its center in central Iowa. This indicates a a distinct Low pressure system.

This can be confirmed by the second map from the Weather Channel. This confirms the low pressure system moving through the midwest.

I forcast more snow to come within the next day and colder temperatures to accompany the precipitation.

Sunday's Observation

So here is a weekend recap. Friday and Sunday were both nice with highs in the low 30s. Both days saw moderate winds around 5-10 mph and fairly clear skies.

Today the temperature is 22.4 def F with a wind chill of 16.2 deg F. The dew point is at 16.7 deg F creating a relative humidity of 72%. The barometer is at 1028.1 mb. The winds today are form the Northwest at around 10 mph. The skies are around 20% covered with a scattering of cirrostratus clouds This indicates that there is likely going to be precipitation in Eau Claire within 15-20 hours. This map from the Weather Channel confirms that there is in fact precipitation out to the west in Minnesota and Iowa. We are currently in the middle of a change from a high to low pressure system. I forecast that we will see some light snow going into the evening tonight; with temperatures in the low to mid 20s.