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.