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.