February 27, 2014 - 1:34 P.M.

  Current Weather Conditions:

Temperature: -6° F

Feels Like: -18° F

Wind: W 5 mph

Barometric Pressure: 1023.8 mb

Humidity: 45%

Dew Point: -22° F

Figure 1 - Upper atmosphere

The brutal winter continues. After the storm from late last week, the pressure has risen considerably. This has given way to mostly clear skies and high winds. Figure 1 shows the upper air data for the country. You can see the jet stream coming down from Canada bringing with it the frigid temperatures. Figure 2 shows the surface conditions for the Midwest. The high pressure dome can be seen with clear skies, and figure 3 shows the high pressure a little better as well as the cold air.

Figure 2 - Surface conditions in the Midwest

Figure 3 - Surface wind conditions with temperature

Figure 4 - United States surface map

The cold front shown in the figure 4 surface map matches up with the line of cold air in figure 3. The high pressure dome over Minnesota as well as the low pressure north of New York state shown in figure 4 can also be seen in the wind map in figure 3, with the air in the high pressure system swirling clockwise, and counterclockwise in the low pressure area. Also notice that the air temperature is cooler in the high pressure area.






Unfortunately, these bitter conditions will not be going anywhere. The chart in figure 5 shows the wind speed forecast for the next week. I expect the next couple of days to be very cold. With the wind, Saturday will probably be colder than it is today. Stay warm!

February 21, 2014 - 12:34 P.M.

Current Weather Conditions:

Temperature: 11° F

Feels Like: -8° F

Wind: W at 22 mph (gusting to 30 mph)

Barometric Pressure: 996.0 mb

Humidity: 77%

Dew Point: 5° F

The two low pressure systems from yesterday have moved on. One is north of Wisconsin, giving us cold winds from the west. There might be some snow flurries during the day, but the storm is behind us. With high winds and a drop in temperature, some of that rain or melted snow from yesterday could be freezing, keeping road conditions rough for today despite an end to the snow. It will probably stay cold for a least a few days, and the pressure might start rising now that the storm has passed.

Below is a wind map with temperature overlaid on it. you can see the cold, westerly winds in Western Wisconsin, as well as that huge system of low pressure.

February 20, 2014

I'm making my post for the 20th a day late because I got stranded away from a computer last night, thanks to winter weather. That should give you an idea of where I am going with this.

With my car stuck in the parking lot where my wife works, I did a lot of walking around last night during the storm. With such warm temperatures (high 30s - low 40s), the snow was heavy and wet. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate this. The warmer air to the east and southeast of the low pressure system caused rain and thunderstorms. As the wind swirled around the area of low pressure, the air got cooler and caused snow. This progressed through the day, starting as rain and eventually snowing most of the night.

Figure 1 - Precipitation map

Figure 2 - Winter storm

The surface map in figure 3 shows the location of the low pressure system and the cold fronts that are effecting this storm. Comparing figure 1 to figure 2, you can see the rain stretching across the US from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast is caused by the cold front sweeping across the states. Today, we are on the south side of that low pressure. This accounts for strong, cold, westerly winds.

Figure 3 - The Weather Channel surface map

Figure 4 - Water vapor map

Figure 5 - Unisys surface map

There was a lot of moisture hanging above Minnesota and Wisconsin (figure 4). There was a lot of vapor to precipitate once it started.

You can see the wind direction best in the Unisys map in figure 5. You can also clearly see where it was snowing at the time by the filled-in white bubbles. At this point in the night, the low pressure was to our southeast, causing winds to hit Eau Claire from the north.

February 19, 2014 - 10:46 P.M.

Current Weather Conditions:

Temperature: 34° F

Feels Like: 26° F

Wind: S 10 mph

Barometric Pressure: 1009.1 mb

Humidity: 76%

Dew Point: 27° F

I hope everyone is prepared for tomorrow. Several sources I have checked give tomorrow a 100% chance of precipitation. In my experience, it is extremely rare that meteorologists give a 100% chance to anything. Even if it's a sure thing, they give it 80%. They are not screwing around. In the surface map below, you can see the cold front coming down from Canada. When that cold air hits the warm air we have had lately, they will react violently. It should be exciting! Some thunderstorms could even appear mixed with snow and sleet. It may not be fun to drive on, but it will be fun to see. After the storm, we'll have much cooler temperatures again from the cold air behind the front. The spring weather we have had lately doesn't mean winter is over yet. 

February 18, 2014 - 9:00 P.M.

Current Weather Conditions:

Temperature: 30° F

Feels Like: 25° F

Wind: SW 5 mph

Barometric Pressure: 1004.7 mb

Humidity: 79%

Dew Point: 24° F

Figure 1 - Jet stream

Judging by how this winter has been so far, today was a pretty wonderful day in Eau Claire. Mostly sunny skies along with warm, above-freezing temperatures led to Wisconsinites walking around campus in shorts. Figure one shows that the Jet stream is not currently bringing the frigid arctic air, but instead bringing warmer air from the Pacific across the United States. Figure 2 is an image from AccuWeather.com showing a similar picture.

Figure 2 - Jet stream

In figure 3, we see the cold front moving across the Midwest. This is cold front is wedging the warm air higher into the atmosphere, creating the cloudy, overcast conditions we currently have. In the surface map, we can also see that there is still precipitation in the Northeast. Figure 4 shows surface winds, and the low pressure system that is generating that precipitation can clearly be seen circled in red, as well as in the figure 3 surface map.

Figure 4 - Surface winds

Figure 3 - Surface conditions

While this warm air is awfully nice, it will come at a price. There is a Winter Storm Watch starting Thursday morning, and we'll probably be getting some snow/sleet before that on Wednesday. With temperatures above 32° for the next couple of days, the precipitation shown in figure 5 could easily end up as a disgusting, rainy, slushy hell. Enjoy the warm weather!

Figure 5 - Intellicast precipitation chart

February 14, 2014 - 8:02 P.M.

 Current Weather Conditions:

Temperature: 11° F

Feels Like: -1° F

Wind: NW 8  mph

Barometric Pressure: 1016.8 mb

Humidity: 56%

Dew Point: -2° F

 A rise in pressure today brought a chilly, clear day with a little bit of wind. Don't expect it to last, though, as we'll be getting more snow tomorrow and probably early next week. More low pressure will bring warmer temperatures and less wind along with the snow.