Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Summary of Semester

This semester has been extremely eventful for weather happenings.  There were many different winter storms to hit our area over the months of January to even early May.  These weather conditions were much more normal for our area than that have occurred in the previous year.  One event that wasn't typical for our area was the snow storm we received in early May that brought us over 7 inches of snow.  What made that storm so different was not only the timing of it, but the fact that it came only a few days after temperatures were in the 70s.  Looking back I should have posted more often during the first part of the semester to gather data that would be more useful to this summary.  Overall, the weather data I gathered showed typical winter conditions for winter and early spring, but we did receive some above average snow and precipitation numbers.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

May 9, 2013

Current Conditions
Rain
Temperature: 47 degrees F
Dew Point: 45 degrees F
Wind Speed: 13 MPH
Wind Direction: NNE
Humidity: 93 %
Pressure: 29.99 in and stable

Today was overcast the entire day with blanket of low stratus clouds.  There was also a steady light rain shower for most of the day with the showers intensifying later in the afternoon.  The wind completely switched directions from yesterday and is now coming out of the northeast which is typical when there are storms approaching or upon our area.  This cold front and precipitation should pass by later tonight and we should see slight warming going into the weekend.  To our west there is a large pocket of low pressure and more precipitation forming, but I predict that the jet stream should carry that to our north and this rain will be the last that we will see for the weekend.

US: Current Weather

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

May 8, 2013

Current Conditions
Partly Cloudy
Temperature: 72 degrees F
Dew Point: 49 degrees F
Wind Speed: 1 MPH
Wind Direction: Southwest
Humidity: 43%
Pressure: 30.01 in. and stable

Temperatures this morning remain very comfortable in the low 70's, but you can tell by the blanket of stratus clouds that have moved in that there will be a chance for rain later today and tonight.  Earlier this morning we saw scattered cumulus clouds in the sky and in the last hour the overcast stratus clouds have moved in.  There is a line of precipitation to our west that appears to be heading in our direction with winds coming out of the southwest.  For later today I would expect temperatures to drop at least 10 degrees Fahrenheit and later this afternoon we should see some vertical development in clouds which should bring scattered rain showers with a chance of thunderstorms overnight.  Air pressure should continue to drop as the day goes on as well.  This storm if it does develop at all should pass within the next 24 hours though, but don't expect temperatures to return to the 70's until the weekend.

US: Current Weather

US: Doppler Radar


Tuesday, May 7, 2013

May 7, 2013

Current Conditions
Clear
Temperature: 72 degrees F
Dew Point: 38 degrees F
Wind Speed: 4 MPH
Wind Direction: WSW
Humidity: 30%

We couldn't have asked for much better weather today in Eau Claire.  The skies were mostly blue for a great deal of the day with scattered cumulus clouds.  There is very little moisture in the air and a soft breeze coming from the southwest creating an extremely comfortable conditions.  The high pressure has diminished as the day has gone on and we should see a cold front accompanied by pockets of low pressure within the next day or so.  This should bring some spotty precipitation for the next couple days and temperatures dropping into the 50s and 60s.  A little bit of rain would be good to support the beginning of the growing season for most agriculture as long as the temperatures do not get too low during the overnight hours and creating frost, which could be devestating to yields this year.

US: Current Weather

Monday, May 6, 2013

May 6, 2013

Current Conditions
Sunny
Temperature: 60 degrees F
Dew Point: 45 degrees F
Wind Speed: 4 MPH
Wind Direction: West
Humidity: 57%

After receiving over 7 inches of snow last Thursday and even more rain after that over the weekend, temperatures have warmed up again to normal for this time of year.  Over the weekend I traveled to St. Louis, Missouri for a wedding and it seemed the cloudy and rainy weather followed me there.  Over the weekend it rained for a majority of the time and temperatures were colder than even here in Eau Claire. Currently there is a stationary front over much of Wisconsin and a large pocket of high pressure.  This should mean that the sunny warm conditions should remain for the next couple days at least.  The area of high pressure is causing a divergence in the jet stream right over Minnesota.  Areas of low pressure and a stationary front over the Rockies right now should form a line of precipitation that could reach us later in the week.  For now we will enjoy the beautiful weather in our area.




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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

May 1, 2013

Current Conditions
Light Rain
Temperature: 37 degrees F
Dew Point: 34 degrees F
Wind Speed: 12 MPH
Wind Direction: NNW
Humidity: 87%

Temperatures dropped drastically between yesterday and today! Yesterday we were nearing temperatures of 80 degrees F and today we did not even get above 50 degrees F.  Today has been overcast all day with low stratus clouds blanketing the sky.  We did not see any precipitation until late this afternoon and this precipitation should continue for the next day or so with the possibility of snow showers overnight.  A winter storm in May is usually extremely rare, but with the long cold winter that we have had this year it could be expected almost.  We are at about the northern most point of this storm which stretches all the way down into Kansas and Oklahoma.  This cold front should move through in the next few days though and later this week we should see conditions return to around normal for this time of year.

US: Current Weather

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

April 30, 2013

Current Conditions
Cloudy
Temperature: 56 degrees F
Dew Point: 38 degrees F
Wind Speed: 7 MPH
Wind Direction: NNW
Humidity: 52%
Pressure: 29.92 In. and stable


Today was a beautiful day for the most part!  Clear skies and a lot of sun for the majority of the day.  The clear skies turned into scattered cumulus clouds with vertical development around 7 PM this evening. We saw some spotty showers throughout the evening and overnight we might see some scattered thunderstorms. There is also a couple strings of cold fronts over us and directly south of us which is bringing the precipitation because of the warm weather we saw the last few days.  The front of precipitation stretches all the way to the Rockies where people in Colorado and Wyoming are seeing snow showers.  Over the next day or two we should see lower temperatures with the chance of some snow showers coming on Thursday, but that should not stick on the ground.  The rest of the week we should see precipitation on and off.  Hopefully we should see the jet stream shift into an Omega High within the next week to bring more consistent warm temperatures and stable weather.

US: Current Weather