Observations for Thursday, May 12th, 2011

Thursday was a much cooler day than what we had been experiencing throughout the week, as most of the day was overcast with light rain and cooler temperatures.  At 3 pm, the temperature was 71 degrees, but because of the overcast weather, it felt cooler and damper than that.  Winds at the time were blowing at about 4 mph from the north, which isn't too bad, and pressure was rising steadily, sitting at 1029.72 mb at the time.  Throughout the next few days, I would expect it to warm up a bit, but mostly I would expect it to clear up as a high pressure system looks to be making it's way towards us.

Observations for Wednesday, May 11th, 2011

It cooled down significantly on Wednesday due to the change in fronts that we experienced and the rain that came through, but that doesn't mean that it was not at all warm.  At 3 pm, the temperature was 71 degrees, with a dew point of 57 degrees and winds blowing from the southeast at 5 mph.  Clouds during the day were pretty strange, meaning that it was clear one hour, and then completely cloudy/raining the next.  The warm weather did not last into the next few days, and it would end up getting much cooler.

Observations for Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

Tuesday was much warmer than Monday, as well as clearer, but it was beginning to feel quite a bit muggy, something that I envision to continue over the next few days.  At 3 pm, the temperature was 78 degrees, with clear skies and winds blowing from the east/southeast at 11 mph.  Like I stated earlier, it began to get really muggy out Tuesday, a trend that we will most likely see for the next couple of days until a cold front moves in to cool it down.

Observations for Friday, May 6th, 2011

Today was a mix of nice, clear skies and gloomy clouds.  It seemed as though at some points, it would be quite sunny and warm, and then the next minute, it would be cool, breezy and cloudy.  The temperature at the time of my observations was 57 degrees, and the barometric pressure was 1029.78 mb.  Winds were calm, and skies were mostly cloudy.  The clouds throughout the day made it really seem much cooler than what I would have expected.  If we take a look at the current conditions map below, we can see that the United States is pretty much completely littered with low pressure systems and quite a bit of interestingly spotty precipitation "pods."  I think that within the next two days we might experience some significant rainfall, due to the approaching low pressure system and the stationary/cold front that is looming just north of us.

Observations for Thursday, May 5th, 2011

It's been a pretty mild day outside today, it seems.  I haven't really gotten a chance to go outside and check things out on account of the fact that I've been sick with strep throat, but it has seemed to be really nice out for most of the day.  Looking out my window, I could see that there were quite a few cumulus clouds in the sky during the morning hours, but it seemed to clear up here and there to reveal nice and sunny skies.  The temperature at 3 pm was 50 degrees, much cooler than yesterday's temperature, which was around 62 at the same time.  The barometric pressure has also dropped throughout the day, though it is now steadying off at around 1029 mb.  Overall, it's been a pretty cloudy day, and I would expect that to continue.  I would think that we might get some rain tonight and possibly tomorrow.  

Observations for Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

It looks as though the steady (or consistent) warm-up we've been looking forward to is finally taking place.  At 3 pm on Wednesday, the temperature was a delightful 62 degrees, with clear skies and winds blowing from the south at 13 MPH.  At the time, gust speeds were up to 20 MPH, which made it seem a bit cooler out, but it wasn't that bad.  Throughout the day, the barometric pressure dropped ever-so-slightly, which I found interesting.  It never really dropped enough for me to perceive having worse weather on Thursday except for possibly some more clouds.

Observations for Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

Well, it looks like my observations from yesterday are somewhat correct, as it looks like it's beginning to warm up a bit outside (though not enough for me...).  Skies are much clearer due to the predicted high pressure system in the area, and temperatures have increased throughout the morning.  As of 1 pm, the temperature outside is 46 degrees, and winds are blowing from the east at 14 MPH.  The pressure has stayed pretty steady at 1030.27 mb.  Due to the fact that a higher pressure system has moved into the area, I would expect it to stay pretty nice out for the next day or so, but due to winds from the east and northeast, we might see some showers in a couple of days.

P.S. - Check the photos section today for some more cool pictures!!!

Observations for Monday, May 2nd, 2011

At this point, I honestly don't blame the budding trees for getting mixed messages.  This spring (if you can even call it that), it's been decent out one day, and really crappy out the next.  It's really getting annoying.  At the time of my observations here on Monday, the temperature was 35 degrees, though it really felt like 30 with the dew point and the wind chill.  Winds are blowing from the north at 5 MPH, and the pressure is 1030.27 mb.  Since this morning, the pressure has been rising steadily, but not by much.  This might be an indication that we could experience nicer weather tomorrow afternoon or so.  As far as clouds in the sky, it has been pretty darn overcast all day long, with cumulostratus clouds looming overhead.  As stated earlier, I would predict clearer skies tomorrow based on the rising pressure, but temperatures will probably remain less than stellar.  If we check out the map below, we can see a strong amount of thunderstorms currently taking place in the lower midwest and into the southern states, and we can see the clear squall line of thunderstorms to the east of Texas and over Louisiana.

P.S. - Make sure to check the pictures and links tab of my blog soon for some more cool updates!!!!  :D

Observations for Friday, April 29th, 2011

As stated on Thursday, Friday was prepped to be a pretty nice day seeing as the barometric pressure had been rising all day on Thursday.  My thoughts seemed to have been correct, as Friday turned out to be one of the most gorgeous days of the spring so far.  At 3 pm, the temperature was 64 degrees, but winds were blowing pretty strongly from the southeast at 13 MPH.  The southern winds helped to bring warmer air to the region, and the lower pressure helped to give us relatively clear, sunny skies.  Even though today was a nicer day, I still feel like temperatures for this time of year are much lower than usual...  The trees haven't even budded yet, and it's frankly starting to get a bit annoying that they haven't.  It still feels like winter!!!

Observations for Thursday, April 28th, 2011

It's been a rough last few days of weather to say the least, and I think that it's safe to say that Thursday was no exception.  Throughout the day, the barometric pressure rose pretty significantly, but for most of the day, it was pretty crappy out.  At 3 pm, the temperature was 44 degrees, and winds were blowing from the northwest at 9 MPH.  We saw a bit of light rain and snow showers throughout the morning and into the afternoon, and then it remained cloudy for most of the day with a mix of different types of clouds in the sky.  The rising barometric pressure would likely lead to nicer weather and clearer skies in the days to come during the weekend.

Observations for Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

Today was yet another cold and cloudy spring day in Eau Claire.  In fact, it really didn't seem like spring at all.  The temperature at the time of my observations was 36 degrees, but with northwest winds at 7 MPH made it feel more like 30 degrees.  In the morning when I woke up, it was drizzling outside, and it really stayed that way for most of the day.  In fact, at one point, I believe it even snowed a bit.  If we take a look at the map below, we can see that the storm that is currently out east is on it's last leg, based on the fact that we can see an occluded front right above Michigan.  Within the next few days, I would expect a high pressure system to move closer to our area, but then I would suspect a low pressure system from the northwest to move in bringing more crappy weather on possibly Sunday or Monday.

Observations for Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Today has been quite dreary to say the least.  The temperature at the time of my observations was a lowly 38 degrees, with little to no winds.  We're fortunate to have the calm winds, as if they were any stronger, it would have felt much cooler outside.  The current pressure is about 1029.54, which is low, but relatively stable.  We've experienced steady rainfall all day, which is partly the reason why I stated that it has been so dreary.  If we take a look at the map below, we can see the current conditions for the upper Mississippi River Valley, which basically shows that we're having quite irregular and cold temperatures for this time of year.

Picture is courtesy of the NOAA.

Observations for Friday, April 22nd and Monday, April 25th

Temperatures from Friday of last week to Monday of this week dropped drastically over the weekend, and the difference was highly noticeable.  On Friday at 3 pm, the temperature was hardly stellar, at around 43 degrees.  Winds were blowing from the east at 15 MPH, which made it feel like it was more like 35 degrees outside.  At that time, it was overcast, which was pretty much the theme throughout the weekend.  Monday, however, was a stark difference.  The rain over the weekend help to usher in a different front, at at 3 pm on Monday, the temperature was a very comfortable 66 degrees.  Winds at the time were blowing from the northeast at 12 MPH, and skies were gorgeous and clear.  The gorgeous weather from Monday has not lasted, unfortunately, and on Tuesday we've experienced quite a bit of rain and much cooler weather.

Observations for Thursday, April 21st, 2011

Today was a pretty mild day outside, with no real significant weather events to talk about.  It was fairly sunny throughout the morning, but it became overcast around noon and stayed that way for most of the rest of the day. On my way to class today, I noticed that there were cirrostratus clouds in the sky, and you could sort of see the ring around the sun that would likely signal some inclement weather on the way.  As we speak, winds are blowing from the southeast at 10 MPH and the temperature is pretty mild at 46 degrees.  In the next few days, as stated earlier, I would think we might see some rain, followed by nicer, warm weather.  A Colorado low is forming currently, which will probably work it's way towards us.

Observations for Tuesday, April 19th and Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

Throughout the course of yesterday and today, we've experienced cooler temperatures, overcast skies, and light snow.  I was predicting quite a bit more of precipitation than what we actually got, but I'm not complaining one bit, as most of the snow melted after a few hours of staying on the ground.  At 3 pm on Tuesday, the temperature was about 41 degrees and winds were blowing from the east at 13 MPH.  The east wind signaled inclement weather to come, and like I said earlier, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  Light snow persisted throughout the night, and collected on the ground through this morning.  Today at 3 pm, the temperature was 42 degrees, with winds blowing from the west at 11 MPH.  Skies again at this time were overcast, but the changed wind direction helped to show that our snowy weather was likely on its way out.  For the next few days, we'll probably see a slow warm-up with a day or two of precipitation.

Observations for Monday, April 18th, 2011

Today was a pretty mild day out, with clear skies for most of the day, but strong winds.  When clouds did loom overhead, they seemed to be various types of cumulus clouds.  At the time of my observations, it was 39 degrees outside, with winds blowing from the east/northeast at about 6 MPH.  At this point, one should already point out that whenever winds are coming from the east, it usually signals inclement weather.  This is exactly what I believe will take place within the next day or so.  We'll probably get some snow, and it could be significant amounts.  This is also due to a Colorado low that's moving into the area.

Observations for Thursday, April 14th, 2011 and Friday, April 15th, 2011

Strong winds have pretty much been the theme of the last four days or so, with some gusts reaching over 30 MPH.  On Thursday, the temperature was 44 degrees at 3 pm with variable winds at about 5 MPH, but that speed was not consistent throughout the day, as speeds were easily over 21 MPH earlier in the day.  It's probably important to note that winds were mostly coming from the north/northwest for most of the day.  With the high winds, it really felt about 10 degrees colder on average than the actual temperatures.  On Friday, it was a bit warmer at 3 pm, with temperatures at about 46 degrees, but even stronger winds blowing from the northeast at a whopping 23 MPH.  These extremely strong winds made it feel even colder than the day before, unfortunately.  There was a mix of clouds throughout both days, and we did experience a bit of light snow on Friday afternoon, though it didn't accumulate to much of anything.  The strong winds seem to have continued through the weekend, though it doesn't seem like it's gotten too much colder out.  I would expect a slow warming trend to start within the next week to quell all of the strong winds.

Observations for Tuesday, April 12th and Wednesday, April 13th

I had predicted that yesterday and today were going to be quite a bit cooler than the weekend, and though they were cooler than Sunday, they were by no means as cool as I thought they would be (no pun intended...).  At 4 pm on Tuesday, the temperature was a comfortable 66 degrees with a fairly strong wind coming from the southwest at 12 MPH.  At that time, there really weren't any clouds outside.  At the same time today, the temperature was cooler at 57 degrees with lighter winds coming from the northwest at 4 MPH.  It was pretty overcast today, with mostly cumulostratus clouds hanging in the sky.  We did also experience a bit of precipitation today, but nothing to really fret about.  In the image below, we can see a few low pressure domes out west, which should move their way towards the midwest in the next few days, possibly bringing showers.

Observations for Monday, April 11th, 2011

Today was the first day of the turnaround of weather from the weekend.  With the huge storms this weekend due to clashing warm and cold fronts, I figured that it would most certainly be cooler today, and I was pretty much right.  It was, however, a bit warmer and nicer than I had initially expected.  At 11:30 pm, the temperature was still 43 degrees, with a dew point of 33 degrees and calm winds.  It is also very clear out at the time.  If we look at the US current conditions map, you can see that it's actually pretty calm all across the country, aside from the leftover of storms towards the east.  In the coming days, I would predict that we will continue to experience mild weather with increasing temperatures.

Observations for Thursday, April 7th and Friday, April 8th (With some observations of Sunday's "mega storm")

The conditions on Thursday and Friday were much of the same, with really fair temperatures prevailing and increasing wind speeds throughout each day.  On Thursday at 3:00 pm, the temperature was a comfortable 62 degrees with a dew point temperature of 25 degrees, giving us a relative humidity of 24%.  Winds were growing to their strongest at that part of the day, with speeds of 10 MPH from the south/southeast.  Skies were very clear and present all day.  Friday, as stated earlier, was much of the same.  Skies were clear for most of the day, and at 3:00 pm, the temperature was 62 degrees with winds coming from the east/southeast at 9 MPH.  These really pleasant temperatures were really only a precurser to what was to come during the weekend.  On Saturday night and throughout the day on Sunday, a massive spring storm developed over the midwest that was to produce large amounts of hail, rain, and pretty much everything else imaginable.  Though the storm passed through Eau Claire with little damaged, the same cannot be said for other cities in eastern Wisconsin.  The supercell storm will continue to get stronger as it heads east.