Observations for Monday, February 28th, 2011

Today is quite the clear day outside, with no visible clouds as far as I can see at the time of my observations.  Temperatures at about noon were sitting at 16 degrees, with a slight wind blowing from the southwest at 3 MPH.  The clear skies and colder weather are likely due to the fact that we have a high pressure dome looming over us, but I wouldn't expect it to last long.  It looks as though a low pressure system is approaching from the NW (see picture below), and it will probably bring warmer weather, but possible precipitation.  

Observations for Friday, February 26th, 2011

Looks like the colder weather I predicted coming from the north has finally started to hit us.  At my observations, the temperatures were at about 15 degrees, with winds blowing from the norhtwest.  The high pressure system produced light cloud cover, making it quite sunny outside.  I would predict that in the next few days, it will continue to stay quite cold, but we might see some more cloud cover, with some snow showers within the next week.  I say this based on the weather pattern we've been seeing lately.

Observations for Thursday, February 24th, 2011

This morning started out quite cloudy, and then began to clear up by early afternoon.  Temperatures at the time of my observations were at about 25 degrees, with a wind blowing from the north at 9 MPH.  Towards the end of the day, clouds began to gather again and it became quite overcast outside.  Based on our lecture in class today, I would have to say that they were a type of stratus cloud, based on the blanket-like structure of them.   It was also fairly dry at the time of my observations as well, as seen in the water vapor map below.  You can see the large areas of green where the low pressure system is moving through, and the clearer areas are where cold fronts are moving through with little wind.

Observations for Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

Today was yet another cloudy, mild day in Eau Claire, with temperatures sitting at about 32 degrees when I went out to do my observations.  Winds were blowing from the southwest at 5 MPH, so it was fairly calm outside.  Right about now, we're at the center of a low pressure system, which is likely the reason for all of the clouds and the warmer temperatures.  It looks like a cold front is moving in, however, so I would have to expect colder temperatures throughout the next 3 or 4 days.

Here's the map of the weather conditions right now:

Observations for Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

Today was actually quite mild, despite my thoughts that there was a chance of it being bitter cold, seeing as it's been that way after almost every snow storm we've had recently.  At the time of my observations, the temperature was 24 degrees with a decently powerful wind blowing from the south at 12 MPH.  The dew point was at 16 degrees, giving us a dew point of 66%, which isn't too significant.  I went on to accuweather.com to check out a satellite image of the cloud cover in our are, and i was surprised to see the colder weather approaching in the west.  Due to this picture, I would likely assume that within the next few days, we'll probably see some colder weather than what we've seen today.

Observations for Monday, February 22nd, 2011

This last weekends snowfall was way too remeniscent of the 22 inch snowfall Eau Claire received in December of 2010...(see video in "Videos" section).  Temperatures at the time of my observations were not too bad at about 19 degrees, and winds were blowing from the northeast at about 8 MPH.  Dew point was at about 10 degrees, and the winds are still continuing to cause drifts to build almost everywhere.  Tomorrow I would expect to see even more blowing and cooler temperatures to come due to somewhat of a higher pressure system affecting us.

Observations for Friday, February 18th, 2011

Today was certainly a LOT colder than it has been during our warm streak.  It was also very windy outside.  At the time of by observations, the temperature was at 16 degrees, but with the 11 MPH winds coming from the northwest, it really felt like 3 degrees.  Though skies are clear, I would predict that we might see some inclement weather within the next two or three days or so because of the front that's coming through.

Observations for Thursday, February 17th, 2011

Today was probably one of the warmest days that we've had all winter.  At the time of my observations, temperatures were at 39 degrees, but for most of the day they were close to 50.  Winds were blowing from the west at about 17 MPH, making it a little gustier that yesterday.  There was also a significant amout of fog in the air today as well, likely because of the snow melting and evaporating due to the warm air.  I would expect the warming trend to end soon, mainly because of the overcast days we've been experiencing and the lower pressure system that's moving through now.

Observations for Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

Today was one of the nicest days that I've seen in awhile as far as weather goes.  Temperatures at the time of my observations were steady at about 42 degrees, with light winds blowing from the southeast at 6 MPH.  Dew point was at about 25 degrees, and pressure was at 1029.7.  I would expect this warmer trend to continue over the next couple of days while the winds continue to blow from the south, but then it will unfortunately get colder again.

Observations for Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

Stepping outside for my observations tonight, it was surprisingly mild, yet cloudy.  It's really starting to feel like spring outside, at 38 degrees with winds blowing from the south at 8 mph.  Dew point was at 28 degrees.  It was also quite dry out today, and at the end of this blog post I'll post a picture from accuweather.com of the colored water vapor satellite image for today that shows how little water vapor is in the air around Eau Claire.  So far, I've been correct with my predictions of warmer weather, and it seems like it will continue with warmer winds continuing to blow from the south.

Here's the image I mentioned above:

Looks like the link for the picture didn't work...here's a link to the page on accuweather.com:

http://www.accuweather.com/us/satellite/wv/un/satellite.asp

Observations for Monday, February 14th, 2011

Well, it was certainly nice to see a significant warm-up over the last weekend.  The warm-up lasted through today as well, and since a high pressure system is lurking over us, skies were clear and it was quite pleasant out.  I did notice that there were significantly higher winds this weekend and today, however, and that is likely due to the fact that we were near the center of the high pressure system.  Winds are currently blowing from the northwest at 7 mph, and the temperature is a steady 23 degrees.  Not only would the northwest winds likely describe the warmer weather, but I believe that the current pattern of the jet stream describes it more.  I'm glad that my weather predictions from last week were at least slightly correct... in the coming days, I would expect more warm weather, but eventually a low pressure system will move in with some precipitation.

The picture below illustrates the path of the jet stream and the warm weather coming from it:

Observations for Friday, February 11th, 2011

Looks like I'm finally seeing my weather predictions for this week start to pan out!  Today was definitely a bit warmer than it has been, with temperatures at the time of my observations around 21 degrees.  Winds are fairly light, blowing at about 3 MPH from the southwest.  The dew point is also at 21 degrees, meaning that there is 100 percent humidity outside, something I thought was important to note.  This might be linked to the fact that we had some snow fall earlier.  It seems to be a bit warmer in the southwest where the winds are blowing from, so I would expect this warming trend to continue over the next few days.

Observations for Thursday, February 10th, 2011

Though today was feeling a bit warmer outside than the last few days, it was still extremely cold when I went out to do my observations today.  Temperatures at the time of my observations were at a balmy (haha...) -1 degrees, with winds blowing from the southwest at 4 mph, which is nice, because if the winds were blowing any harder, it would feel much colder out.  Skies are quite clear, which clearly contributes to why it is so cold out.  There is no cloud "blanket" over the earth to help keep warmer air from escaping into the atmosphere.  The last few days, I have been predicting a warming trend, and I still do predict that, though it's coming a lot slower than what I thought it would be.  In the map below, you can see a low pressure system moving into the area, which is why I believe that we might see a warming trend within the next few days.

Observations for Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

Today was about the same as the last few days...cold and sunny.  Temperatures at the time of my observations were about 0 degrees, though it felt a heck of a lot colder than that. Winds are currently blowing from the southwest at about 9 mph, and the high pressure system still seems to be in effect. The warmer weather seems to be coming a little bit slower than I had expected, though I still have faith that it's coming in the next week.

Observations for Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

Well, yesterday I had said that I thought it might get quite a bit colder before it got warmer, and boy was I right.  Today was absolutely freezing out, with completely clear skies and no clouds.  This is due to the fact that there is a high pressure system near us.  The temperature at the time of my observations was -2 degrees, but it really feels like -20 out.  Winds are currently blowing from the southwest at 13 mph, so I still have to stand by yesterdays prediction that it will likely get warmer out within the next week.

Observations for Monday, February 7th, 2011

This morning I left my house in Green Bay to come back to Eau Claire at 5:45 a.m., and at that point I already knew that it was going to be a pretty cloudy day with likely precipitation.  This was because of the fact that winds are blowing from the northwest, and a low pressure system/cold front is moving into the area (see graphic below).  As I neared Eau Claire, I hit quite the patch of snow, and visibility was quite low at the time.  The day went on, and the snow cleared up, and at the time of my observations at about 5 p.m., it was about 11 degrees out with winds still blowing from the northwest at 10 mph.  In the next few days, I would predict temperatures to grow colder, then steadily rise due to the low pressure system, but we may see a bit of precipitation mixed in there as well.  

Here's a map from weather.com depicting the current weather conditions in the U.S.:

Observations for Friday, February 4th, 2011

Today was certainly a lot warmer than what it has been within the last four days.  When I went out to do my observations, it was about fifteen degrees, with winds blowing from the southwest.  The warmer weather is likely due to the fact that winds are blowing from the south, and moderately clear skies are due to the high pressure system that is still slightly lingering.  I would predict some more cloud cover within the next few days, as it looks like a low pressure system is moving in.  I might say that we might get a bit of precipitation as well.

Observations for Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

Today was another cold day here in Eau Claire.  Temperatures at the time of my observations were around 16 degrees, but it really felt like it was 0 degrees outside.  Today in class, we talked about how the high pressure air mass is basically right on Eau Claire, which would explain why there are still almost no clouds and sunny skies.  Winds are still blowing from the southwest like yesterday, however, which probably means that temperatures within the next few days will start to warm up.

Observations for Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

Today was an extremely bright day, with very little cloud cover throughout the day.  This is likely because of the fact that a high pressure system has moved into our region of the midwest, which typically makes for less cloud cover.  It was also extremely cold out today, a frigid 2 degrees at the time of my observations.  Winds have switched directions from the previous few days, and are now blowing from the southwest.  I would likely predict that since winds are now coming from the south, we will likely see a temperature increase within the next few days, but the high pressure system will probably stick around, causing clear skies for the time being.

Observations for Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

Well, if you got a chance to take a walk outside today, you'd certainly be able to tell that it's quite cold out there.  I just got in from doing my observations, and temperatures seem to continue to be dropping.  During the day, the sky seemed to be covered almost completely with clouds, but this seems to have reduced significantly, and it's quite clear out now.  Today in class, we began discussing cloud cover and pressure systems, and we learned that when a high pressure system moves in (which it currently is), there is less cloud cover, which leads to colder air.  The temperature outside is at 15 degrees with winds blowing from the northeast at about twelve miles an hour.  As I stated earlier, since a high pressure system will be moving in within the next couple of days, I expect temperatures to drop significantly.  There's a pretty nasty snowstorm hitting the lower parts of Wisconsin and the midwest, and I've been trying to keep track of that as much as I can, seeing as I have family living in the Green Bay area.

Below is a map of the current weather system moving through the midwest that helps to illustrate the low pressure system bringing in the huge midwest storm that cities like Chicago and Milwaukee are experience right now.