Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Current Conditions:
Temperature: 16°F
Feels Like: 18°F
Wind: South @ 3 mph
Humidity: 76%
Pressure: 1021.4 mb é

The heat wave has arrived! A lot of maps are going to be used to discuss the current weather patterns. A very noticeable rise in the temperature started to roll in later last night, bringing warmer temperatures and precipitation in the form of a few inches of snow. A lack of a dominant pressure system is hanging over the Midwest currently, as a high and low pressure system seem to be cancelling out any affects. It is currently overcast with a very gentle wind. The next few days should bring a rise in temperature into the 30s on Thursday with a high chance for precipitation, followed by a cold front moving in on Friday, which should give way to another rise into the 30s for the rest of the predictable forecast. 

As shown by this map, there are no visible isobars over most of the Midwest, including our area of the state, leading to a very gradual pressure gradient, cloudy skies, and a lack of wind.

As this Unisys map shows, the dominant wind direction is out of the south for our area, however to the west of us, in Minnesota, the main dominant wind is out of the northwest, leading to much chillier temperatures.

This is a wind map overlaid with a temperature map. As we can see, the dominant wind is currently out of the south, leading to somewhat warmer temperatures.

This is a map of the current location of the Polar Jetstream from 250 hPa. As we can see, it is dipping very far into the south right now, bringing much colder weather to the southern region of the country, aiding in the winter storm warnings and winter weather they are currently experiencing.