Weather Observations April 8th (Sun) & April 9th

Sunday April 8th
Windy and Cool today.  Partly cloudy conditions in the afternoon with cloud cover 75% or greater.  Really puffy cumulus clouds breaking apart into what looked like a rows in the sky.  Winds N at 7-15 MPH with gusts near 20 in the late afternoon hours.  Even though the clouds were observed to be in fractal patterns they still are associated with changing weather so I was not surprised when I woke up this morning (Apr 9) to a completely clear sky and even windier conditions than Sunday (Apr 8).  Temperatures on Sunday peaked out at 61F around 4 this afternoon. 

Monday April 9th
Crazy windy today.  Wind gusts close to 30MPH, blowing between 10-15 N-NW regularly.  Clear skies were observed this morning at 10AM with some clouds off to the South and West of my location but too far off to see what type definitively.  At 3PM the cloud cover  had increased to near 70% with winds still blowing moderately throughout the day.  Large puffy cumulus clouds observed, probably cold clouds as they looked wispy and were at mid to high level in the sky.  Temperature at 5PM recorded at 43F.  The wind out of the north has kept these past two days deceivingly cool despite the sunshine.  Tomorrow's forecast looks even colder with a high temperature of 45F and a freeze warning has even been issued for our general area. 

Observed 926 Menomonie Street Eau Claire, WI 54703

Midwest Regional Roundup

Heres a look ahead into our week and what we can expect for temperatures and precipitation.

Weather Observations - Morning of Thursday, April 5th

Woke up this morning to a mainly clear sky.  Some cirrus clouds exhibiting wind shear in them were observed to the south of Eau Claire as I walked to school this morning.  Wind is cool and fluctuating out of the East and North.  Temperature is 42.3F as of 10:34AM, with a high expected near 60. 
Current conditions around the nation are....

As you can see there is a large low pressure system to our south.  This would explain the north winds we have been experience over the past few days.  This low pressure was probably sucking in the air from areas in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin yesterday.  I am guessing that the cooler air located here in our area mixed with some of the air from the Gulf Coast states is creating the precipitation that you see in Mississippi, Alabama, and elsewhere in the southeast. 

Looking to the west one will see a large cold front associated with some low pressure.  Right now that system is currently over the Rocky Mountains.  The high pressure seen down near Colorado that is so close to the Low Pressure at the southern tip of Nevada should create higher winds than average because of the sharper pressure gradient change from one location to the other. 

Here is  map of the Jet Stream illustrating the Upper Air movements in our atmosphere on this day.

When comparing the current conditions map and the jet stream a couple of things become very evident.  The portion of the Jet in the Northwest United States moves north right alongside where the cold front is located in the current conditions map.  Also the Jet in the southern US has a very distinct shape like the stationary low located there. 

Weather Observed on the way to UW-Eau Claire's campus and at McIntyre Library

Wedsnesday April 4th Weather Brief

Very clear conditions pushed through in the later part of yesterday (Tuesday, April 3rd).  These conditions continued throughout the night and into today.  Clear conditions right now in Eau Claire, Sky cover about 5%, consisting of high level cirrus clouds in the distance to the east.  Winds out of the North at 5-10MPH has kept a cool breeze to go with the sunny conditions.  Temperature reading of 57F at four minutes before the noontime hour.  The temp should increase into the sixties before the day is done as the sky looks cloudless to our West and North.  High pressure has moved in over the last two days since our hail storm early Tuesday morning at 2AM.  Since then the clouds have changed from a homogenous stratus layer to cirrostratus, and now just a few cirrus clouds.  Given this high pressure we should have sunny conditions for at least another day or so, hopefully with the winds dying down tomorrow.

Observation taken at McIntyre Library, UW-Eau Claire 11:59AM 

April 3rd Weather Observations / Assignment 5 JPEGS

Not a bad morning considering the area got pelted with hail last night for about 5 minutes before turning into a downpour.  Total precipitation came out to be around .2 of an inch.  Winds from the East during the day began to come from the S-SE around 7pm last night as well as the cloud deck becoming thicker throughout the day.  Clouds variated through the day from mostly clear conditions in the morning, to partly cloudy in the afternoon, to 100% cloud cover by 8pm. 

Overcast this morning, wind out of the N-NE at 10mph.  This change in wind direction from the E to the N-NE shows that there may be a shift in cloud cover throughout the day.  Other notable things with this wind direction notes that the front from last night has pushed through as well.  Temperature of 50F at 9:04AM today, with a high expected to be around 61F.  Winds are expected to stay moderate at 10 to 15MPH.  Barometric pressure is on the rise in the last 5 hours as illustrated by the weather briefing this morning given in class.

Today we also worked on Assignment 5 in ArcMap 10 today.  We created a number of rasterized images and maps with the weather data that we collected on 3/27/2012.  Here's what they look like...

Weather observed at Phillips Hall, UW-Eau Claire 54701

Sunday April 1st - Night Obs & Monday April 2nd - Morning/Midday Obs.

Last night temperatures remained cool with a light breeze that picked up in intensity around 8/9 o'clock CST.  Winds gradually built to about 15 mph in gusts, and about a steady 7 or 8 mph otherwise.  Temperatures remained cool, wind out of the E/NE which was kind of weird to say the least.  High level stratus clouds in the distance to the Southwest, West, and North.

Woke up this morning to a windy breeze.  At least 10 to 15mph consistently, cloud cover at 20%.  High level cirrus, cirrostratus clouds seen.  Wind still blowing hard out of the E/SE.  Sunny/Partly cloudy conditions, with a temperature reading of 55F as of 12:54PM. High expected to reach 68 today but I expect it to feel much cooler with all the wind that is present today.  These windy conditions frighten me somewhat as conditions have become cloudier throughout the day and the wind from the east.  There is some sunshine but with the wind from the east there must be high pressure there and lower pressures to our west.  I do not know if this will cause any major storms or precipitation but there is a good chance if some of these cirrus clouds begin to change shape or type as we move later in the day.

Observed at Phillips Hall UW-Eau Claire, 54701

Thursday, March 29th Weather Brief

Woke up this morning to a fairly clear sky.  Some high level cirrus, and cirrostratus clouds observed to the North and West of Eau Claire and my location.  Cloud cover 20% at best.  Sunny yet cool as the "edge" of the jetstream is located just south of our us today as seen in the weather brief and told by Professor Hupy in class.  Temperatures are expected to reach 60F today, current temp at 10:30A is 44F.  The sunny conditions have kept yesterday and today really tolerable, and the cool breeze that has stuck around has been nice too. 

Thunderstorms and potential tornadoes could be seen today in areas of Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska.
Here is a little story talking about the possibilities for severe weather in these areas today.  I plan to keep an eye on this over the next few days to see if it affects us.
The Weather Channel


^^Here is the weather brief for the Midwest region of the United States today

Observed: UW-Eau Claire, Phillips Hall, 54701