Weather Observations 4/23

Afternoon observations - 30% Cloud Cover, Puffy Cumulus clouds, mid-level all around. Winds out of the North for the greater part of the day at 10MPH gusting to 15MPH at times.  Sunny/Partly cloudy conditions observed for the whole afternoon into the evening.  Temperatures were moderate, highs in the low 60's.  Current temperature reading at 10:30PM is 53.2F at Weather Underground.  Barometric pressure has been steadily dropping throughout the day, indicating windier conditions.

I would not be surprised if some type of precipitation pushes through within the next two days if not sooner. A huge storm is currently out east in the New England Region even dumping snow on some parts Western New York and into the Montreal (CA) area. 

There is a cold air mass located directly north of Wisconsin as well as a warmer air mass associated with low pressure to the Northwest in the Dakotas.  If these two happen to start mixing or approach one another some type of precipitation would be possible.  It looks as though most of the inland states are seeing some stable conditions at during this snapshot taken from the National Weather Service on April, 23rd.

Eau Claire, WI 54703

Saturday, April 21st Weather Observations

This morning I observed fairly clear skies over Eau Claire at 9AM.  Small cold puffy little cumulus clouds observed to the S-SW. Winds out of the South at 7-10MPH.  Sunny conditions, temperature must have been in the low to mid 40s (F).  Clouds moved in over the course of the early afternoon hours.  A low to mid level cloud deck pushed in, consisting of mainly stratus and cumulus clouds.  Winds picked up to 10-15 out of the S-SE by 2 or 3 pm and I knew the weather would be changing soon at this point. 

A cool breeze pushed through around 4PM, and brang with it much cooler and overcast conditions.  Very cool compared to what it had been just two to three hours ago. 
2PM Temp = 57F , 5PM Temp = 51.5F

Overcast conditions in all directions of Eau Claire with the darkest clouds to our NW and N. 

Looks like the South winds are easily explained as seen in this image from Weather Underground at 5PM today. High pressure in N. Missouri is pushing the wind into the weak Low pressure "funnel" found in Central Minnesota in this image.  This difference in pressure results in the more moderate to heavy winds that have been increasing during the afternoon today.  It looks as though this system is dropping some moisture too with the leading warm front mixing with the cold front behind it.

Eau Claire, WI 54703

Weather Observations April 17th & 18th

Tuesday's Weather (April17) - Clear in the morning, cloudy by evening would characterize this day.  Morning into the early afternoon hours were fairly clear with cloud cover being 20% or less.  Thin stratus and cumulus clouds moved in by mid afternoon.  Cloud cover was 80% by 7pm with the wind picking up out of the southeast.  Winds in the morning were light at 0-5MPH out of the S-SW.  By afternoon they were blowing at a steady 10MPH from the S-SE.  This led me to believe that theyre might some activity up in those clouds.  I was a little worried with the SE wind because that is typically seen a few hours before weather turns worse. 
Temperatures topped out shy of 60F in the afternoon, with a recorded temperature of 56F at 7pm.  Slightly declining pressure throughout the day too (see image below)

Wednesday's Weather (April18) - Eventually we did see some precipitation in the night but it came through very early in the morning as I saw puddles early today when walking to school.  Nice breeze for the greater part of today out of the SW-W at 10-15MPH. These winds tapered off as of 6 or 7 pm to about 5mph or less. Cloud cover between 50-60% during the noon and afternoon hours.  Mostly puffy cumulus clouds in the day, some of which were rising higher into the sky.  They almost looked as though they were on a 45 degree angle rising upwards as they moved east over Eau Claire's Water Street area.  Later on in the evening higher level cirrus clouds were seen in the west as the sun set.  Temperature at 9PM was 54F.

Here is a look at the current fronts around the US

There is an occluded front to our NE located right on the eastern portion of Lake Superior.  Heavy rain is probably associated with this Low pressure occlusion.  Winds at our location in Eau Claire seem to be funneling towards the center of that Low.  This makes sense as most of the wind today was out of the S or SW.  The rain from this morning was associated with a cold front which you can see is now making its way through Chicago and Des Moines.  Another potential for some inclement weather is seen in the Low pressure systems located along the Rocky Mountain Range.  Sporadic moisture is also seen in the South with plenty of low intensity showers in the states like Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas

Observed at Phillips Hall Eau Claire, WI 54701
   

Weather Observations 4/16

Woke up at 8AM to see thick flakes of snow.  This lasted for nearly an hour until it mixed into graupel and freezing rain.  Precipitation ended by noon, winds still strong out of the W.  Wind blowing at nearly 20MPH during the morning snow/rain mix and slowing to about 10MPH out of the NW by the 6PM hour.  Overcast skies all day, 100% cloud cover this morning.  Stratus undulatus clouds observed this afternoon just after 5PM.  Temperature was recorded at 35F at 11AM, high temperatures expected to reach 45F when I checked the forecast for the day at that time.  6PM temperature reading was 39F. 

The storms that reached us late last night (Apr 15) also moved through with a cold front.  Low pressure created a serious mid-latitude cyclone to be dealt with.  Temperatures went from mid 60's (F) to mid 30's (F) overnight!  Wish I would have been better able observe the event.

As of 6PM on Monday, Skew-T readings were showing an inversion at the 825mb level.  Stable conditions observed with considerable cloudiness overhead at my Eau Claire location. 
Here is a picture of graph...

Observed at Eau Claire, WI 54701

Observations Friday April 13th

Kinda spooky looking weather on a day known for having eerie things occur on it.  Windy, 12-16MPH SE-E. Low pressure located to our east as seen in the picture below from the NOAA

As you can see from the map an occluded front is just to our west as of 5PM CST.  This leads me to believe there there is probably some heavy precipitation associated with this front.  Some of the heaviest storms are located between the wishbone looking gap of warm and cold front seen in the Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.  This is where the mixing of cold and warm air masses can create intense weather conditions especially if one of these air masses is carrying considerable moisture. 

I know I mentioned wind earlier but it has been increasing throughout the day.  When I walked to class this morning the winds must have been less than 10MPH or so, and now at 5PM they're blowing a consistent 15MPH and gusting over 20MPH.  Cloud cover also increased from this time period from 60% to 100%.  High level stratocumulus observed overhead.  Stratus clouds in the distance with kinda puffy gnarls and curls in them which was somewhat odd.  They definitely looked scary and with the wind blowing the way it is I would not be surprised if the worst is brewing just to our southwest. 

Temperature at 5:10pm was 56F, with lows expected to drop to 50F or just below.  Temperatures are expected to be near 70F tomorrow so this could potentially bring some thunderstorms into the area if conditions are right.  We shall see...

Observed Eau Claire, WI 54703

Weather Observations Wednesday, April 11th

Sunny and clear conditions all day as of 7:09PM.  These conditions are mostly because of a strong High pressure to the west, overhead states like Iowa and Minnesota.  Winds light today 0-5 MPH fluctuating between north and west.  Temperatures were nice, topping out in the mid-50s (F).  Temperature as of 7:15P was 53.5 deg F. 

Barometric pressure throughout the day has remained steady (2nd Graph from Top).  As this large High pressure system hangs about, look for conditions be mostly the same tomorrow.  Expect little cloud cover, light winds and probably a good measure of sun.

As you can see from the Current Fronts map (Wunderground.com) the high pressure has created a large ridge in the middle of the country.  Off to the west though a funky low pressure system associated with some cooler weather is brewing.  The isobars that are so closely packed together in the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Montana show that there is a large differential in pressure here which usually results in higher winds.
Here is a map from Intellicast showing the current winds.

Weather observed at 7:05PM Eau Claire, WI 54703

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