February 15, 2018

The Warmth Continues

Current Conditions

Temperature: 33 degrees, feels like 25 degrees
Dew Point: 23 degrees
Winds: NNW 9 mph
Pressure: 1011.5 mb
Visibility: 10 miles

Today was also warm compared to last week, and it was much needed! This morning at 8:00 AM the temperature was 28 degrees with no wind. The clouds that were present around seven this morning had dissipated by 8:30 AM and the rest of the day was clear skies and sunny. At noon the temperature jumped to 41 degrees with winds NNW at 10 mph. Towards the late afternoon there were some cirrus clouds accounting for roughly 40% cloud cover. These clouds persisted through the evening.

Not much happened in Wisconsin, but other parts of the country are experiencing some precipitation events, especially the southeastern United States (figure 1).

Figure 1. Precipitation map of the United States on February 15, 2018 courtesy of Intellicast.

I referenced the rain in the south yesterday as possible events that will lead to flooding next week. This prediction seems to be accurate so far, but this weather could change quickly too.

My prediction was wrong from yesterday, but I am completely okay with warmer than predicted temperatures.

For tomorrow, I predict that there will be a drop in temperatures as the low pressure areas continue to dissipate with the high pressure front moving in from Canada. This can be seen in figure 2.

Figure 2. Surface map of the United States. Note the high pressure system in the northern part of the country.

Also interesting to note is the precipitation showing up in figure 1 over the western part of the country. This can be explained in figure 2 by the stationary front that is present. This means that neither the low or high pressure front is moving the other, so they are sitting at a stalemate and causing precipitation from the moist air hitting the cooler dry air.