February 24, 2018

The Snow is Coming

Current Conditions

Temperature: 32 °F
Dew Point: 25 °F
Winds: E 13 mph
Pressure: 1010.5 mb
Visibility: 3 miles

Before 11:00 AM today it was overcast and foggy with 4 mile visibility and a temperature of 12 °F. By the afternoon the sun started peeking out and the temperature rose to 31 °F with winds ENE at 10 mph. Around 4:00 PM there were some light snowflakes coming down but  these dissipated by 5:00 PM. As stated above the winds are now out of the east at 13 mph and the temperature is relatively the same as it was at noon. 

Currently we have a hot (or should I say cold?) mess of weather going on (figure 1). 

Figure 1. Radar image of the United States.

 If you look to Wisconsin, you'll see some rain and snow events brewing. Eau Claire is of course right on the border of both of these, so who knows what the weather will actually do. The snow and rain are products of a low pressure front that is moving towards the area (figure 2). 

Figure 2. Surface map of the United States

 This map outlines the snow and rain areas and shows the low pressure front that's just below Wisconsin and Minnesota.  The lower pressure value for today is an indicator of this incoming system. This will likely move in this evening and dump some white stuff whiles it cruises through. 

Yesterday I predicted snow in the afternoon and slightly warmer temperatures. Temperatures did warm up a tad, but the snow is not here yet. This snow will probably hit tonight.

For tonight and tomorrow I predict snow until the early morning hours and then partly sunny skies tomorrow with higher winds. This forecast is based off the forecast map in figure 3. 

Figure 3. Forecast map for Sunday February 24th, 2018.