March 3, 2018

Biking Weather

Current Conditions:

Temperature: 44 °F
Dew Point: 23 °F

Winds: SE 12 mph

Pressure: 1028.4 mb

Visibility: 10 miles 

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day! This morning it was 37 °F with winds ESE at 12 mph and sunny skies. I was able to get out on my bike around noon when the temperature was about 40 °F and skies were sunny with some occasional cirrus clouds. The whole day stayed the same with gusts of winds every now and then.

The current surface map shown in figure 1 mirrors the conditions today and points towards what is about to come.

Figure 1. Surface map of the United States.

Just east of Wisconsin is the high pressure air mass that is now being displaced by the interesting weather to the west. The stationary front from Wyoming to Nebraska is connected to a series of low pressure fronts that are going to be moving into the Wisconsin area tomorrow and Monday. This is going to create some nasty weather that I will touch on in my prediction.

In figure 2 is a wind map from earth.nullschool.net that depicts the easterly winds the area is experiencing and shows the large low pressure system that has moved off the northeastern coast.

Figure 2. Wind map of the United States showing easterly winds in the Midwest and a large low pressure system in the Atlantic. 

Previous Prediction

My prediction was true regarding the temperature, but the cloud cover was almost non-existent, which I am not complaining about. Also, the low pressure system did not move as far east as I thought it would. 

 Prediction

For tomorrow, I predict overcast skies and some rain. This is illustrated in figure 1 on the surface map. A look at the water vapor satellite (figure 3) shows the moisture associated with the low pressure systems in the west that will eventually reach Wisconsin.

 

Figure 3. Water vapor satellite of the United States. The moisture in the west is associated with a series of low pressure systems.