April 30, 2018

A Toasty Day

Current Conditions

Temperature: 80 °F
Dew Point: 44 °F
Winds: SSW 14 mph
Pressure: 1006.4 mb
Visibility: 10 miles

Well what a nice day today! Temperatures peaked at 83 °F and winds stayed relatively low making the conditions ideal for any outdoor activities today! However it wasn't just Wisconsin that experienced a warm day. Across the US temperatures were higher than they have been the past couple of weeks (figure 1).

Figure 1. High temperatures for the United States on April 30, 2018.

In particular, you can see the warmest temperatures round out on the bottom of Arizona and New Mexico and move northwards through the Great Plains. This happens to be following the current jet stream shown in figure 2.

Figure 2. Jet stream over the United States.

Although the temperatures are nice, in the southeastern United States this warm weather from the jet stream spells bad weather for them. Luckily the severe weather won't be reaching Wisconsin. Speaking of adverse weather, the surface map for today is showing some precipitation heading our way now (figure 3).

Figure 3. Surface map of the United States.

This line of storms is headed our way tomorrow and creates the possibility for some rain and thunderstorms. I for one am looking forward to a nice storm since we haven't had one yet this spring.

Previous Prediction

Yesterday's prediction had the right idea, some warmer weather and an approaching warm front. By this evening the cloud cover had begun to thicken, signaling the approaching precipitation which is also hinted at by the wind direction.

Prediction

Speaking of wind direction and clouds, the cirrus clouds this morning that have morphed into patchy altostratus clouds and the SSW wind direction hint at the warm front approaching from the west that is sure to bring at least some precipitation tomorrow. Break out those umbrellas and rain boots!