Snowstorm...what snow storm?

Looking around outside right now you never would have guessed that forecasters were predicting a "big" snowstorm for last night and today. With temps sitting at a mild 34 degrees, the snow didn't say on the roads and sidewalks for long. The snow that did make it was super heavy snow, the kind that would make a really good snowfort, snow man or and epic snowball fight. Winds today were coming from the North at around 5 miles per hour which I predict will continue over night as that low passes through. That means temps will drop down low for tonight, but I expect warmer temperatures for tomorrow as a high pressure system makes its way toward us.

Prepare for the Ice Age, Just kidding

Like I said yesterday mother nature is gearing up to dump a hopefully a last load of snow on us tonight, but today seemed like the calm before the storm.  The temp outside at the noon hour was at 36 with about 20% strato cumulus cloud cover and winds coming from the Northeast. Tonight will drop down to just around freezing. I expect there will be a shift in our wind direction as the area of low pressure that is bringing us some snow tonight will bring winds from the East tonight and into the early hours of the morning tomorrow. Tonight I expect the track of the storm to bring that percipitation right into Eau Claire meaning that we are going to see a pretty significant amount of heavy wet snow tomorrow morning for the walk to class.

The Big Bang?

After getting a few light snow flurries late last night into the wee hours this morning, the sky is looking quite hazy as temperatures are sitting at a balmy 30 degrees. It looks like mother nature might be gearing up for one last big hurrah as water vapor charts show we might be looking at a pretty significant amount of snow later this week. For tonight though we will see some snow flurries again as a small band of precipitation makes its way through Eau Claire. Meanwhile, in the Eastern side of the country, lots of rain coming from the gulf will be hitting them through tonight into tomorrow. Below is the upper level water vapor chart I pulled from the NOAA website. The yellow arrows represent the track I predict the water vapor to take given the current conditions.

brief whiteout

Today started off as a bit of a white out but that snow tapered off around 12:30 today. The winds were coming from the south east at around 10 miles per hour, which i expect to continue thorugh the day. Temps are currently at 24 degrees. Tonight I expect we will be gettting more snow in the late afternoon and through the night. A low pressure system is making its way to us and should be here by tonight which will lead to a shift in wind direction, winds will start coming from the east and then shift to the north, meaning cooler temps for us tomorrow. I also expect some more snow showers periodically through out the day as that low pressure system passes by.

the north wind

Just like I predicted today is chillier than yesterday with winds coming from the north ad some high level cumulostratus clouds with some mid level cumulus clouds. This makes me think that their might be two different air masses in the atmosphere right now, which is true because a  low pressure system is moving eastward and a high pressure system is on its way. Current temps in Eau Claire are at 3 degrees and are expected to reach a high of 17. Later tonight it looks like temps should drop back down as the low pressure system moves back out we might see some light snow showers  in the early morning. For tomorrow I expect us to see a change in the wind direction most likely with winds coming from the east leading to warmer temps. On the radar it looks like we might be seeing some snow showers left over from the storm that rolled over Oregon earlier in the week.

Sunshine Again!

As I expected we have a few more clouds than we saw outside yesterday, but my predictions on cloud type were a bit off. Right now outside there are some high level cirrus clouds with about 60% cloud cover. It's currently 29 degrees outside with winds coming from the south west at about 5 miles per hour. I expect that temps should be on the rise as the clouds continue to form throughout the afternoon. Tonight should be cloudy with temps hovering around 1-2 degrees. Tomorrow should be a bit chillier as a cold front comes in off of Canada later today, which should bring winds from the north tomorrow. I expect their to be fewer clouds tomorrow probably higher level cirrus clouds.

The low pressure system coming in will bring us colder temps tomorrow, temps should warm up for Thursday and Friday.