4/29/11

62.8, hooray! 11 mph SE wind, skies are clear.  High pressure system in our area. 
Forecast for tomorrow is rainy, temp lower by a few degrees, and wind about the same. 

4/28/11

Weather on campus is working again.  44.2 today, with a dew point of 35.8 and a relative humidity of 72%.  There was the lightest of light rain starting a few minutes ago, just a few drops.  The wind is 12 mph from the NW.  Now that occluded front has moved even farther north.  Mostly high pressure across the US; a big cold front has moved through.  It's overcast.  The trough that we were in is gone, thankfully.  I was wrong about it getting warmer; I was right about it staying cloudy, and spot on for wind speed.
Tomorrow, I think that it will be warm, it will be sunny, and it will be clear.  I can't wait to see it happen. 

4/27/11

42 out there, dew point 32, humidity 68%.  There is an 8 mph NW wind.  Skies are overcast.  There were some flurries (yes, snow) earlier in the day, but only for a little while.  The occluded front that was south of us yesterday has shifted to the northeast, so north of Michigan (that's Canada, eh) is getting hit with storms, but we're fine.  The jet stream has calmed down too, but we're still in a trough of low pressure. 
Tomorrow, I expect that temperature will rise to 48, that skies will stay cloudy, and that the wind will increase to 12 mph.

4/26/11

Current conditions for the Eau Claire area are: temperature, 41 degrees; dew point, 38 degrees; humidity, 89%; wind speed, 8 mph; wind direction, N; light rain.  Oh, dear.  There's an occluded front forming just south of us.  Very interesting jet stream map too; there's a big trough in the middle of the country.  The lines in the trough are pretty messed up, curving this way and that, with the jet in seperate places flowing north, south, and even west. 
Tomorrow, I refuse to predict snow, no matter what NOAA says is possible.  I say that the temperature will increase to 44, that we'll have clouds and rain, and a north wind of 6 mph. 

4/22/11

43.2.  Dew point 38.1, so relative humidity 82%.  10 mph SE wind.  Overcast.  Boy, that's a large occluded front, extending from South Dakota to Arkansas.  Surely we'll feel the effect of some of its storms soon.  Not much action in the jet stream. 
Tomorrow, we're likely in for more of the same.  Mostly cloudy, 8 mph wind from the NE, temperature 45 degrees. 

4/21/11

49.8 baby.  1 mph SE wind.  That's what it says on campus.  Over on the Chippewa Regional Valley Airport station, they're reporting a 14 mph S wind.  We've got mixed clouds, partly to mostly cloudy. 
Tomorrow, I think we're in for a clearing of the skies to partly cloudy, 6-8 mph wind, temperature down a few degrees. 

4/20/11

42.1 degrees.  All that hooplah about snow, with rumortastic predictions of anywhere between 1 and 10 inches, and what have we got? Zero inches accumulation.  Still, it's crappy outside.  11 mph NW wind.  Overcast. 
Tomorrow, I predict that the clouds will lift to mostly cloudy, the wind will stay the same, and the temperature will be increased.  To 48. 

4/19/11

It's snowing.  Right now.  Small flakes, but still.  34.7 degrees, dew point 31.3, 87% relatively humid.  10 mph East wind.  Oh, goody.  Looking at the surface map, what was a stationary front across the US is now a cold front.  The warm air, apparently, gave up in the face of overwhelming force.  Oh, goody.  If you hadn't guessed, it's overcast.  The strongest jet stream is below WI; the air over WI is pretty same, temperature wise, so we're all in this together. 
Oh, boy, tomorrow, temperature about the same, chance of rain and snow (call it a pretty good chance), and an 8 mph NW wind. 

4/18/11

46.6 temperature right now, 5 mph NW wind, mostly cloudy, horizontal jet stream, high pressure systems to our north, stationary front to our south that stretches cross-continent. 
Tomorrow, cooling off to low 40's, wind switches to the East and picks up to 10 mph, and there's snow and rain expected.  April showers bring May flowers, but what does April snow bring, other than unpleasantness?

4/16/11

38.3 degrees today, continuing these cold, strange days.  It snowed yesterday and there was snow on the ground last night.  I woke up this morning and the snow was gone.  Last night, there was a combination of icy snow pellets and hard wind that together cut the air.  Dew point 23.9, relative humidity 56%.  13 mph NW wind.  Occluded front formed in an arc over Michigan, with a low pressure system centered over the state's north, which is causing the winds we're getting.  Overcast.  We're in the 100 mph Jet Stream.  Interesting, the National Weather Service is calling this weather "Breezy."  I'd go a step farther, to "Blustery." 
Anyway, the low level blanket of stratus clouds hovering over us will pass by tomorrow, and skies will be clear, blue, and sunny.  Temperature is improving as well, to 48. Wind staying the same. 

4/15/11

NE wind 13 mph.  45.1 degrees.  Dew point 13.1.  Relative humidity 27%.  Overcast.  Barometric Pressure is falling rapidly.  There's a low pressure system to our south that's going to give us some grief.  The slanted trough in the jet stream shifted east; we now lie in it. 
Tomorrow, it's supposed to get colder (yippee), windier (ki-yay), and snow (fill in the blank). 

4/14/11

47.5 out there, not much colder than I had anticipated.  12 mph wind, but from the East, not the Northeast like I thought; also, it's overcast, not partly cloudy.  Ugly weather, I say, especially for spring.  Nebraska is getting storms right now, including snow, so at least we're not Nebraska.  There's a high pressure system to our north.  There's a stationary front coming down the extent of the Rockies; in Oklahoma the warm air has won out over the cold, and there's a bulge of a warm front extending just south of Indiana; at Ohio it becomes a stationary front once more.  Seriously interesting jet stream map; the lines are pretty horizontal over us, but before they reach us, they take a severe dip such that over Kansas and Missouri the stream moves in a counterclockwise circle.  What do you call a through that tilts sideways? And what does it all mean?
For our neck of the woods tomorrow, temperature stays constant, clouds stay constant, but the wind; oh, the wind; East (blah blah blah for man or beast): 18 to 24 mph. 

4/13/11

58.6 and overcast.  Blah.  Temperature dropped more than a few degrees; 7, in fact.  Dew point 19.9, relative humidity 22%.  6 mph NW wind.  The cold front did indeed sweep over us.  There's a pocket of storm coming our way today. 
Tomorrow, it gets colder.  50, I think.  The wind shifts to the Northeast and picks up to 11 mph.  At least the clouds will lift slightly; only partly cloudy. 

4/12/11

65.5 today, clear blue sky, 7 mph SW wind.  Very nice.  Dew point 31.5, relative humidity 28%.  There's a cold front on the way, but it doesn't look like it'll threaten tomorrow too much.
There will be clouds tomorrow; mostly cloudy, temperature drop of a few degrees, wind shift to the North. 

4/10/11

60.1.  How's that for a prediction? Dew point 30.9, humidity 33%.  7 mph NW wind.  It's partly cloudy.  There's a funny little dip in the jet stream south of Michigan; the surface map shows a squall line intersecting it at an angle.
Tomorrow, skies look clear, it should be sunny, and the wind should be light SW. 

4/10/11

Beautiful out today.  78.4! There's a nice, cool 9 mph South wind.  Dew point is 61.5, relative humidity 56%.  It's mostly cloudy. 
Tomorrow, I say, 60 degrees, mostly cloudy, and a 20 mph NW wind.

4/9/11

53.4 degrees out there, not the most pleasant.  Dew point 49.6 giving us a whopping 87% humidity.  4 mph NE wind.  And it's overcast.  The only thing I got right is less wind speed.  Ah, well.  Surface map, very interesting, there's a little oval of rainstorms situated almost on top of us in the Eau Claire area, but nowhere else in Wisconsin or our neighboring states.  Must be our lucky day.  Oh, check that.  Severe storm incoming tonight.  Large hail, apparently. 
Tomorrow, temperature as high as 78? More severe thunderstorms? South wind 18 mph? How's that sound? Yeah, tell me about it. 

4/8/11

I thought it was going to be colder today, but it's 62.4 degrees.  Yesterday felt warmer though.  And it's mostly sunny, not mostly cloudy like I thought it would be.  Dew point is 27, relative humidity is 26%.  Wind is 10 mph from the SE, same direction as yesterday, about the same strength.  The current surface map shows, contrary to what I thought, that the low pressure system below Michigan did not shift closer to us but rather shifted east.  The jet stream shows a big trough in the west and a ridge forming on a line vertical to Wisconsin. 
What does it all mean? For tomorrow, the National Weather Service says it'll be mostly cloudy.  They said that yesterday, and look what we got.  I say, tomorrow it'll be partly cloudy, same wind direction, less wind speed, and same temperature. 

4/7/11

61.3! Dew point 23.2, 23% humid.  Clear.  It says there's an 11 mph wind from the SE, but it doesn't feel that strong.  Lots of pressure systems in the US right now: 7 low and 3 high.  If the southeast winds continue, the low that is currently south of Michigan may be pushed to the Milwaukee area, and precipitation would follow for southern WI. 
Tomorrow, for us, it's going to be partly cloudy, a little less warm, with about the same amount of wind.

4/6/11

Here is the weather on campus.  54.1 degrees, sunny, mostly clear with a few puffy cumulus clouds hanging around.  Dew point is 24.8 and it's 32% humid.  Wind is 5 mph from the North.  It's a great day, let's have some more like it. 
The surface map and jet stream indicate that tomorrow we're in for more of the same: sunny, mostly clear, and warm, with slight wind. 

4/5/11

I'm wearing t-shirt and shorts, I don't know about the rest of you, but it's 50 degrees and mostly sunny.  Apparently there's a 12 mph SW wind for the Eau Claire area, but here on campus I'd say it's much less.  The dew point is 22, relative humidity 33% .  The trough that was in the jet stream to our west is gone; now we're in the straight 140 mph upper air jet. 
What does that mean for tomorrow? Mostly sunny, warmer, I'd say the wind will be about the same. 

4/4/11

Currently it is 43 degrees with a dew point of 28 giving us a relative humidity of 56%.  North wind of 22 mph with gusts as high as 31 mph.  Mostly cloudy.  The surface maps shows a big squall line extending from Louisiana to westen New York, so that region is getting hammered with thunderstorms right now. 
Tomorrow, we're looking at a warmer temperature close to 50 degrees, clearer skies, and a decreased wind. 

4/2/11

Looks like "Weather on Campus" is busted again, so, how's the Eau Claire area? 48 degrees, dew point 28, 46% humid.  There's a 6 mph West wind.  Mostly clear; a few cumulus clouds.  Surface map doesn't show much activity.  We're in a slight ridge in the jet stream. 
Tomorrow, they're saying big wind is on the way: between 9 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.  When the low pressure system to our west is pushed closer to us by the wind, the horizontal pressure gradiant will become steep, and the winds they are calling for will materialize.  With the low pressure system will come clouds and possible precipitation as well.  Temperature will increase, as a result of the clouds trapping the surface heat.