Friday, April 29th

Finally feels like Spring again. Right now it is 62.4 degrees F on campus, with light SE winds at 3 mph. The pressure reading had been rising since yesterday afternoon, but has started to slowly fall again since around noon. There is a high pressure system right over the Chicago area, giving us our SW winds and clear skies. Currently there is about 10% cloud cover, with just a few low stratus clouds. Because the pressure reading is dropping, we will see an increase in cloud cover this evening. As the cold front, warm front, and occluded fronts move our way, the low pressure system associated with those fronts will cause us to have stronger winds and a chance for precipitation. The forecast for tomorrow is slightly cooler than today with an 80% chance of rain and 20-30mph SE winds.

Thursday, April 28th

Warmer temperatures are on the way! Although currently it is 44 degrees F with 10mph NNW winds, the barometric pressure reading is rising and has been since about 5am this morning. There is about 80% cloud cover, composed of stratus clouds. Because we do not have NE to S winds, heavy precipitation is not likely, just a chance for light drizzle and overcast skies. The 24 hour surface map shows a warm front moving in tomorrow, which will give us a warmer weekend. Tomorrow we will see a change in wind direction from NW to SE and with that warmer temperatures. The high for tomorrow will be in the low 60s.

Wednesday, April 27th

Currently there is 100% cloud cover with stratus and cumulus clouds. There is no precipitation, but this morning there were periods of light drizzle. The current temperature is 43 degrees F with 10mph NW winds. The dew point is at 40 degrees and we're at 90% humidity, so precipitation is likely to form on and off this afternoon. The barometric pressure reading had been falling since yesterday, but since about 7am this morning, it has starting to rise again. A large stationary front has swept across us and is now headed toward the east coast. The surface map shows a trough line forming over us in the next 24 hours representing an extension of isobars from the center of the low. With this will come more precipitation, northwestern winds, and temperatures in the upper 40s.

Friday, April 22nd

Right now in Eau Claire there is light rain, light to moderate southeast winds, and it is 42 degrees F. The barometric pressure has been falling since yesterday and is currently at 1007mb. There is 85% cloud cover, mainly cumulonimbus and cumulus clouds. There is a low pressure system to our southeast and another one to our west, accounting for our south winds. As these lows move north and east, we will have a change in wind direction from SE to NW. Tonight we will continue to see showers and temperatures in the 30s. Tomorrow will be cloudy with a chance for showers, northwest winds, and a high of 54 degrees.

Thursday, April 21st

The current temperature is 50 degrees F with 7 mph winds from the south. The barometric pressure reading started out at about 1027mb early this morning, then started to fall. It is now falling at a very rapid rate, and currently is at 1022.5mb. We have 100% overcast skies with mixed clouds (hard to tell what they are--stratus & cumulus?). Because of the falling pressure reading and the low pressure system moving toward us, tomorrow we will see an increase in clouds, strong NE winds, and with that, a good chance for precipitation. The high for tomorrow will be similar to today, but the wind will make it feel cooler.

Monday, April 18th

  The current temperature is 42.8 degrees F on campus. There are light 2 mph ENE winds and 60% cloud cover, composed mainly of statrus clouds and a few cumulus humilis and cirrus clouds. The barometric pressure reading has been steady for the past 7 or so hours at about 1014.5mb.

To our great misfortune, there is a colorado low forming across the U.S. A Colorado Low that forms in winter and early spring will almost always have precipitation in the form of snow, sleet or freezing rain. Only two elements are needed for wintry weather: cold air and available moisture. What is so alarming to us right now is the fact that temperatures that are just below freezing will retain more moisture than really cold temperatures. The forecast for tomorrow is 39 degrees F, however tomorrow night it will get down to just below freezing, so whatever precipitation we are recieving will turn into snow.
Another factor is the wind. Today we have ENE winds and stratus clouds. Not good. This means there is a strong chance for precipiation in the next 15-20 hours.

Friday, April 15th

Today was again cooler than I had predicted, however I was correct in saying it will be windy and cloudy. The current temperature is 45 degrees F but it only feels like 35 degrees F. There are pretty strong winds from the NE, at times gusting over 35 mph. Eau Claire is in a wind advisory until 7pm this evening, indicating winds of 25-35 mph, gusting possibly to 45 mph. The barometric pressure reading has been rapidly falling since around 1am this morning. This is accounting for our overcast skies and strong winds, and also indicating that the low pressure system is approaching. Taking a look at the surface map you can see somewhat of a mid-latitude cyclone forming across the center of the country. All 4 kinds of fronts are present on the map (I have labeled them), and the center of the low is currently over Kansas, moving NE. Given all of these factors, rain is expected this evening, turning into a wintry mix overnight. Tomorrow will be cold, windy, cloudy, and overall pretty depressing weather for mid-April. The high will be in the low 40's and snow accumulation will (hopefully) be less than one inch.

Thursday, April 14th

I was right in predicting a change to NE winds today, however it turned out to be a little colder than I thought. The current temperature on campus is 47 degrees F but only feels like 41 degrees F. There are 15 mph E winds and overcast skies (stratus clouds). The barometric pressure reading has been slowly falling since about 10am this morning. This accounts for why we experienced a decrease in temperature around that time, and are continuing to see cool temperatures. This falling pressure reading along with east/northeast winds and stratus clouds, indicates there is a low to our south and it is headed our way. This is going to bring more clouds, similar temperatures, and a chance for precipitation. Tomorrow will be cloudy, windy and we will see a high of around 50 degrees F.

Wednesday, April 13th

Today turned out to be a pretty nice day. Currently the temperature is 58 degrees F, but we got up to 62 degrees F around 2pm this afternoon. Right now there are very light NW winds and about 50% cloud cover, mainly stratus clouds. The barometric pressure reading has been steady since about 10am at 1017-1018 mb. A cold front swept over us earlier today, leaving us with these slightly cooler temps. In the next 24 hours we will see a slight change in wind direction from NW to NE, along with similar temperatures, partly cloudy skies, and there is a slight chance for precipitation tonight.

Tuesday, April 12th

My predictions for today were correct. Currently we are at 64 degrees F with light south winds. We reached a high of 66 degrees today and saw mostly sunny skies with a few cirrus clouds. The next few days we will see cooler temperatures and a chance for precipitation, as the low pressure system moves in from northern Canada. There is a cold front to our west which will also bring cooler temps. The high for tomorrow is in the mid 50s with a chance for a few showers. The wind direction will also switch to NW once the low pressure system moves closer, so it will definitely feel colder than today.

Monday, April 11th

Well, last night did not turn out as predicted for the Eau Claire area. The storms never hit us and we did not recieve any rain, however I did hear some thunder. It was very easy to tell when the cold front passed over us, because the temperature dropped very suddenly and the wind changed direction and became very gusty. Currently this afternoon we are at 54.3 degrees F with moderate W winds. The pressure reading has been increasing since the cold front moved over us, indicating we will see clearing skies and cooler temperatures. Currently there is about 50% cloud cover with low stratus clouds. Tomorrow we will have mostly sunny skies and a high temperature of 66 degrees F.

Sunday, April 10th

Storms are on the way! To the left there is a picture of the current stuve diagram from the station in Minneapolis. The indices on the right-hand side indicate the possibility of thunderstorms. The LI index is -3.2 meaning thunderstorms are probable. The KI index is 29 which is in the 50% chance of thunderstorms category. Taking a look at some of the other indices... the EHI (Energy-Helicity Index) is at 2.0 which means Mesocyclone-induced tornadoes are possible (F0-F1 damage).The Sweat index is at 569 which falls in the category of strong risk of severe, few thunderstorms, isolated tornadoes.

Currently, the temperature is 63.9 degrees F with 13 mph SE winds. The dew point is 57.9 degrees F and there is 81% relative humidity. The barometric pressure reading is at 996.5 mb and has been falling for the past 24 hours. The surface map shows a low pressure system right over southern Minnesota. At this spot there is a cold front coming in from the west, and it is mixing with a warm front coming up from the south. With everything that I've just mentioned, thunderstorms are very likely to develop in the next few hours. It will be interesting to keep watching the different maps as the system approaches. After the cold front moves over us, we will have NW winds and colder temperatures. Tomorrow's high is 58 degrees F and winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.

Thursday, April 7th

The current weather is 62 degrees F with light SE winds and about 30% cloud cover, with cirrus clouds. The barometric pressure trend over the past 24 hours has been increasing, then high and steady this afternoon, and now it is beginning to fall. This explains why earlier today we had clear skies and now clouds are just starting to move in. There is some weather to the south of us on the north side of the stationary front, but all is calm in Wisconsin. The forecast for tomorrow is a few more clouds, more SE winds, and more warm temperatures (in the 60's).

On the water vapor map I have indciated where the jet stream is and also where a dry line is located.

Wednesday, April 6th

Today has been a beautiful spring day. We reached 56 degrees F and are currently at 54 degrees F at 7pm. There have been light winds today that started as NE and are now N winds. Currently there is about 30% cloud cover with high cirrus clouds and low stratus clouds. The jet stream has a slight ridge over the center of the country, but is mainly flat. It shows that the strongest upper level winds are over the great lakes and the NE part of the country. The barometric pressure reading has been increasing over the past 24 hours so overnight we will continue to see clearing skies and cool temps. Tomorrow will be warm again with partly cloudy skies as a low pressure system forms south of us.

Monday, April 4th

This weekend we finally had some nice, spring-like weather. We reached 48 degrees on Saturday with sunny skies, and yesterday we hit 44 degrees with overcast skies. This morning started out very gloomy and did not feel like spring. Now the clouds have broken up slightly. Currently there is about 80% cloud cover, with cumulus congestus and cumulonimubus clouds. There is a light rain and WNW winds at about 25 mph. The temperature is 42 degrees F, but with the wind chill it only feels like 28 degrees F. Unfortunately I've had to walk over the bridge a couple times today, however when I did, I noticed that the river has definitely risen. It is just short of reaching the bike trail. Tonight we will see decreasing clouds as the low pressure system moves east. Tomorrow will be noticabley warmer but with more moderate winds and increasing clouds in the evening due to another low pressure system.

Friday, April 1st

We received snow showers over night and this morning. About an inch had accumulated on my car by this morning, but it looks as though throughout the day it has melted. Late morning and into the afternoon, the snow turned into a light rain drizzle. Currently on-campus the temperature is 32 degrees F with light east winds and overcast skies. The clouds appear to be stratus and nimbostratus clouds. The pressure reading is steady, so I predict the weather will stay the same for the rest of the day. As the low pressure system moves away from us tomorrow, we will see partly cloudy skies and temperatures again in the mid-40s.


The 48-hour surface map from intellicast.com shows a mid-latitude cyclone forming on Sunday which will loop up over WI and MN and over to MT. This means another chance for precipitation on Sunday.