Thursday, May 12th

The current temperature on-campus is 67 degrees F. There are light ESE winds at 4mph and about 80% cloud cover with mostly stratus and cumuls clouds. The pressure trend has been very up and down for the past 24 hours as you can see in the graph to the right. There is a low pressure system over Wisconsin, accounting for the cloudy skies. There has also been a cold front that has just passed over us. Now we will experience cooler temperatures than what we have had for the past 2 days. As the system shifts, we will continue to see cooler temperatures, a change in wind direction from ESE to more NE. With this also comes a good chance for precipitation within the next 10 hours or so. Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy with a high in the low 60s and a small chance for rain showers.

Tuesday, May 10th

The current temperature on-campus is an amazing 75 degrees F. There are 10mph ESE winds and 52% relative humidity. The barometric pressure reading is at about 1002mb, but has been slowly falling since around 11am this morning. A warm front is right over southeastern Wisconsin, so even warmer temperatures are expected. Connected with this front is a low pressure system, which as it nears, is the reason for the falling pressure reading. Right now there is about 10% cloud cover, with mostly altostratus clouds. For tonight, we will see increasing cloud cover and warm temperatures. The low for tonight is 59 degrees. Tomorrow we could reach 80 degrees once the warm front passes over us. There is also a chance for t-storms. Below is the stuve diagram for the station in Minneapolis. It will be interesting to keep watching this into tomorrow and make note of the different index levels. The LI index already indicates that thunder storms are probable and the KI index is in the 50% chance of thunderstorms category.

Monday, May 9th

Storms passed through Eau Claire this morning. There was thunder, lightning, heavy rain, and some areas received hail. Now that the storms have past, we are left with strong ESE winds. We were actually issued a High Winds Warning that is in effect until 4pm. The current conditions are 55 degrees F, dew point 50 degrees F, a pressure reading of about 1006mb, and overcast skies. The pressure reading was falling until about noon, then starting rising, and now is pretty steady. Tonight there will be cloudy skies, and remain in the low 50s.

Cinco de Mayo!

The day started off with 100% cloud cover but now the clouds have started to break up and we are at about 20% cloud cover, mainly cumulus clouds. The reason for this is because the low has moved over us and is moving eastward. Behind it is a high pressure system and more warm temperatures. Currently on campus the temperature is 54 degrees F with 15mph winds from the west. The pressure reading has been rising since about 1pm this afternoon, which is when the system passed through. It is now at about 1012mb. Tonight calls for clearing skies, a diminishing chance for precipitation, and a low of about 40 degrees F. Tomorrow will be in the 60s with mostly clear skies.

Tuesday, May 3rd

My predictions for today were very accurate. We have had mostly clear skies with a few altocumulus and cumulus humilis clouds. Right now it is 55 degrees F with light NE winds from the high pressure system right over central Minnesota. There is still about 10% cloud cover with the same types of clouds I just mentioned. The pressure reading has been steady at around 1030mb. As the high pressure system moves to our south we will have SW winds and slightly warmer temperatures. The steady pressure reading indicates that again tomorrow we will have mostly clear skies. Unfortunately, the jet stream has had a big trough in it causing cold weather in our area and stormy weather along the edge of the trough and cold front. HOPEFULLY this jet stream pattern straightens out and we see a zonal flow. Zonal flow jet stream patterns are associated with relatively mild, dry Pacific air across the country, which is what this spring is definitely lacking across the U.S.

Monday, May 2nd

This weekend we had very unpleasant weather. Saturday we received about a quarter of an inch of rain and moderate west winds. After the cold front moved in Saturday evening, we had S winds and cooler temperatures. Sunday we had gusty SW winds and only reached 41 degrees F. Currently this afternoon we are at 38 degrees F, with a dew point of 27 degrees F. There is a high pressure system to our west giving us NW winds and a rising pressure reading. As the high pressure system moves in, the forecast calls for clearing skies and warmer temperatures. Tomorrow's high will be in the mid to upper 50s.

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.