Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Current Weather Conditions for March 14th, 2012

Current Conditions in Eau Claire:
Temperature- 65 degrees Fahrenheit
Wind Direction- SW
Wind Speed- Erratic between 2 mph to 8 mph
Barometric Pressure- 1029.76 g/kg
Cloud Cover- Scattered

"What a Wonderful World", in the words of the Great Satchmo. I am sure many of you felt that way today, I know I enjoyed the unseasonably warm high of 76 degrees Fahrenheit today. I am pretty sure most of the country did in fact, take a look at the map below.


However the question should be asked, are temperatures so high above normal a good thing? What could be some potential problems due to the temperature being 31 degrees Fahrenheit above the average in Eau Claire? Well if temperatures continue to be warm all the way into mid-April there won't be any issue. As we all know Wisconsin weather isn't exactly the most consistent. That said there is a problem if trees and plants start budding, honeybees start collecting pollen, and birds start gettin' it...well you know and is followed by a cold-snap. This scenario could spell disaster for Wisconsin agriculture and agriculture throughout much of the Midwest.

So we all best hope temperatures cool down quick, before nature wakes from its deep winter sleep or that continental polar jet-stream doesn't dip south and produce a brutal cold-snap.


As you can see it really isn't much of a threat at the present moment, so what does this mean for the weather conditions overnight and tomorrow?


If you look at the surface map above you will notice the low pressure system, the air being sucked inward in a counter-clockwise rotation is what is causing the current SW winds. As the night progresses that low pressure system will move further south and east out our area. When this happens, sometime in the next one to two hours, the high pressure system above is will cause winds to shift to N winds. Along with the shift in wind direction expect clearing cloud cover. While the jet-stream is still hanging out well north of Wisconsin I expect the continuation of warm temperatures. Tomorrow will be slightly cooler than today however due to N winds instead of the SW winds we had today.

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