Friday, May 11, 2012

Thursday, May 10, and radar rings.

Tonight, is my last post. I have weather observations from earlier (actually some from February that I found while cleaning up my room, but I won't go there...) and even a few old pics to prove it! Anyway, I will probably go ahead and put those up... soon... for old times sake? Anyway, I have a question for the viewer(s) tonight that my buddy Derrick brought up to me a couple of times now and practically features on his (and my) surface map tonight.

Do you see all of those circles?What ARE those? I would guess that it has to do with the doppler, perhaps some sort of distortion around the edge of each station's range... but don't the stations have overlapping ranges? So shouldn't this not happen? and why does it only happen some of the time? What causes it? Food for thought? This yahoo doesn't know, but this source thinks that similar rings (but not necessarily the same) are caused by melting snow in the upper atmosphere. Even this seemingly reputable fellow had no clue. Well after about 20 minutes I finally somehow stumbled across what seems to be the answer... and quite frankly I am a bit surprised that I did not find it sooner. It seems that this is a problem in 3d Weather imaging as well, to which the answer is a mis-computation of data derived from the radar, which does not actually check the region directly overhead, and data from other radar stations and analysis is needed to come up with the final surface map. So, is this the answer for the phenomena reproduced above? I can't say. But this is what I have found. So I'm calling it problem solved for now.

Oh yeah, weather was warm tonight at 70° F with winds of 10 mph form the South. You can clearly see that cold front coming in with some rain, if that High doesn't stall on the edge of the Rockies (dont see why it would, it's pretty well out of them now), then it will help push the Low-fueled storms out of the way and will weaken the Low which is relatively close to it. The storms are compressed along that front so they will be strong and short, afterwards we can look forward to some sun for a few days. Peace out.

*edit... turns out those spots are from lack of data. I guess there's my answer. fun fact. Not sure I believe it though, I mean, look at the number of simultaneous stations that haven't reported data. And then how is the moisture figured in?

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Wed, May 9

Today had some scattered clouds, which probably depressed the temperature a bit to keep the high down at 65°F, a little under average. As the clouds broke up this afternoon, the temps climbed. I was a bit worried at some of the thunderheads rolling along, but the winds (which were pretty steady today, down to 4mph from the NNW now) kept them from hanging around too long. There are some very light residual cirrocumulus, which is a fantastic sign for good weather tomorrow. Looking ahead: we have some Lows developing in the Rockies, which hopefully get held up there for a bit, but an unusually long cold front has developed from MT into Alberta which looks like it may be bringing the cold in a couple days, tomorrow should still be gorgeous though! that would have to be one fast storm, one might say it'd have to clip pretty fast to get here tomorrow!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Mon, May 7

Today was nice, and tomorrow will be nicer. As the low pressure system moves East and the jet ridge recedes north, the weather is going to look very nice for us. The clouds from the departing system depressed temperatures on the surface today by dampening insolation, so the high only reached 69° today (it is currently 63°). There are still some cumulus humilis (a good sign) in the sky as the sun sets, with light cirrus in the upper cloud deck. winds are at 11 mph. out of the West. The storms of last weekend head East. 

Looking ahead, Highs rolling in from the west will ensure that the next couple of days are very sunny. If you've been planning a picnic ahead of finals, this would be the time to go. We should be clear through tomorrow, and with nothing but highs coming from the Rockies maybe for the rest of the week. That is, if you stay in Wisconsin.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Sat, May 5 and Sun May 6

Happy Cinco De Mayo folks, sorry about the weather. Not very fiesta-y. Skies cleared up this evening, but left us with some cool temps (58°F muchachos!). Fortunately things cleared up nice for a sunny Sunday.... no wait that didn't happen either. Despite a clear Saturday evening, anoher Low had us wake up to stratus as far as the eye can bear to see on Sunday and brought us a high of 58° (or 52° at the observation) along with more rain in the mid afternoon thru the evening. Nasty. Happy 5th.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Fri, May 4

Today was just another decent-starting day ruined by late inclement weather. The clouds began rolling in mid afternoon (sooner if you count those cirrus) and we saw some sprinkles while at work today. At least it's warm. Temps are at 70° right now, winds from the southeast are bringing up more moist, warm air that we can look forward to seeing the effects of over tomorrow before the Low leaves us completely.

Thurs, May 3

Today was craziness. I was not expecting the rain to hit this way, but it did. It felt like perhaps a squall line hit us... When I went into the shower this afternoon it wasn't even drizzling, and when I came back to my room it looked as though my building was in the car wash. I got some photos of the storm receding, but my camera isn't working at the moment....
Anyhow, it is 63°, winds are almost gone at 5 mph. skies are clearing up (after that second batch of far less intense drizzle hit us this evening), and we are in for a good start tomorrow but nothing special, perhaps some precipitation as the Low mentioned on Wednesday moves in.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Wed, Mar 2

Finally, that anit-cyclonic Low brings me my summer weather!!! It's been nice and warm all day, at 78° right now. The clouds developed this afternoon and brought the rain that should be expected with this warm moist southern air. Speaking of heat, you know what wasn't warm? Last month. It says so right here. Things weren't quite as extreme here, bu tin Cleveland the weather last month was colder than March for the first time in 50 years.Last month was also a bad time for insurance companies, as those snowstorms and -especially- tornadoes brought down the hurt. So, Jan and Feb were sweet, April sucked, and May? Who knows, but it's a happy start. Right now, the rain has passed and only a few cumulostratus remain on the horizon, winds are still clipping at 15 mph bu that will go down here soon. More weather on the way folks, that Low over Idaho will hit us in the next couple days (barring the stationary front stay where it is... I suppose they are CALLED stationary fronts for a reason...).

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Tue, May 1

Happy May Day folks, I hope you're enjoying the weather! It's a fine 68°F outside with no clouds remaining to remind us of the weekend at all. There are some winds out there, so those of us that had to sweep (me) won't be too excited about that. More Lows moving in from, you guessed it, the West, and I see a warm front developing which probably means rain for us in two or three days, probably unrelated to the cirrus that are remaining in teh sky today, which are more a function of the strange grey afternoon we had.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Mon, Apr 30

57°F: that's too cold. I am ready for the air of the North to head north. Tomorrow is May after all, and I remember a very warm January and February. What is this? 7mph winds from the SSW (so you'd think that they would be bringing up some warm moist air...) Obviously there was moisture in the air, which accounted the overcast skies all day which are finally breaking up into some clumps of large cumulus. A low from the West is expected (by wunderground) to kick up some warm weather tomorrow. Take note of the cold front to the south, doesn't it almost LOOK like the edge of that CP air mass?

Also of note: you may notice that there were some severe storms in the East again this past weekend (with more rain coming if you're headed out that way). At least there aren't any tornadoes, like last year, when an April 27 storm took 250 lives in Alabama alone. 

Friday, April 27, 2012

Fri, Apr 27

This evening, temperatures were in the low sixties, and sitting right at 60° at around 7. There was no rain like I had predicted, it seems that the High pressure system sitting on top of us right now is being propped up by a ridge in the jet stream, so this continental polar air is taking a while to move out. Being 60 and sunny though, I would have to say that there isn't much "polar" about the weather today, especially by comparison to Wednesday. Looking ahead, I still expect this High to recede, temps will probably be cooler tomorrow and maybe we will see some precipitation.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Wed, Apr 25

It is currently a measly 50°F outside, but at least the clouds cleared up and it looks pretty. There are still some scattered cirrostratus. Winds are 10 mph from the ESE, we are beginning to finally actually see the jet streams changing and hopefully they won't be coming back again anytime soon. There are some more lows to the west coming up, and I expect some more precipitation tomorrow or Friday. Fortunately, that will be kicking up some of the nice warm air from the south too so that might facilitate warmer temps as well, I think I'll take it.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Tues Apr 24

Right now the temperatures are a fine 68°F and the skies are clear (with a few leftover cirrostratus from this morning). The day did start off as pretty grey but cleared up this afternoon, with temps remaining in the upper sixties all day as that cold air moves along. There is some rainy weather definitely coming, those lows in the West will be here by noon tomorrow. More Lows may be developing behind them... but we will have to see what happens.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Monday Apr 23

There seems to have been some mistake... there was snow in Pennsylvania yesterday and apparently there is supposed to be some more today... what? It's April, and we all noticed the extremely warm winter, right? Anyway, no snow here, so that's nice. In fact, the skies cleared up behind that nasty weekend we just got through (not so nasty by comparison, right?) Today saw temps in the low 60's, the pressure dropped steadily over the day and we are currently looking at that continuing into the next couple days as we see another Low moving out of the West... behind another cold front. So cool temps coming up. Soon however, we can look forward to a shift in the unusually persistent jets to send this trough north and keep that continental polar air out of here come may. fingers crossed. Maybe some precip en route.

check it. http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/04/with_snow_in_western_pa_govern.html.
state of emergency. ewwww.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Fri, Apr. 6

Today was a gorgeous day, temperatures hovered around 60°F this afternoon and at my observation around 7:15 we were still looking at 57°. It's a bit breezy, accuweather reporting about 10 mph winds. There are a couple of Lows scattered around the Great Plains this evening, moving this direction with a decent-sized cold front which means that we should expect these clear skies to disappear in the near future, definitely some precipitation this weekend.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Tuesday, Apr. 3

Tonight, the temperature sat at 60° F, with a light breeze from the north and relatively clear skies marked with only a few strands of cirrus remaining of a day that began as overcast. These light upper atmospheric morsels mark the high pressure that is going to dominate for the next day or so as it rolls over us from the West. Tonight's sky will be clear, and the temperatures should get fairly cold as this high pushes cool northern air over us and deprives us of our night-time "heat blanket" of clouds which we've been enjoying the last few days. It will be cold in the morning (maybe even freezing!), but lows are already beginning to develop over the Rockies which look like they'll be taking this cold away soon.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Sat, Mar 31 and Sun, Apr Fool's.

in progress.....

Monday, Apr 2

Good Evening, folks! It looks like an exciting night in the area tonight! We are talking thunder and rain! Perhaps the first good storm of the season, here come your April Showers Mom! Current conditions are 64° F with winds from the Southeast and a mere 1008 mB of barometric pressure. The skies are grey after a brief period of clear skies around 6 (when the pressure bottomed out) and storms are expected! AS that low passes to the South of us, the winds will shift to the East and storms will roll in as warm, moist air pushed up from the south collides with the cool parcel of air that dominated our weekend here. Just look at the K index for Minneapolis, earlier in the day:

That 27 means scattered thunderstorms folks, and they are coming this way. I expect precipitation by midnight, accompanied by a cacophony of thunder. We wont be getting it as good as the areas further south in the country, such as Northern Texas and Oklahoma as illuminated by the nauseous green in this accuweather map. I hope that they don't get it too bad.

P.S. it took me an obscenely long time to isolate that graphic from accuweather. I got it now though. I am a web MASTER. Unfortunately, I could only figure out how to get the maps for the FUTURE. So here is what it should look like right when I fall asleep...

Monday, March 26, 2012

Monday, Mar 26


The air this evening held an ambient temperature of 41° F, which is actually up from the weather earlier in the day (39° at noon according to weather underground). This is due to the cooler air of the high moving out over MI as the low currently over the Dakotas pushes in, and as it moves in it kicks up some warmer air from the south. The sky is currently entirely overcast, with mid-altitude stratocumulus blotting out the sky. As this warm front moves in, we can expect some rainy weather and perhaps thunderstorms in the next day or so, perhaps even overnight.

here is the current surface data from unisys. Note the High and Low on either side of us is differentiated by winds swirling in opposite directions, and where they meet (eau claire at the moment) should even be experiencing precipitation. I didn't feel anything, but perhaps some of you guys will:

Friday, March 9, 2012

Friday, March 9

High pressure moved through at about midday toady, and now seems centered over da UP. Temperatures felt warmer to me, but that must be because I decided to wear a sweatshirt, and there was no wind (well, it should pick up here as the L from Wyoming moves towards us). It was 29° at work at a little before 7 tonight, and there were already some cirrus clouds forming in the upper troposphere, and there was a slight breeze. That H did not stick around long, so I would guess that the weather should change fairly rapidly here as the low comes to dominate the area. It is predicted to bring some very very nice weather.
Unisys thinks that there are way more clouds than I am seeing. That's ok. I'm sure we're both wrong. But look at those temperatures in that low.... I am getting excited.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Thursday, Mar 8

Today was another grey day. The temperature sat at 34° F at a little after 7, and the winds were up (despite my predictions) to 15 mph. Those winds really make a difference in how cold it feels: while the ambient is sitting at 34°, the windchill brings us down to 24°. Ouch. As I mentioned, the sky remains overcast as far as the eye can see, but it will soon become clear out due to the incoming HIGHS out of the west. Look out for that.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Wednesday, Mar 7

Today was again fairly mild, and due to the lovely drab overcast skies above we can look forward to an ambient low tonight which could honestly be worse. Unfortunately, at this time of the year "mild" is 35° F at a little before closing time... at least its lighter out. The low from the other day passed over us today though, so the winds whould die down over the course of the next day.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Tuesday, Mar 6

Unfortunately, I forgot to do my normal observation tonight so this observation is brought to you by 9:30. This is very unfortunate because as I noted this weekend (and will fill in - again - after this post, apologies for the goof), the sky is noticeably lighter than it was at the beginning of my observations. The conditions are very fair, 44°F temps and a mere 3.5 mph wind. The sky seems hazy with a few dark patches of indigo that stretch along the Northern horizon. It is difficult to see much about the clouds, other than that they are high in the sky and very light (a couple stars poke through if you let your eyes adjust), all that I can tell is that they are broken cirrus. There is an extended warm front stretching just north of us, and a low moving in from the West which is kicking warm air up from the south. This will continue to bring heat (and clouds) over the next day.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Monday, Mar 5


Tonight the weather again hovered around freezing at 32° F on the dot (the dot being, by the calculations of my state- of-the-art digital thermometer at work, the nearest whole number). Today's weather saw both extremes of the spectrum: what began as a bright and sunny day quickly turned into overcast skies with light snow. By Closing Time however, the storms had long dissipated and few clouds remained scattered across the sky. As you can see, a warm front is stretching down from the Rockies, which is leading many to call for 50°F weather! I remain skeptical over the extent of Mother Nature's kindness, however it is clear that temperatures will be higher in this coming week than the previous.

Saturday, Mar 3 and Sunday, Mar 4

Sunday Mar 4:

Tonight the weather was fair, fairly cold that is. It is only 18°F with winds of 3.5 mph form the NW. There are scattered clouds in the sky, and pressures are rising as a High passes to the south of us. There is a warm front forming in the West which is expected to bring some heat during the week. Which will be welcome since today's high was only 25°. As a side note, I am noticing a little color in the sky off of the clouds tonight.... spring is coming.

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Saturday, Mar 3

Today enjoyed some boring weather, which is nice after the craziness of last week. Looking ahead, we have a High to the West which should bring along some cold temps and clear skies in the immediate future. It is 27°F and there are very light winds.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Friday, Mar 2

Tonight's temperature is again 32°F, with winds of 10 mph from the West. As can be seen on the surface map, there is a cyclonic motion caused by a Low Pressure air mass centered right over Grand Rapids, MI. This probably is what's causing the apparent lack of wind there. What does not show quite as well on the unisys map is the Low in northern Minnesota. The winds on the outer edge of these two systems meet around Ironwood and what I think is Ladysmith, which is causing similar readings but for the opposite reason. We can expect the overcast skies to remain until the second Low clears out, but with no Highs in sight that could be a little while.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Thursday, Mar 1

There was nothing exciting this evening, the weather did clear up in the early evening (around dinner time) but as I blanked on the observation I can't say how the sky looked at 7. Currently it is overcast again, orange light pollution reflecting off of the bottom surface of the clouds. The temperature is an even 32° F and there is a breeze outside of 5 mph. Low pressures are moving around the north and the south of us, so while there are no fronts coming in there is the possibility for some light weather because of atmospheric instability.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Severe Weather

I feel like having a weather blog that doesn't make reference to this would be inappropriate. Thirty-three Reported Tornadoes, At Least Nine Dead, Serious Damage from Tornado Outbreak." 'Nuf said. In the meantime, New England is in for that massive amount of snow that had been predicted for this region, same goes for the Rockies, and the jets and fronts have decided to keep the deadly weather coming. Happy leap year folks.

Wednesday, Feb. 29

It has indeed been an active day in weather. It may not have been as meteoric a storm as some had predicted in Eau Claire, or even in the Upper Midwest, but it brought about quite a bit of strange and unfortunate weather that has made headlines the country over. Let us begin today by looking at Eau Claire.
The temperature was a mild 35° F at 7:00 PM tonight, making for the second mild day despite the incoming cold front. There was a hardly a mere whisper of wind when I checked, but NOAA and Wunderground assure me that there is in fact light wind from 5-10 mph. The sky was overcast, and the barometric pressure was at 998 mb -- on the rise after a dip at around noon as the center of the Low Pressure air mass passed directly overhead. Most noticeable about today's observation was the humidity, for the second straight day one can almost taste the air. The humidity almost lends a summer-like atmosphere to the mild temperatures.
The graphs below from Wunderground show a nice correlation between pressure and wind speed/direction, and I decided to include them today to illustrate the way in which air masses move over space, and how air flows into the center of low pressure. As the center of low pressure passes over us and grows further away, wind directions and then speeds change.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Tuesday, Feb 28


Tut Tut, it looks like snow folks! We have already accumulated about a half of an inch and it looks like more is on the way, although the weather outside at about 7 looked as though the snow/freezing rain was letting up. The wintry mix outside is awful, so avoid the roads if at all possible. It's not just snowing out there folks, this stuff is nasty. The winds are gusting at around 14 mph out of the East, which means that the Low pressure system to our Southwest has yet to pass us. Because the system is so massive, we should expect snow (or at least overcast skies) well into tomorrow.
Meanwhile, there seems to be severe weather to the south. Look at the strength of the pressure systems that are moving around the country right now! There is a single continuous line of fronts that moves all the way across the bottom of the contiguous states! Also note that there appears to be some thunderstorms forming in the south, so it should be an interesting night for weather.


Monday, February 27, 2012

Monday, Feb. 27

Today has been a fairly böring day for weather, tonights's observation brings a 27°F temp with clear skies and a light breeze of 10 mph. There is a strong mass of Low pressure moving in from the west, which weather agencies had predicted would bring a great deal of snow (rumor had it school was to be cancelled), however predictions have been reassessed and the current predication is for less snow - but worse driving. A small mix of freezing rain will likely make me happy that I don't work tomorrow.

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ED: Wednesday Feb 29
I wasn't planning on putting up an image tonight, because the weather was so boring, but I saw Tyler DeBruin had this image up so I decided to steal it. There are three things I like about it. 1) It shows the earth as a globe which is a projection that i always enjoy even though I find it ironic that someone would try to solve the issue of mapping a 3d surface in 2d by just providing a shot of the globe which limits the area that can be displayed. 2) The map gives a really good shot of the lake effect around Chicago and Toledo. 3) For no apparent reason, Canada is completely excluded from the weather. This is a recurring theme and its becoming something of a pet peeve of mine.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Saturday, Feb 25; and Sunday, Feb 26

Sunday - Feb 26 7:15 PM

I began my return trek at 6:00 today so was able to view up-to date stats at shortly after seven today to go with my observation. The clouds are a blanket overhead, and have been since about noon. The winds are even stronger today, I can even notice a couple of gusts pushing against the side of my car down the interstate. They are 20 mph form the SW. The ambient temperature is 32°F, but with the winds it feels like 22°. The winds are caused by a high pressure front moving in from the West, some are forecasting massive amounts of snow, but given our history this month I am somewhat skeptical of anything big happening. We shall see.

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Saturday - Feb 25 7:00 PM

Today (as on Sunday) I took my observations and then drove home to Hudson. Internet at home is sketchy at best - not having the patience to load the entire blogger site I opted to merely write out my observations and get to them today. So it was chilly with again 23° F temps with a moderate breeze that picked up in the late afternoon (later determined to be 10 mph, thanks to my new favorite thing). Nothing much had happened with the weather today that was noteworthy, other than the breeze making my life of sweeping exceedingly difficult. The skies were clear in Eau Claire, but by 8:30 in Hudson the sky was overcast. As I drove west through the changing weather I had the opportunity to see clear skies turn to scattered clouds, then drop and turn into an overcast sky which was neat. Something else that was interesting was that as I approached Hudson, the west grew lighter and lighter. At first, I hoped that I was seeing the last vestiges of the sun, and could expect to see more light at my observations soon. But no, it wasn't. The light was merely pollution from the metro.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Friday, February 24

I decided to step away from the surface maps on this one, while I do love them they are a bit tough on the eyes and I have used them one time too many. Our friends at wunderground help to visualize what has been happening in the last few days meteorologically -- High pressure over the plains has been pushing a moderately strong low over da U.P. and Eau Claire has been stuck in between. The temperature last night may have felt cold then, but tonight is far colder at 23°F. I would expect clear skies, knowing that Eau Claire is heading for High pressure, however the weather tonight is cloudy, it seems that there are more clouds in the west but it is somewhat difficult to tell. The wind is coming out of the west today, so I expect temperatures to remain cool in the immediate future and the skies to remain clear. The winds should die down as well.

Thursday, Feb 23

This night was one of the coldest this week, and the clearest; it was a surprise to be walking under the stars after such an overcast day. As a region of high pressure from the West fights off Lows heading East, the sky cleared up and the barometric pressure sits around 29.6 in (about 1004 mb). The temperature is 32° F, and winds are chilly but light at ~3.5 mph, from the North.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Wednesday, Feb 22

The weather for Wednesday at around 7 was 31°F with winds of 5 mph out of the West. The cold front is beyond us now, and we are experiencing clear skies which is typical of High pressure. However, the pressure as recorded at UWEC is only 998 mb which is not especially high. I felt fortunate not to have to shovel/sweep any snow today because all of it had melted (although I did have to lay out some salt, as some small collection pools of runoff from the roof freeze over when the temps cool, so if you're out and about be watching for that on the roads.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Tuesday, Feb 21


The snow which had been expected for so long did fall last night, and there was a light dusting of snow this morning. However, only 1.5 inches fell, and the rise in temperature after dawn (which peaked at 36°F) caused all of the snow on the roads to melt very quickly. Very little accumulation remained on the ground by the time of this observation (a little later tonight due to scheduling conflicts). At 8:15 it was 33°F with a moderate wind of 10 mph out of the West. It was overcast, but the clouds were higher than they had been last night so I am tempted to call them stratoculumus by comparing them to my cloud chart, but then it is also hard to tell because it is dark (although not as hard as you might think, perhaps as a result of light pollution).

Monday, February 20, 2012

Monday, Feb 20 (and weekend Sat Feb 18/Sun Feb 19))

Tonight the weather has strong winds. A strong low front centered near Omaha is pushing cyclonic winds towards us with gusts of roughly 15-20 mph. The sky is entirely overcast, and the weather services are expecting snow tonight but as of yet no snow has fallen. The temperature is 42° F and the dew point is 20°, snow is very likely to arrive tonight from the west. The sky is dark, since it was light out this morning at about 6:30 (though the sun rose at 7:00), I had hoped for a whisper of sunlight this evening. I will have to be patient, but I expect to see a sunsets before DST kicks in (I'm not going to check because that would spoil the fun).
Sunday saw the temperature peak at 39°, but by the time of my recordings it has dropped down to 30°F, with a 5 mph breeze from the S. The same low-pressure system that brought this warm air will soon bring precipitation, and the NWS predicts snow tomorrow.
On Saturday at 7:00 it was 30° F with no discernible breeze (although the internet tells me there is one), as the prevailing High pressure that had been dominating headed east while a massive low pressure system from the West and South replaces it. Cyclonic winds are pushing warm air in from the South, which will last through the weekend and we can expect to see another mild day tomorrow, followed by some storms on Monday or Tuesday.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Wed, Feb 15

It's 19°, and... foggy? wierd for nighttime. The sky has a few cumulus which are thicker in the North East. The temperatures were a bit colder all day long. There is no wind, which would take away the fog if there was some. weather.com recorded a high of 41° today, all that condensing air now that the sun set and temps are low is probably the cause for this fog.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Monday, Feb 13

The weather was cold this evening, but warmer than it was at the end of last week at 30° F. There was light snow, with less than a half inch accumulated. A light breeze from the south, clocked at 10 mph by UNISYS. The area is caught between two stationary fronts over quebec/ottawa and the great plains, which are funneling air from the south to the north being pushed by a warm front of maritime tropic air.


Friday, February 10, 2012

4 images

Surface Data - Midwest Current


This is my top image from the assignment, as it gives the largest amount of raw data, and allows me to make my own predictions knowing that the data I have been given is 100% the most accurate data available.


I like this image because it make makes it very easy to see how temperatures this January are unusual across the country, however I wish it used counties instead of states.
US: 24 Hour Temperature Change

This image is much like the last one, but instead of the year's difference it shows a day's difference. It is easy to read, looks nice, and with a quick glance I can see exactly how much I need to bundle up.
US: Interstate Forecast Day 1
Finally, the usefulness of this map cannot be overstated. I am glad that I stumbled across it, and am probably going to use it every time I head home. I hate traffic.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Wednesday, Feb. 9

Today the temperature was around 24° F in Eau Claire at around 7:00 this evening, with only a whisper of a breeze no more than 5 mph from the southwest. The sky is clear, the stars above twinkling as they freeze their bums off. The weather is on its way down into colder temperatures this weekend, which would be appropriate for this time of the season.

On a side note, I realized that my times were off... so I'll fix that soon...

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Tuesday, Feb 7

The weather was colder this evening than it was yesterday, at around 23 degrees. There was hardly any breeze whatsoever, although weather.com calls for a slight breeze of around 5 mph. The sky is partly cloudy, the stars are shining through patches of stratus which become thicker to the north.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Closing time...almost.

I have decided to make my observations at 7:00 in the evening. This is shortly before the 7:30 closing time where I work but perhaps more interesting as I will have the opportunity to watch the sunset change over time. I have also come to realize that these are daily reports, so I will start to do that too. Anyhow, weather tonight was cold, after a mild day the temperature was right above freezing at 35 F. I would estimate that the cloud cover stood at roughly 50%, perhaps a little more. There was a very slight breeze, and the sun had gone completely down.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Tuesday, January 31. 7:30 AM

Today it is cold outside with no discernible breeze, the temperature is roughly 28 degrees Fahrenheit. It is already fairly light outside, although cloud cover is at least 75%. The clouds are high and thick, they look a little dark but I do not expect any precipitation in the immediate future.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog about the weather above the surface in Eau Claire, Wisconsin! New posts will be made as often as Hupy's Weather and Society requires. Prepare yourselves Eau Claire, a storm of knowledge is rolling your way. Ready or not, here I come.

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ed: This blog shall now be referred to as Closing Time, and no longer as the Weather Above Ground. This is because the former is a neat sounding name that references the time of my observations, while the latter is a cheap distortion of a very successful website name. Clever, but cheap. I like the new name better.