Thursday May 14th, 2015, 4:10pm
Temperature: 61 F
Feels like: 61 F
Wind: SE 13 mph
Humidity: 54%
Pressure: 30.00 in

This morning started off with some light precipitation. After the precipitation passed through the winds picked up for the afternoon hours. The sun also was able to peak through at times and lighten the day. Currently as I'm writing this blog it just started to rain again, but very lightly. Since yesterday temperatures have relatively been the same with the winds out of the same direction. Pressure has dropped slightly and the humidity has risen over 20 percent. Looking into this evening we can expect a 100 percent chance of rain until 2am. This weather will continue into the weekend as well.

 This is the current radar for the area. As you can see we have some precipitation just getting into the Eau Claire area and it is a fairly decent nimbostratus cloud. This precipitation will be slow moving and will take till after midnight to pass through the area.

 This is the current surface data for the midwest. Since yesterday, we have seen that warm front being pushed to the south. The stationary front that was to our west has taken a turn towards the north on the leading edge. You can see the precipitation that we are expecting for the rest of the night as it is on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin.

This final picture is of the Stuve diagram from the Minneapolis weather station. You can see that the two lines have come close to contact but haven't actually touched anywhere. This is due to all the precipitation in the air. You can see that the LI and KI are both stable, but we can still expect these showers to continue.

Wednesday May 13th, 2015, 7:50 pm
Temperature: 63 F
Feels like: 63 F
Wind: SE 12mph
Humidity: 35%
Pressure: 30.30in

Since yesterday we have seen temperatures raise about 10 degrees into the mid 60s. We have seen the winds change direction as they are now coming out of the southeast. Pressure has pretty much stayed the same while we have seen the humidity drop drastically as it was over 60% yesterday, and is now at 35%. This is due to it not raining today. This morning it was chilly as it was in the low 40s but warmed up pretty fast as there were few clouds in the sky allowing for the sun to warm everything up.

 Above is the current radar for the Eau Claire area. You can see there is nothing over Eau Claire or the twin cities but there is a few spotty showers to the west of the cities that we will experience tomorrow. We are not expecting any storms tomorrow but will have showers throughout the day.

 This is the current surface data for the midwest. You can see a warm front coming from the east and is moving up from the south. This will continue to bring warmer temperatures into the weekend. There is also three low pressure systems. We need to keep and eye on these as they will produce precipitation and the possibility for storms this weekend.

 This is the current temperatures for the entire lower 48. You can see that we sit at a mild 65 degrees but what we want to look at is the temperatures to our west. You can see 75 degrees in South Dakota. This is what we can expect for this weekend but it shall cool down after this weekend again.

This last picture is off the current winds throughout the lower 48. We had experienced a breezy day at times, but we can expect more of it into the weekend. The winds are also out of the southeast currently but should shift from the west.

Tuesday May 12th, 2015, 6:30 pm
Temperature: 54 F
Feels like: 54 F
Wind: NW 12 mph
Humidity: 47%
Pressure: 30.20 in

This morning started off with sideways rain. With the wind coming out of the northwest gusting into the 20 mph range, it drove the rain to come down sideways. Although there wasn't many large droplets, there was more of a misting occurring. As the precipitation stopped early in the afternoon, the nimbostratus and stratus clouds remained all day. We didn't see any sun until later in the afternoon as it peaked through for some brief moments. The temperature dropped even more then yesterday as expected as the winds now have shifted out of the northwest. These will gradually begin to climb back into the 70's by the weekend. The humidity has also dropped by 20% since yesterday and we have seen the pressure increase very little.

 Above is the current surface data for the midwest. You can see how a cold front has moved down from Canada with the northwest winds. This will move out of the area by tomorrow allowing for Wisconsin to warm back up. You can also see a stationary out to the west. As this moves into the area over the weekend it will bring precipitation and warmer weather.

 This is the Stuve diagram from the Minneapolis weather station. You can see how the two lines crossed earlier today as the precipitation fell. Looking at the LI and KI indexes, the atmosphere is relatively stable.

 This is a diagram I found on accuweather.com. It talked about how the east coast can expect a cool down into the weekend. The main factor for this is the cold front that is over Wisconsin currently. This will continue to move towards the east coast, while we will be experiencing 70 degree weather, the east coast will be in 50's and 60's.

Another thing to look at as the weekend nears is the potential for severe weather on saturday. With warm temperatures, we can expect much of the plains to be hit with strong thunderstorms and much of the midwest. Although this graphic doesn't dhow much happening in Wisconsin over the weekend, it does show the southern half of Minnesota having the potential for thunderstorms.

Monday May 11th, 2015, 5:45 pm
Temperature: 52 F
Feels like: 52 F
Wind: SSW 10 mph
Humidity: 71%
Pressure:29.70 in

Today was overcast all day. Not once when I was outside did I see the sun even briefly through the clouds. I woke up this morning and the sidewalks were wet, so I knew there was precipitation during the night. As the day stayed overcast for most of the day, around five o'clock the precipitation picked up again as a light sprinkle. Since yesterday we have seen the winds shift direction as they were coming out of the east yesterday. We have also seen the humidity increase from yesterday with the pressure dropping. These both are from the precipitation we have been experiencing. The temperature has also fallen since yesterday, while we were in the 60's for most of the day.

 This is the current radar for the Eau Claire and Minneapolis area. You can see currently that there is nothing drastic in terms of precipitation that is sitting over Eau Claire. However, you can see a small paths of precipitation that is now in the cities and is working its way west. If it stays on the course that it is, we will experience some more precipitation later this evening.

 A lot has changed from yesterday in terms of the current surface map. You can see how the trough that had the build up of precipitation with it has moved out of the area into Canada. This is thanks to the southwestern winds that we have encountered today. There is a low pressure system that is sitting over the northwestern corner of Wisconsin with another low trough to our southwest. Tomorrow we can expect temperatures to cool down but we should have a few days without any precipitation in the air.

This shows the cool down that we will see over the next day. You can see just to our west that Minnesota is in a cool spot, which will move its way over us tomorrow. After that we can expect temperatures to steadily increase again into the 70's by the weekend. You can see how the southeast is in hot spot however. This has played into building up hurricane Ana. Although the hurricane has hit shore now, the warm weather will continue to impact the coast with precipitation.

Sunday May 10th, 2015, 7:10 pm
Temperature: 61 F
Feels like: 61 F
Wind: E 16 mph
Humidity: 64%
Pressure: 30.00 in

Today started off as a nice breezy mothers day. It was a great day to take your mother outside for most of the day, especially in the afternoon. There were few clouds in the sky into around dinner time. Currently it is 61 degrees out with a stiff breeze coming out of the east at 16 mph. We are expecting some precipitation to start coming into the area as there is some rain clouds sitting just to the west. These showers will be spotty but its almost a guarantee that it will rain.

 Pictured above is the current radar for the Eau Claire area. You can see currently that there is no precipitation that is sitting over Eau Claire. However, you can see that there is a pretty good rain cloud that is about to impact the cities. These will bring rain along with some stronger rain as the clouds grow into storm clouds. With the winds coming out of the east, the precipitation clouds are moving more from the southwest to the northwest, so there is a possibility that we don't see two strong of rain clouds.

 Looking at the current surface map for the midwest, you can see that there is a lot going on currently. You can see a trough over the western edge of Wisconsin, with the rain clouds building behind it. There is also a warm front that is moving its way up from the south. There is also another trough over the Dakota's that is also producing precipitation. We can expect these showers to continue into tomorrow with a small break on tuesday.

Currently hurricane Ana is hitting the border of north and south Carolina. You can see that the path the storm is moving from the south is impacting up off the coast of Delaware. There is heavy rains in all of Carolina as there will be showers and thunderstorms throughout the area.

Friday May 8th, 2015, 7:45 pm
Temperature: 59 F
Feels like: 59 F
Wind: W 5 mph
Humidity: 67%
Pressure: 30.00 in

Currently the temperature is 59 degrees out, with winds out of west most of the day. It was relatively chilly all day with overcast skies. There was no precipitation, but the skies had stratocumulus clouds all day. It did look like there was the possibility of rain, but with no prevail. The pressure has risen slightly since yesterday, when the pressure was in the 29 range more. Humidity has risen since yesterday however.

 Above is the current surface recordings for the midwest. You can see there is not much going on for most of the state of Wisconsin. There was a cold front that moved through today, hence why the temperatures have dropped compared to the last couple days. Along that cold front you can see precipitation that is following the front as it moves its way east. There is also a low pressure system that is sitting in the upper peninsula currently. This is also helping build up that precipitation.

 This is the current radar for the midwest. You can see currently that Milwaukee and down through Chicago are currently getting hit with rain. I currently have a buddy who is stuck in the Chicago airport as he is trying to get home on the east coast. There really isn't much happening in the northern portions of the state however.

 This is the Stuve diagram from the Minneapolis weather station. You can see that the two lines crossed earlier today, causing some precipitation for that area. The LI index increased drastically from yesterday, helping with stabilizing the atmosphere more.

This final picture is of the current surface temperatures across the nation. Looking to our west, you can see how temperatures have cooled down in Wyoming and Montana. These temperatures will rise a little as they make their way towards us, but it will cool down some early next week. You can see from Texas up to New York that temperatures are mostly in the 80's. I guess its okay that the east coast is finally getting some warmer temperatures after the cold winter they had.

Thursday April 7th, 2015, 6:20 pm
Temperature: 76 F
Feels like: 76 F
Wind: SSW 20 mph
Humidity: 56%
Pressure: 29.72 in

Today we experienced all kinds of weather on the Eau Claire campus. This morning started off as very warm and humid with very few clouds in the sky. It was shaping up to look like we would get strong thunderstorms in the afternoon. As the day progressed, cumulus stratus clouds moved into the area. This trapped the heat underneath the clouds diminishing the chances of strong storms to form. Currently the temperature and real feel is 76F, but it feel much warmer as it is very humid out and sticky. Winds are out of the south southwest at 20 mph with gusts reaching into the 30 mph range.

 Above is the current radar for the Eau Claire area. You can see that the cities just experienced some sever weather as it passed its way through the area. The next stop will be the Eau Claire area in a few hours if they don't die out. You can also see some smaller sever weather popping up to the west of the cities. It will be interesting to keep an eye on these to see if they form into stronger storms as the evening progresses.

 Above is the current surface model for the midwest. Looking back at yesterday, there is still storms to the north were the stationary front and warm front collide. I expect these showers to continue to the east as there is a decent inflow of moisture in the air. You can see a trough raining from the upper midwest of Wisconsin down into Ohio. As this is sitting in front of a cold front, you can see how the storms are forming on the southwestern side of that trough line mostly. As that trough moves its way eastward, we can expect these storms to continue to roll into the area.

This is the Stuve diagram from the Minneapolis weather station. You can see how the temperature and precipitation line crossed causing for precipitation in the area. Looking at the LI index, its reading that the atmosphere is unstable. These continued to drop from yesterday as expected from the storms that rolled into the area. We can expect much of the same conditions for tomorrow as well with precipitation.

Wednesday May 6th, 2015, 7:45pm
Temperature: 75F
Feels like: 75F
Wind: SE 11 mph
Humidity: 51%
Pressure: 30.00 in

Today started off with nice weather and very few clouds in the sky. That changed very shortly as we saw some stratus clouds creep into the area. Going into early afternoon those turned into nimbostratus clouds and rain started to fall. The precipitation lasted for a few hours on and off. Going into late afternoon the rain had subsided but there was still total cloud cover and couldn't see the sun. We had winds out of the southeast today at 11 mph with humidity checking in at 51%. The pressure did drop slightly from yesterday, due to the fact that we have low pressure systems moving into the area. The current temperature and real feel still sits at a nice 75 degrees.

 Currently above is the radar for the Eau Claire area. You can see currently that there is a small storm cell over us. There is rain in the area with the potential for smaller storms to form. We can expect this to stay over us for a few more hours as it works its way to the west further on tonight. There are also a few spotty showers behind this cell that could pop up once again when it reaches the Eau Claire area.

 This is a picture of the current surface map for the Midwest. There is a lot going on as you can see. On the east side of Wisconsin there is a high pressure system that is sitting there, but to our west there is 7 different small low pressure systems that are making there way towards us. These low pressure systems will produce precipitation over the next few days. There is also a warm front moving its way towards us from the south. On the western side of South Dakota there is a spot were the warm front and cold front collide. Look for sever storm out in front of that cold front over the next few days. There is also a pretty good storm system over Nebraska. These we should also keep an eye on as they have potential to produce tornadoes in that area.

 This is the Stuve Diagram from the Minneapolis weather station. Reading the LI index you can see that the atmosphere is slightly unstable. You can also see that lower in the atmosphere wind direction is out of the south mostly while higher in the atmosphere the winds change and are coming out of the west mostly.

This final diagram is from the accuweather website. You can see how the jet stream has dipped very low out on the west coast while coming back up and through Wisconsin. This will cause for warm temperatures to be hitting the east coast. A big warm up for that area after the winter they experienced. We can see much precipitation to hit the Midwest along with a potential cool down.

Tuesday May 5th, 2015, 6 pm
Temperature: 67 F
Feels like: 67 F
Wind: SSE 11 mph
Humidity: 29%
Pressure: 30.20 in

Today started off as a very nice day on the Eau Claire campus. There were no clouds in the sky with the sun shinning bright. We saw winds out of the south southeast at 11 mph today with gusts reaching into the mid teens. Humidity was at 29% with a normal pressure level of 30.02 inches. The weather will change over the next few days as we will see showers roll into the area over wednesday and thursday while we should expect clouds for the weekend, currently there is no precipitation for the weekend except for on sunday.

 This is the current radar for the area. You can see currently over Eau Claire that we don't have any precipitation, while south of the cities and Eau Claire there is a small precipitation cloud. This most likely will hit La Crosse in the next few hours but won't last long.

This is the current surface reading for the midwest. There is a warm front to the south that is being pushed into Wisconsin from those southern winds we have been experiencing. To our west you can see three low pressure system almost in a line. These will bring precipitation to the area once they reach us. One area to keep an eye on that could produce strong storms is the northern edge of Wyoming. there is a low pressure system right at the point were a warm and cold front meet. This is prime to produce strong storms. 

This last picture is of the upper air sounding from Minneapolis. You can see that early in the atmosphere that we almost experienced precipitation were the temperature and precipitation line almost crossed. Both the LI and KI indexes are fairly stable. Over the next two days it will be interesting to see how these stuve diagrams change and if there is potential for stronger storms based on the LI and KI indexes.