All posts by Anthony

Road Trip

Salisbury, Maryland to San Jose, California

For the 2nd straight time, we have a ridiculously long road trip to embark on, from sea to shining sea (so to speak). This one covers 2,959 miles. Hope you brought enough snacks.

DAY ONE
The high pressure ridge over the Eastern US will make for some near record warmth over the Northeast as we make out way past Baltimore and through Hagerstown, PA. Clouds will be on the increase as we make our way past Pittsburgh as low pressure over the Southern Great Lakes will push a vigorous cold front eastward. Strong to severe thunderstorms are expected over the Mid-MS Valley and into the Ohio Valley later in the day. Luckily, we’ll escape much of this activity until we make it to Cleveland, our 1st stop. Gusty winds are expected later on in the day as we make our way through the Appalachians. Some scattered showers are possible ahead of the front late in the evening, with some thunderstorms possible late at night as the front makes its way through OH.

DAY TWO
The cold front will be moving through Cleveland right around when we wake up, which could make for some interesting traffic as rain and some thunderstorms are expected during the morning rush hour. Once the front moves through, however, precip should trail off pretty quickly and gusty winds switch around from the northwest. Temperatures will be noticeably cooler today thanks to the new air mass spilling in from the Upper Midwest, and those gusty winds won’t be helping matters much either. In any event, rain showers should tail off by late morning as we make our way out of Indiana into northern Illinois. Quiet conditions should greet us for the rest of the day through Iowa City, IA, our stop for day 2.

DAY THREE
Alas, it’s a quiet day for us as we continue our tour of I-80. High pressure ridge has developed over the Central US as the lingering end of a cold/stationary front is found parked over the Dakotas. An area of low pressure attempts to weakly form along the front in the Northern Rockies, but will otherwise remain fairly benign. Some high clouds will greet us as we pull into Ogallala, NE for the end of the day.

DAY FOUR
An area of low pressure will develop over the High Central Plains during the day today as we’re making our way westward into southern Wyoming. The lingering cold/stationary front over the Northern Rockies will pretty much camp out where it is, however some increased shower activity will kick up over the Dakotas and northern WY. Some of these wandering showers might wet the windshield as we travel through southwestern WY, but will wind down during the late evening as the sun sets for the day. Some thickening clouds will be expected as we pull into Salt Lake City for the night.

DAY FIVE
An upper-level trough will be digging into the West Coast, spreading showers throughout the Pacific Northwest and the Northern Rockies. Luckily, most of these showers should stay off to the north of I-80 as we continue our westward push out of SLC and into the high deserts of northern NV. Sunglasses probably won’t be needed today as clouds will continue to stream over the region ahead of the advancing trough, but shower and isolated thunderstorm activity should be mainly found over Oregon and Idaho throughout the day. Conditions should be nice as we pull into Reno, NV, our stop for the day. We’re almost there!

DAY SIX
As broad low pressure continues to develop over the Northern Rockies into the Northern Plains, a cutoff area of low pressure will have swung well off the CA coastline before making an easterly turn towards Baja California. The main impulse of energy over the Pacific Northwest will shift into the Northern Rockies, and inbetween these 2 systems, a brief ridge of high pressure looks to develop over Central CA into Southwest OR. This couldn’t be timed any better, since it’ll keep the rest of our trip through the Rockies, through Sacramento, and into the Bay Area, finally arriving at our final destination! After two long trips like this, I think the family is going to not mind about those airline fees and just fly.

Verification

Sunshine State Holds True

The Gainesville forecast had plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures. Some dense fog develops early Thursday morning and burned off shortly after sunrise, but kept morning low a couple degrees higher than most people had. All told, VicWx and TWC finished in a tie for 1st. AW didn’t live up to their moniker, once again, and brought up the rear. Apologies for the delay in the verification, there was a glitch in the system. No worries, it’s been fixed!

Thursday: High 84, Low 47.
Friday: High 85, Low 48.

Forecast Grade: A

Forecast

Salisbury, Maryland

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Our string of East Coast forecasts continues. This time we visit one of the hometowns of one of my friends, will she continue to experience the unseasonably warm weather they’ve been having there lately?

At 5:54PM EDT, the temperature was 79 degrees under fair skies. A few high clouds were found overhead as a frontal boundary over the Ohio Valley is lifting northward into the Great Lakes. Remember that large high pressure ridge over the eastern US that’s dominated the last few forecasts? Yup, it’ll keep things nice and toasty here too. The high today was 82 degrees, a new record high (old record: 80 in 1985). The next couple of days have an outside shot of cracking it as well, but I wouldn’t bet the house on it. Some fog is expected during the early morning hours Tuesday and burn off not too long after sunrise, but should keep temperatures a couple degrees higher for lows tonight. Otherwise a run at a possible record is in store tomorrow (88 in 1929), less so on Wednesday since the record is 89. If you’re wondering, the average high is about 64 degrees.

Tuesday: Some morning fog, few AM clouds, then sunny. High 84, Low 54.
Wednesday: Sunny. High 84, Low 59.

TWC: Tuesday: Partly cloudy. High 82, Low 57.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. High 83, Low 62.

AW: Tuesday: Mostly sunny. High 82, Low 50.
Wednesday: Sunny. High 85, Low 58.

NWS: Tuesday: AM fog, afternoon sun. High 85, Low 51.
Wednesday: Sunny. High 85, Low 58.

WB: Tuesday: Sunny. High 83, Low 51.
Wednesday: Sunny. High 84, Low 58.

Some clouds off to the west will lift north into the Northeast for tomorrow. Meanwhile, all that nothingness over the Southeast will move over the Mid-Atlantic tomorrow.

Verification

High Pressure Continues

The large scale ridge over the Eastern US continued it’s stranglehold over the region, forcing the upper-level trough into Canada. As Ryan had mentioned, clouds were on the increase, but no precip was able to come close to Altoona over the last couple of days. TWC came out on top thanks to their slightly cooler temperatures.

Saturday: High 75, Low 51.
Sunday: High 70, Low 51.

Forecast Grade: A

Verification

Tobacco Road Success

Ryan’s forecast for Greensboro had low temperatures a good few degrees warmer than most everybody else. Turns out, that’s what propelled him to a victory for his weekend forecast! Can Duke duplicate this success in tomorrow’s title game vs. Butler? If he could forecast that as accurately as his Greensboro temperatures, Ryan would be vacationing in Vegas right now instead of the West Coast.

Friday: High 87, Low 51.
Saturday: High 80, Low 56.

Forecast Grade: B

Forecast

Rome, Georgia

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Ryan is off gallivanting around Southern California, earthquakes and all, so naturally, we get to forecast for somewhere completely on the opposite side of the country.

At 9:53PM EDT, the temperature was 66 degrees at Rome, GA under fair skies. Much like the last forecast I did, I would explain the intricacies of the weather pattern, chances of precip, harrowing weather conditions that are imminent, and so on. Sadly, much like my last forecast, this forecast is lacking any of that. While there is a frontal boundary found from the Ohio Valley down into the Southern Plains, this boundary will break up as it approaches the Appalachians. High pressure currently parked from the Carolinas into the eastern Gulf of Mexico is dominating the region, and doesn’t show any signs of letting up over the next couple of days. Not until a rather vigorous cold front moves into the region on Thursday morning will Rome see a chance of showers and thunderstorms. In the meantime, warm temperatures and sunny skies will greet the start of the workweek.

Monday: Sunny, a few clouds. High 86, Low 56.
Tuesday: Continued sunny. High 87, Low 53.

NWS: Monday: Sunny. High 85. Low 55.
Tuesday: Sunny. High 85, Low 57.

AW: Monday: Mostly sunny and warm. High 86, Low 54.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. High 88, Low 52.

WB: Monday: Sunny. High 86, Low 55.
Tuesday: Continued sunny. High 85, Low 54.

TWC: Monday: Sunny. High 87, Low 55.
Tuesday: Sunny. High 87, Low 55.

As mentioned before, not much to see over the Southeast today. Maybe those storms on Thursday will make things more interesting!

Forecast

Gainesville, Florida

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From coast to coast my forecasts take me this week. Strangely enough, the weather is just as monotonous.

At 1:53pm EDT, the temperature in Gainesville is 76 degrees under fair skies. Normally we have a in-depth writeup about what weather features are affecting the area, if they are going to bring in precip, or huge differences in predictions between our competitors. Today, there’s none of that. A large dome of high pressure has parked itself over the Southeast US and will spread over the East Coast over the next couple of days, pushing that pesky area of low pressure over New England out to sea finally. What does this mean for Gainesville and it’s hoardes of sun-loving college students? Sunny skies and warm temperatures. Bust out the sunscreen!

Thursday: Sunny. High 83, Low 46.
Friday: Continued sunny. High 83, Low 49.

TWC: Thursday: Sunny. High 84, Low 47.
Friday: Mostly sunny. High 83, Low 51.

AW: Thursday: Sunny and nice. High 82, Low 44.
Friday: Sunny and pleasant. High 82, Low 51.

NWS: Thursday: Clear. High 82, Low 44.
Friday: Continued clear. High 82, Low 48.

WB: Thursday: Sunny. High 82, Low 44.
Friday: Sunny. High 83, Low 48.

As you can see, not much going on out there. Enjoy!

Road Trip

Denver, Colorado to Gainesville, Florida

From the foothills of the Rockies to one of the biggest party schools in the nation, our drive is going to cover 1737 miles. Better hit the road!

DAY ONE

A rather vigorous upper-level trough is digging into the Western US, with an area of low pressure intensifying over the Central Plains. This area of low pressure won’t move very much throughout the day, but strong low-level flow out ahead of it is going to make for some VERY windy conditions for nearly the entire route between Denver and Kansas City. A couple of light rain showers are possible in the Denver area during the morning hours as we head our way eastwards into Nebraska, but for the most part the trip today should be dry as the cold front makes its way out of the Four Corners and into the High Plains from Kansas to western Texas.

DAY TWO

The cold front will continue to move through the Central Plains during the overnight into Friday morning, drawing closer to KC. However, most of the precip will remain right along the front, so showers should be of worry as we push eastward through Missouri during the morning hours towards St. Louis. However, winds will continue to be gusty out ahead of the front so keeping the car on the road will require a little bit of attention. By then end of Friday, the cold front will have made its way into Missouri, but winds will be lighter over central TN, where we’re parking in Nashville for the night.

DAY THREE

Once again, it’s a race against the cold front. By morning, rain and thunderstorms will have made their way to Memphis, with a chance of a few spotty showers pushing as far east as Nashville.  Things should dry out as we head southeastward through Atlanta, as high pressure over the East Coast will put the kibosh on any significant amount of showers pushing too far ahead of the front. Winds will be a lot calmer today as well as we push towards FL, due to the high pressure. Mostly clear skies should greet us in Gainesville as we arrive in the late evening. Saturday night in a big college town, surely there will be a couple of parties to relax after a long trip!

Forecast

Elizabethtown, Kentucky

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Sorry, there will be no in-depth analysis featuring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst here. However, the weather for the next couple of days will be just as beautiful as fans of those stars think they are!

At 12:56pm EDT, the temperature at Elizabethtown, KY was 45 degrees under overcast skies. A large storm system is pummeling the East Coast from NC northward through New England, dropping copious amounts of rain. The main low is found just offshore of the Carolinas, with a bit of a low pressure trough extending northwestward into the Southern Appalachians. This is keeping some cloudy skies over the eastern half of Kentucky, but will burn off during the afternoon as the main cloud deck also pulls off towards the east. As the low shifts up the East Coast, a ridge of high pressure will build over the Ohio Valley, clearing out the skies and bringing warm weather surging back into the region on Wednesday, with winds a bit higher as well in the afternoon. This ridge will expand over the Eastern U.S., keeping Elizabethtown dry not only over the next couple days, but through much of the rest of the week as well.

VW: Tuesday: Mostly sunny. High 65, Low 38.
Wednesday: Clear and warmer. High 75, Low 45.

TWC: Tuesday: Sunny. High 64, Low 36.
Wednesday: Sunny and warmer. High 74, Low 42.

AW: Tuesday: Partly cloudy, becoming sunny. High 64, Low 36.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny and warmer. High 78, Low 44.

NWS: Tuesday: Sunny. High 64, Low 36.
Wednesday: Continued sunny. High 77, Low 44.

WB: Tuesday: Sunny. High 64, Low 37.
Wednesday: Sunny. High 77, Low 47.

While it’s overcast now, it should become sunny later today, which will stick around for the next few days. Except, of course, at night. Otherwise that’d just be weird.

Verification

A 23-hour day?

Our competition all had a chance of showers or thunderstorms late Sunday night for Naples, we figured that they would hold off to the east. If our days lasted 23 hours, we would have stormed (no pun intended) to victory! Sadly, a rogue thunderstorm decided to move into the area after 11pm on Sunday, dropping a quick 4/10ths of an inch before midnight. Curses! AW wound up taking the top spot, with no added embellishment from Joe Bastardi.

Saturday: High 81, Low 55
Sunday: 0.42″ of rain in a thunderstorm. High 81, Low 66

Forecast grade: B