Manchester, New Hampshire

Ryan Henning 1 Comment

Manchester in the US is in New Hampshire. In England, Hampshire is nowhere near Manchester (which is its own county, between Lancashire and Cheshire). There is a Portsmouth in both New and original Hampshire, but we’re here to talk about Manchester.

At 253PM, ET, Manchester was reporting a temperature of 82 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. Low pressure over the Atlantic, south of Greenland was parenting an inverted trough over northern Quebec that ran to central Ontario. Between the two disturbances was a rife spot for some midlevel instability, and some spotty clouds. Disturbed weather to the south is more impressive on satellite, but is not going to pose a wet threat for Manchester.
The remnant wave in pursuit of the Greenland low will pivot into New England through the day on Friday. The parent remnant trough will actually start to redevelop, and with it, so too will the local jet. By this point, moisture associated with the feature will be spent in the White Mountains, and instead, a crisp change to the air mass will take hold overnight Friday into Saturday, making for a pleasant summer weekend.
Tomorrow – Partly to mostly cloudy, High 87, Low 64
Saturday – Clearing and pleasant, High 82, Low 62

TWC: Tomorrow – Partly cloudy skies. High 86, Low 63
Saturday – Sunshine and clouds mixed High 81, Low 64

AW: Tomorrow – Clouds and sun High 87, Low 65
Saturday – Mostly sunny; a beautiful start to the weekend High 80, Low 63

NWS: Tomorrow – Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, High 86, Low 62
Saturday – Sunny, High 79, Low 61

WB: Tomorrow – Partly sunny, High 86, Low 65
Saturday – Mostly sunny, High 79, Low 65

WN: Tomorrow – Mostly sunny, High 86, Low 61
Saturday – Mostly sunny, High 79, Low 61

FIO: Tomorrow – Mostly cloudy throughout the day. High 86, Low 64
Saturday – Partly cloudy throughout the day. High 81, Low 62

That looks like some nice weather on it’s way! I’m surprised the forecast wasn’t a bit warmer tomorrow for a lot of outlets, but I wasn’t going to go any higher, so maybe I shouldn’t be that surprised!

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Ryan Henning 1 Comment

I enjoy a good trip to the Cheese State every now and then. It’s right next door to Victoria-Weather in Minnesota, but it seems so completely alien…

At 103PM, CT, Milwaukee was reporting mostly cloudy skies with a temperature of 70 degrees. Cloudy skies were widespread across the Great Lakes, as an area of low pressure was slogging through the Canadian Maritimes. While a weak jet ridge was emerging over western Ontario, which was helping build high pressure in the northern Great Lakes, a connector front between the low in New Brunswick and a lee trough kept a chance for precipitation south of Milwaukee.
High pressure is going to remain in place, but fairly weak through the end of the work week. Generally westerly flow will mean generally stable conditions, though with some passing clouds. Guidance is in agreement about a wave moving into the region overnight Thursday into Friday, bringing some showers to end the workweek. The rain won’t last all day, and there will be some clearing by nightfall.
Tomorrow – Partly cloudy, increasing clouds late with a chance of a storm, High 78, Low 64
Friday – Rain, especially early, with clouds and cooler conditions, High 76, Low 65

TWC: Tomorrow – Partly cloudy skies during the morning hours will become overcast in the afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 78, Low 64
Friday – Rain showers early with mostly cloudy conditions later in the day. High 71, Low 66

AW: Tomorrow – Humid and warmer with times of clouds and sun; a thunderstorm in spots in the afternoon High 79, Low 60
Friday – Times of clouds and sun High 76, Low 64

NWS: Tomorrow – A slight chance of showers between 10am and 1pm, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly cloudy High 76, Low 63
Friday – A 30 percent chance of showers before 1pm. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, High 75, Low 66

WB: Tomorrow – Mostly cloudy. Chance of light showers and slight chance of a thunderstorms in the late morning and afternoon. High 78, Low 62
Friday – Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of light showers. High 71, Low 66

WN: Tomorrow – Mostly cloudy, High 74, Low 63
Friday – Partly cloudy with scattered showers, High 73, Low 66

FIO: Tomorrow – Mostly cloudy throughout the day. High 78, Low 64
Friday – Possible light rain in the morning. High 72, Low 66

On the whole, I am confused by the group of forecasts! I am far more aggressive with the rain forecasts on Friday than anyone, but everyone is all over the map. The same neighborhood, I guess, but timing is very different all over. Maybe all these clouds have something to do with the confusion.

How the turntables

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Earlier, we posted a verification for Dubuque, in which thunderstorms showed up and surprised some of us. Well, this time around, a handful of outlets called for rain in Roanoke, and it never happened. The lingering moisture prevented low temperatures from cooling off too much, but otherwise, the lack of clouds or rain meant high temperatures were near 90. The warmer forecasts held the day, and Victoria-Weather and The Weather Channel had the exact same forecast, which was the winner today.
Actuals: Friday, High 88, Low 69
Saturday – High 89, Low 67

Grade: A-B

Not quite a drought, but it is dry

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There has been no shortage of severe weather this season, but it hasn’t been accompanied by broad swaths of rain. Even after a wet spring, the Heartland is starting to get browner. The below normal spots are fairly piecemeal, which is a good indicator that isolated thunderstorms have roamed the country.

Below, see a comparison of the drought monitor from this week versus last week, and you can see just where the increasingly crispy lawns are located.

La Niña years tend to be drier years for a lot of the country, so there isn’t a lot to read into on this in terms of long term ramifications, but for the short term, it will may lead to a difficult growing season for some crops. Corn, famously, likes dry, hoy summers, and after the soggy spring, it’s coming around robustly in some parts of the Midwest.

There has been quite a lot of rain in the west of late, but as you can see, there was barely a dent in the drought. “dry” is different than “drought”. Dry can be turned around in short order with a couple of good rains. Drought is a lot stickier. It needs some above average rainy months or seasons in order to start making a dent. In fact, one really good rain storm might be counter productive, with run off and flash flooding becoming a problem on hard ground that is not capable of taking on the rain water.

It looks like the southwest will have a wet season, so that long term moisture will be good for recovery. Also note that there has been some retreat of the drought in northwest. It’s not necessarily a great outlook, but it’s a little better than it has been for a while. The drought in the west may lighten a bit, and by the end of July, Mississippi Valley lawns will be green again.

Severely underestimated

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We have taken a bit of a hiatus this past week thanks to illness sweeping through the family, but we are back! Speaking of unwanted things sweeping through an area, let’s talk about Dubuque last week. Monday and Tuesday were hot days, and correctly forecast as such, but then, an interesting thing happened on Tuesday. Some outlets had thunderstorms on Tuesday, and some did not. The storms indeed showed up, but those stormy forecasters thought they would be fueled by hotter temperatures, which was not the case. Generally speaking, the best temperature forecasts belonged to those that kept Dubuque dry, but Weatherbug surpassed other outlets by having the best temperature forecast of outlets that forecast rain. It’s fitting that Weatherbug will claim victory, as the storms they successfully forecast for actually produced some severe weather in Eastern Iowa, and 55mph wind gusts in Dubuque.
Actuals: Monday, June 20 – High 91, Low 61
Tuesday – .1 inches of rain in thunderstorms, High 95, Low 70

Grade: B-C

Roanoke, Virginia

Ryan Henning 1 Comment

There is a well populated corridor on the Atlantic slope of the Appalachians, stretching from Virginia to the Carolinas. In Virginia, the largest of those towns is Roanoke, where we will forecast today.

At 1254PM, ET, Roanoke was reporting a temperature of 85 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. A trough was weakening, but still lingered over the east coast. An area of surface low pressure which had been responsible for copious rain in the region through the middle of the week was now off shore, being drawn northward towards the mean flow. Extensive clouds with some isolated showers were being seen in southeastern Virginia, but in the west, scattered cumulus were seen, with a ribbed pattern on radar reflecting gravity waves and brisk flow through the clouds.
The clearer air to the west isn’t embodied by a particularly strong air mass, and Roanoke’s position in the lee of the Appalachians opens the possibility of low level moisture leading to morning haze, and the languid retreat of low pressure off shore may indicate some mid level clouds. It won’t be a vividly bright couple of days, but there is definitely enough here to believe that two dry days are ahead.
Tomorrow – Morning haze, then partly cloudy, High 88, Low 67
Saturday – Partly cloudy, High 88, Low 67

TWC: Tomorrow – Partly cloudy, High 88, Low 67
Saturday – Partly cloudy, High 88, Low 67

AW: Tomorrow – Mostly sunny High 86, Low 68
Saturday – Partly sunny and humid with a thunderstorm High 87, Low 68

NWS: Tomorrow – Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, High 87, Low 65
Saturday – A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3pm. Mostly sunny, High 89, Low 67

WB: Tomorrow – Patchy fog in the morning. Mostly sunny, High 85, Low 69
Saturday – Mostly sunny. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon, High 86, Low 69

WN: Tomorrow – Partly cloudy, High 87, low 65
Saturday – Mostly sunny, High 89, low 66

FIO: Tomorrow – Partly cloudy throughout the day. High 88, Low 65
Saturday – Partly cloudy throughout the day. High 88, Low 65

The threat for thunderstorms is so low, I was surprised to see it start showing up in some forecasts. A lot of texture to the clouds ongoing in the area.

Cool and wet in…. the Desert Southwest?

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Everything being relative, of course, there was a rare sight on the CPC page. The Desert Southwest, particularly Arizona and fire ravaged New Mexico are expected to see below normal temperatures and above normal precipitation next week. This qualifies as good news, if it dents the drought and doesn’t fully inundate the region.

A combination of factors will lead to this tandem of potential results. First, the monsoon is expected to get a bit more active this week, producing thunderstorms across the southern Rockies between Arizona and New Mexico. Tropical Storm Celia is spinning off the coast of Mexico. It poses no threat to land, but will generate mid level moisture accessible by the air mass over the Land of Enchantment.

Second, an area of low pressure moving through the Northern US is going to leave a stationary front across the Plains, which is going to connect with the dry line and monsoonal flow in New Mexico and Arizona. Robust shower and thunderstorm activity is anticipated throughout much of the week.

Lightning is a threat to fire prone parts of the landscape, and dust will be a concern. Any heavy rain, especially in the undulating terrain could lead to flash floods. Despite these individual perils, it seems like the rain and the cooler temperatures are good things.

Grand Forks dust up

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One thing that I have come to notice about the strong area of low pressure that shot north through the Plains and into Canada is that the storm activity has been much higher than anticipated. Oh, and the heat also. It’s been warm! It was the storms that were the story in Grand Forks, however. They were not at all anticipated in any of the forecasts from the various outlets, though everyone thought the passing warm front would introduce some clouds on Saturday. The biggest surprise was that after the storms, albeit isolated, a lot of dust was kicked up in Grand Forks. The afternoon saw 2 mile visibilities thanks to the 35-40mph wind associated with the system (remember how I said it’s always windy there?), which prevented temperatures from getting out of the lower 80s, and busting forecasts across the board. It was a grimy, miserable way to spend the first day of Father’s Day weekend. Accuweather had a narrow victory, hitting on almost everything, but missing on the rain and the Saturday high.
Actuals: Friday, High 82, Low 54
Saturday – Storms reported, not measured, High 83, Low 62

Grade: C-D

Saginaw, Michigan to Dubuque, Iowa

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We’re off on… what’s this, a single day road trip? Well, this journey will take the better part of the day, covering 469 miles of pure Midwest. The pace in the end will be 62.3mph, slowed, as you might expect, by the city of Chicago.

Saginaw, Michigan

Man, it is hot in the Upper Midwest, and some of that heat is going to spread eastward. And don’t even get me started on the humidity. Air conditioners will be needed, particularly after we get away from the westerly flow off of Lake Michigan. Chicago westward through Illinois and into Deubuque will be blazing hot. The moisture is currently penned west of the Mississippi and north into Wisconsin, and there isn’t really a great reason to expect it to get unleashed terribly far from where it is right now. It will probably bleed south and east a bit, precariously close to our route, but all that will mean is an even more uncomfortable walk to the rest rooms at pit stops. Dubuque is going to be extremely sweaty tomorrow afternoon.

Dubuque, Iowa