Updates 6/10

9:21PM – June is typically when things start to settle down for the severe season, with generalized convection in the south, and rogue strong storms in the north and east, but the cold pool that has been sitting in the Great Lakes meant severe weather, intense at time, lingered in the southern Plains even in Texas last night. Now? Nothing rises higher than a Marginal Risk over the next several days. Summer!

10:57PM – The Goodland NWS office has this idea summarized in their weather story.

Updates 6/9

2:58PM – As a result of going away from the county based warning system to a “polygon” system, but also still using counties to some degree, we have had these weird nested warnings on our radar displays now for a some time. No, Georgia, you aren’t in a double warning because the storms are so bad, you are in a double warning because geospatial mapping isn’t as easy as anyone thinks it should be.

10:44PM: It is quarter to 11 on June 9th, and there is finally no rain in the Twin Cities area. Does this mean warmer temperatures? And will the departure of the persistent north wind, does that means less smoke? Probably! I hope!

Updates 5/27

10:15pm – The big slow moving blob of low pressure in the Great Lakes is, as noted, producing severe weather persistently in the southern US is also producing some cool weather in the Upper Midwest, and frequent spats of showers with occasional thunderstorms. This is more typical of April than late May. Things should be turning over in the next couple of weeks, however.

Updates 5/4

12:13AM I was talking about the Omega block all the way back yesterday, and I think now is a good time to call out that radar coverage is not as good AND moisture is not as prevalent out west as it is out east. Despite the way it looks, the system in the east isn’t orders of magnitude stronger than the one out west.

5:31PM – One of the things about Omega Blocks is the persistence of the weather. IF you look at forecasts in the mid-Atlantic, you will find forecasts with rain almost all of the 10 days because things are so stuck.

8:22PM – The busy activity notwithstanding, our block is preventing much dynamic change in the atmosphere, which means cold air isn’t slamming into where it’s warm, dry air isn’t scouring the moisture. We were recently discussing the long range forecast being busier than normal, but now, moving into May when the Plains are often on high alert, there is nothing to speak of. Expect some discussion of drought or fire danger though, in the very near future.

Updates 5/3

10:37PM We are in the midst of an Omega block in the US which prevents things from moving a whole lot, makes it warm in the middle of the block and cold and wet on the two flanks. This means a miserable beginning to the week is coming for the East Coast and some May snow is on the way in the Rockies. I don’t want it to be true, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be.

Updates 4/22

7:59PM If you are in the La Crosse Wisconsin area, be sure to sign up for spotter training for next week. It’s severe weather season, and if it interests you, this is a great way to help out the community. Of course, every office has spotters, so look at your local office for details if La Crosse isn’t it.

8:48PM This is the kind of night one likes to see if you like tracking radar but don’t want destruction. Dry line thunderstorms are ongoing, severe at times from west Texas to western Kansas. Maybe some hail or gusty winds, but otherwise it’s Tuesday.

Updates 4/21

9:22PM While river flooding remains an issue along the Mississippi, it’s really gone down along the Ohio. Now, the cause is recent rains in Missouri, where some smaller creeks and tributaries are running high. With a few quiet days, the threat for any flooding should continue to wane.

Updates 4/20

953PM Another that is fairly summer like with the system sweeping the center of the country tonight: This is the last gasp. It won’t carry much energy tomorrow, because the parent system isn’t particularly well organized. This will leave plenty of atmospheric juice for things to percolate again later in the week in the southern Plains.