The Weather Blog

Kansas City, Missouri

Ryan — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:24:08 +0000

Right in the heart of the country for today's forecast. Perhaps I will get free barbecue out of this forecast?

At 506PM, CT, Kansas City was reporting light rain and a temperature of 35 degrees. An area of low pressure centered near St. Louis was wrapping moisture back into the region, along with cooler air. Snow was being seen near the Nebraska line, while temperatures just east of town were about 5 degrees warmer. The moisture will likely increase in coverage and intensity tonight, bringing a quick shot of wet snow before midnight.
A weak area of low pressure will build in behind the snow system over the next couple of days. There doesn't appear to be much intensity associated with this ridge, so it is possible that some moisture gets trapped over Kansas City, leading to some morning fog each of the next two days, but KC should enjoy sunny skies in the afternoons.
Tomorrow - Morning fog High 43, Low 28
Monday - Mostly sunny and warmer, High 48, Low 27

TWC: Tomorrow - Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon (Early AM snow) High 49, Low 34
Monday - Sunny skies. High 52, Low 28

AW: Tomorrow - Mostly sunny High 44, Low 31
Monday - Sunshine and patchy clouds (early AM Rain) High 49, Low 27

NWS: Tomorrow - (Early AM snow) Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny High 44, Low 30
Monday - Sunny High 45, Low 27

WB: Tomorrow - (Early AM snow) Partly sunny in the morning then clearing.High 45, Low 31
Monday - Sunny, High 45, Low 26

Of course, the Kansas City radar was down when I started this forecast, so that's pretty cool. Satellite gives you a decent indication of where the precipitation is, however.

Live and on the scene

Ryan — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:24:14 +0000

I talked to my parents who are in Fort Myers on Thursday, and my dad remarked that it was cloudy and looked like rain. Remembering my forecast for St. Petersburg, I had a brief moment of agita, because I suspected that rain would stay north of St. Petersburg, and if it looked like rain in Fort Myers, I was in trouble. As it turned out, it was just clouds in Fort Myers. There was nothing on radar. It wasa two days of dry weather in St. Pete as well, and V-W ended up with the top forecast near Tampa Bay.
Actuals: Thursday - High 80, Low 57
Friday - High 75, Low 66

Grade: C

The Week Ahead 2/5/12-2/11/12

Ryan — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:03:04 +0000

We are spending a lot of time in the northern, central part of the country this week, part of the world not many people can ever claim to be frequenters of.

Sunday - Albany Georgia
Wednesday - Great Falls, Montana
Thursday - Bismarck, North Dakota

State College, Pennsylvania to Des Moines, Iowa

Ryan — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:19:56 +0000

Hey, another back to back day with the road trips, and we are headed west, young man. Should be an interesting 2 days, covering 884 miles with some inclement weather a certain possibility. This will break down to a speed of 62.7mph, and the first day in the car will cover 501.9 miles. Lets get rolling.

DAY ONE

Let's get this out of the way... a good half of the trip is going to be nasty. We will be in good shape from State College to about Cleveland, but after that, we will encounter a warm front testing the boundary between freezing and not. This is generally a very bad situation, and I don't suspect tomorrow's drive will be any different. We will be under the threat for freezing rain from about Cleveland to LaPorte, Indiana. Of course, with a system set up like this, it's hard to pinpoint exactly how everything will turn out, and there is a chance that there will be regular old rain, some snow or even some sleet (probably the best chance). In any case, it will likely be the worst kind of driving until w eget to Laporte, the destination for Day 1.

DAY TWO
If there is any fortunate note to this trip it's that Sunday will be a much easier day to navigate through Chicago. The weather will have cleared out, and while temperatures will be below freezing, there won't be any precipitation. In fact, as we approach Des Moines, we will likely see temperatures back in the mid 30s. It will be quite the relief after the mess that Saturday will be.

St. Petersburg, Florida to State College, Pennsylvania

Anthony — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:38:39 +0000

Today we take a jaunt up the Eastern Seaboard, a 1,115-mile trek from St. Petersburg, FL to State College, PA. State College has been in the news a lot lately, not exactly for flattering reasons either. Perhaps the weather when we complete our trip will give the folks there a reason to enjoy the weekend! Let us depart!

DAY ONE

We head out of the Tampa/St. Petersburg area in the morning, with some high clouds greeting us on I-75. High pressure is pretty much in control of the entire East Coast, so other than some patchy dense fog over northern FL that'll burn off before we mosey on through, it should be a pretty pleasant day overall! High clouds will linger over the trip through Eastern Georgia, then up through SC as we settle into Charlotte for the night.

DAY TWO

Well, that high pressure ridge is breaking down, leading to more clouds found over the Western Carolinas this morning. The massive snowstorm that's hitting Colorado/Nebraska will extend it's tendrils eastward, causing us a few issues perhaps as we exit Charlotte. Most of our trip will negotiate the foothills of the Appalachians, so we'll be protected somewhat by the rain shadow effect of the mountains, but not by much. Some light showers are possible during the morning as we make our way into Western Virginia, but the frontal system will pretty much stall over NC/VA as we continue northward, so by the time we make our way into Maryland, things should be drying out (albeit cloudy). The rest of our trip into Central PA should be dry and cloudy as the nose of high pressure to the north retains at least some control of the reason. Hooray we made it! Now time to relax and buy some goodies for the big football game!

St. Petersburg, Florida

Ryan — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:55:23 +0000

I don't think there is a more different set of towns with the same name than the St. Petersburgs in Florida and Russia.

At 453 PM, ET, St. Petersburg was reporting a temperature of 75 degrees with clear skies. The Florida Peninsula was seeing sunny skies ahead of a cold front that was roaring through the Southeast. It extended a bit of a tail into the northern Gulf of Mexico, and would be watched by residents of St. Pete.
The trough at the root of this system is at it's deepest amplification right now, which meant there would be little opportunity for the associated moisture and cool air to reach Tampa Bay. The greatest threat will be southerly flow ahead of the boundary drawing in low level moisture and some morning fog. A weak ridge will build in for Thursday night and Friday, which will lead to the fog sticking around in the morning on Friday as well.
Tomorrow - Becoming cloudy, High 78, Low 60
Friday - Morning fog, then mostly cloudy, High 79, Low 65

TWC: Tomorrow - Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 78, Low 63
Friday - Overcast. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 77, Low 65

AW: Tomorrow - Warm with periods of clouds and sunshine High 78, Low 64
Friday - Intervals of clouds and sun High 77, Low 64

NWS: Tomorrow - Partly sunny, High 79, Low 63
Friday - Mostly cloudy High 78, Low 64

WB: Tomorrow - Partly cloudy in the morning then mostly cloudy High 80, Low 65
Friday - Mostly cloudy. High 78, Low 64

Oooh, one dissenter on precip chances in St. Petersburg. This should be interesting. Satellite showes that the activity, for now, is trapped over by the Mississippi Delta.

March in January

Ryan — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:10:15 +0000

January ended on a warm note in Madison. Forecast highs were around 40, but instead climbed to 45 and 50 each of the last two days. The warm air certainly busted a few forecasts and broke some snow lovers' hearts, but there is certainly a large sect of Madisonians that loved the balmy weather. The Weather Channel had the top forecast.
Actuals: Monday, High 45, Low 16
Tuesday, High 50, Low 36

Grade: D

January Forecaster of the Month

Ryan — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:31:14 +0000

Hard to believe we are already in a month into 2012. Here we are, nevertheless, and we have our first winner of the year. It was a tight contest between the 5 outlets, even if the top forecast was many times a disaster in an active month. The month belonged to The Weather Channel, who nabbed the top spot for the month. Congrats!

Where is the cold air?

Ryan — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:12:52 +0000

With another ridge building into the United States and temperatures expected to climb into the mid 40s over the Upper Midwest, and even warmer over Montana and the Dakotas, the question for many is... just where is the cold air?
Not in the Continental US, of course, but it is out there. You just have to be a hemisphere or so over. Eastern Europe has been in the throes of a devastating cold snap. The cold and snow has killed 36 people there, and the crippling cold is being felt from Turkey to Poland.
The cold wraps all the way through Russia and into eastern Asia, where parts of northern Japan are seeing temperatures near 0 Fahrenheit as well. Not quite so far away. Alaska, especially central Alaska, like Fairbanks, has been experiencing it's coldest winter in over 40 years.
We are certainly enjoying a warm winter in the continental US, but the rest of the northern hemisphere hasn't been so lucky.

Madison, Wisconsin

Anthony — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:29:47 +0000

Today we visit the land of fireworks and cheese, Wisconsin! At least the residents of this fine state won't have to be stressed about the Super Bowl this year, with their team not being in it and all. I know, I'm a mean person. Let's see if the forecast is nice at least!

At 853pm CST, the temperature at Madison was 16 degrees under fair skies. A frontal system moving through Minnesota currently is bringing some snow to the Land of 10,000 Lakes and will shift through the Upper Midwest through Monday morning. Nothing terribly big is expected from this system, just some morning light snow for the capital of Wisconsin. The best part is all of the warmer air that will push into the region after it passes! The low temperature for Monday will most likely be right around midnight or shortly thereafter as the warmer air starts to make its presence felt. Skies will clear out some as well by the afternoon and temperatures should be well into the 30s. Clouds do move back in overnight though and into Tuesday, and should keep low temperatures elevated. A bit of a cold front will move through on Tuesday afternoon and evening, and with it could bring some drizzle and/or a light rain shower before the activity moves off to the east. It will be an active couple of days for the people of Madison, but overall it won't be too shabby of a way to finish off the month!

VW: Few light morning show showers possible, then becoming mostly sunny in afternoon. High 38, Low 15.
Tuesday: Patchy afternoon drizzle/light rain shower, cloudy otherwise. High 40, Low 33.

TWC: Monday: Early morning snow shower, then afternoon sun High 41, Low 14.
Tuesday: Cloudy. High 44, Low 33.

AW: Monday: Early morning snow, then warming with clouds breaking up. High 39, Low 16.
Tuesday: Cloudy, late pm rain shower possible. High 44, Low 31.

NWS: Monday: Slight chance of snow/freezing drizzle before 9am, then becoming mostly sunny. High 38, Low 14.
Tuesday: Slight chance of drizzle. High 44, Low 32.

WB: Monday: Chance of light snow early in the morning. High 38, Low 13.
Tuesday: Patchy areas of drizzle. High 44, Low 32.

Here we see the system trekking through the central portion of the country, and will eventually bring our unsettled weather for the start of the work week.