Nobody ever notices the low temperatures, and when they start to get warmer. You might look at our forecast for Rockford last week. We knew that Friday and potentially Saturday were going to be sweltering by late-March standards, but our forecast covered Wednesday and Thursday. Believe me when I tell you that the warm up had started on Thursday, though the high temperatures went the other direction. That drop in temperature was due to the overcast and little bit of rain that fell, but the overcast and rain were beckoned by an advancing warm front. The low temperature was in fact 17 degrees warmer on Thursday than Wednesday. Very sneaky. Weatherbug had the top forecast for the day. Actuals: Wednesday – High 57, Low 29 Thursday – .05 inches of rain, High 55, Low 46
It’s getting warmer which means it is getting closer to road trip season. This three day trek might follow the 1,797 mile path of someone returning from spring break. We will average 66.5 miles an hour and 532 miles a day, though we are really going to pack it in — 11 hours — on Saturday.
DAY ONE (Thursday)
Lake Havasu City, Arizona
This drive is one of beauty if you are just there to enjoy the scenery, as the sun will be shining, but as this is a weather blog, it may not offer the excitement we are hoping for. Alas, it is the Desert Southwest, and you get what you pay for. It will be a bit more interesting if you take in the entirety of the region, however. Low pressure in the Gulf of Alaska and a festering system in south Texas will squeeze our route, even bringing some clouds towards Albuquerque as we conclude our first day, though I-40 will stay clear.
DAY TWO (Friday) That sluggish feature in south Texas is going to start wandering east, and remain out of our path, but we would be wise to note what is causing this wander. A strong area of low pressure emerging in the lee of the Rockies will start directing traffic across the Plains, and will bear watching all weekend. Our trip to Oklahoma City will be pretty uneventful, however, which is a nice thing to say when severe weather looms.
DAY THREE (Saturday) It’s not going to organize terribly quickly, our large, troublesome area of low pressure. This means we don’t need to worry about a severe outbreak during our drive, but we will some isolated showers east of Rolla, MO, and more scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms north of Springfield as we get closer to the center of the system. Rockford will probably have rain, if not when we arrive, then soon.
Made some updates on the back end tonight, so I hope there are no interruptions, because I am a meteorologist, and not an HTML guy! We’ll find out together!
At 1054PM, CT, Rockford was reporting a temperature of 33 degrees with mostly fair skies. Temperatures will continue to cool below freezing overnight, given the clear skies, however a batch of precipitation is rotating through eastern Iowa on the far western periphery of the influence of a broad upper level trough. These showers will not impact Rockford tonight, but a few clouds would arrest the overnight cool down, albeit momentarily. Flow tomorrow will be from the northwest. A weak feature in the southern part of Hudson Bay will work up a few more clouds, particularly by tomorrow afternoon, with some light rain possible during the early morning on Thursday. This will be the signal that an unseasonably warm ridge is sliding into the area, and ushering in a warm end of the week. Tomorrow – Increasing clouds. High 57, Low 30 Thursday – Early morning rain, otherwise mostly cloudy, High 59, Low 38
TWC: Tomorrow – Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 57, Low 29 Thursday – Overcast (early rain). High 58, Low 40
AW: Tomorrow – Partly sunny; a warmup is on the way High 56, Low 29 Thursday – Cloudy with a bit of rain; breezy in the afternoon High 54, Low 39
NWS: Tomorrow – Mostly sunny, (Early rain) High 55, Low 31 Thursday – A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly before 1pm. High 55, Low 40
WB: Tomorrow – Partly cloudy High 56, Low 32 Thursday – Mostly cloudy. A chance of showers mainly in the morning High 55, Low 43
WN: Tomorrow – Partly cloudy with a light wintry mix, High 55, Low 31 Thursday – Mostly cloudy with scattered showers, High 55, Low 41
CLI: Tomorrow – Light rain showers High 56, Low 31 Thursday – Overcast High 58, Low 38
When I say a warm start to the weekend, I’m talking “close to 80” warm, which is very nice in March. It won’t last, of course, as it never does. A lot of forecasts for rain on Wednesday, despite a pretty unblemished satellite.
