11:58PM Well, it was no Halloween Blizzard, as it was in 1991, but there was snow in Minnesota today. The bullseye was the northwestern side of the Twin Cities metro, where a couple of inches fell. This is anecdotal, I was coming from North Dakota and got to enjoy a wintry blast on the way back home.
Updates 10/30
2:36PM There is an enhanced risk for severe weather in the center of the country today, which reflects a slow but substantial move towards more seasonal weather. It was 80 yesterday in Minneapolis, and in the low 40s in Bismarck, for example. It’s slow, but the dynamic is there. When I get around to posting forecasts, they promise to be a little bit more interesting.
Updates 10/29
9:56PM: Are you sick of politics, but still enjoy binary choices of red and blue? Well does the CPC have you covered! High pressure has been running things in the eastern half of the country, but a deep digging trough is moving in out west. That means the temperature outlook is bifurcated.
Unfortunately, just like America, this divide will lead to conflict. Expect storms in the Plains tomorrow, and probably through the week.
It was rain
The forecast in the middle of October for Binghamton was our first forecast for the season where anyone mentioned snow. It turned out, there were no flakes in Binghamton, but the temperature forecasts were nevertheless quite good. WeatherNation had the top forecast, but nobody should be embarrassed by their output.
October 16th – .05 inches of rain, High 46, Low 36
October 17th – High 55, Low 36
Grade: A-B
Updates 10/26
10:45PM – It’s an embarrassment of riches in the Twin Cities. Not only was there rain on Thursday, but next week, there is a really good shot at more rain on Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s an abrupt and welcome end to the dry spell.
Autumn long dry spell
A lot of the attention for the last month has rightfully been on the southeast where two major hurricanes, Helene and Milton devastated areas from western Virginia to south Florida. Surge and wind were major problems, as always, but this hurricane season is going to be forever remembered for all the rain that fell, and the flooding that ensued.
It seems like I am talking about a different planet, then, when I reference the lack of rain in the middle of the country. But indeed, it is the middle of the same country that has not seen rain for weeks. Minneapolis is working on a top three dry spell, measured by the length of time since their last recorded rainfall. Southern Minnesota and all of South Dakota haven’t seen a drop of rain in a month.
There hasn’t been much rain anywhere in the Plains, which is particularly jarring because this area is adjacent to the part of the country that saw so much. Fortunately, a lot of this area was well hydrated earlier this year, and drought hasn’t yet seized the area in a particularly consequential way.
We are getting deeper into autumn, and by the middle of next week, it will start snowing across the northern tier, including the dry part of the northern Plains. It can’t come soon enough.
Coming Soon…
I’ve been traveling this month, in case you couldn’t tell! Less travel until Thanksgiving, I suspect, so let’s spend some time forecasting.
Athens, Georgia
Racine, Wisconsin
Phoenix, Arizona
Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Road Trip, Rocky Mount – Tulsa Oklahoma
Davenport, Iowa
Portland, Oregon
We are headed out west for the forecast. British Columbia was on the receiving end of the “atmospheric river” this week. How does that translate a little further south, to Portland?
At 1104AM, PT, Portland was reporting a temperature of 48 degrees with overcast skies. There were lingering low clouds along the Cascades, but clearing at low levels with some insolation. The jet stream was visible on satellite, given some mid layered clouds over Oregon. An upper level trough is off kilter, directed east to west off shore from Oregon. As it comes to alignment with a more zonal flow pattern, cold air will move into western Oregon, and there are freeze warnings in parts of the region.
As the trough pivots on land, it is expected to excrete some of it’s moisture over the center of the state, which may include a bit of rain in Portland on Wednesday evening, though most of the activity will be further south, and further inland. Behind this boundary, moist onshore flow will continue from the Pacific, which will lead to a cloudy and fairly dreary Thursday morning, with some breaks in the afternoon.
Tomorrow – Mostly cloudy, with a chance of rain in the evening, High 57, Low 43
Thursday – Cloudy early, clearing late. High 59, Low 41
TWC: Tomorrow – Partly cloudy skies, High 58, Low 41
Thursday – Partly cloudy. High 60, Low 41
AW: Tomorrow – Times of clouds and sun High 58, Low 42
Thursday – Mostly cloudy High 59, Low 42
NWS: Tomorrow – Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, High 57, Low 42
Thursday – Mostly sunny, High 57, Low 40
WB: Tomorrow – Mostly cloudy in the morning then mostly sunny with a slight chance of rain showers in the afternoon, High 54, Low 43
Thursday – Mostly sunny, High 55, Low 42
WN: Tomorrow – Partly cloudy with light rain showers, High 54, Low 43
Thursday – Partly cloudy, High 54, Low 42
CLI: Tomorrow – Light Rain showers, High 59, Low 43
Thursday – Partly cloudy, High 60, Low 43
Not everyone is on board with rain, which makes sense. I think the threat is low, but given the lead time is still over 24 hours, I’m not ready to pull it out of the forecast yet. You can certainly follow the course of the jet stream on the satellite imagery.
It shouldn’t be this hard
Springfield, when we visited at the beginning of the month, was in the midst of a spate of high pressure that kept things pretty dry, and pretty stable. Victoria-Weather followed along with the model guidance, which is pretty reliable when compiling temperature forecasts in a static airmass. We ended up with the top forecast, but really, it should have been much closer. Instead, multiple outlets were 10+ degrees behind us in their score. This was such a straightforward forecast, I thought, so I can’t even tell you what went awry!
Actuals: October 7th, High 70, Low 41
October 8th, High 74, Low 38
Grade: A-F
Binghamton, New York
Binghamton is home to one of the smallest WFO’s in the country in south central New York. One would therefor assume that the NWS, without as much ground to cover, to be able to nail this forecast. The challenge has been cast, National Weather Service.
At 107PM, ET, Binghamton was reporting a temperature of 42 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. There was a smattering of herringbone patterned rain showers falling across central New York and south through the Pennsylvania. This is on the back side of an area of low pressure moving through New England into the Maritimes, and riding the back of some seasonably chilly air. The inverted trough creating the precipitation, really the first of the season, will linger until it is smothered out by a broad ridge of high pressure. This will take until Wednesday morning.
The upper level trough that is aiding the persistence of this instability is going to sink into the Gulf Stream and become cut off, developing an independent feature offshore. This will cut off the wrap around moisture in Binghamton, and set the stage for high pressure, which will move into the mid-Atlantic for the remainder of Wednesday, lasting through Thursday.
Tomorrow – Cloudy with a chance for drizzle early, then clearing, High 45, Low 36
Thursday – Sunny, High 52, Low 34
TWC: Tomorrow – Cloudy skies, with a shower of rain or wet snow, High 49, Low 37
Thursday – Sun and few passing clouds, High 56, Low 34
AW: Tomorrow – A couple of morning showers; otherwise, mostly cloudy, breezy and chilly High 44, Low 35
Thursday – Sunny to partly cloudy and warmer High 54, Low 35
NWS: Tomorrow – A chance of showers, mainly before noon. Mostly cloudy, High 48, Low 36
Thursday – Areas of frost before 10am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, High 56, Low 33
WB: Tomorrow – Partly sunny with a chance of rain and snow in the morning, then mostly cloudy with a slight chance of rain showers in the afternoon, High 48, Low 37
Thursday – Mostly sunny. Widespread Frost, High 52, Low 34
WN: Tomorrow – Mostly cloudy with scattered showers, High 48, Low 36
Thursday – Partly cloudy with areas of frost, High 55, Low 34
CLI: Tomorrow – Light rain showers, High 44, Low 34
Thursday – Sunny, High 52, Low 33
Many outlets say the first snow flakes of the year may end up in Binghamton! This could be an interesting verification!
