It's Spring!!

Finally, spring is here! April 26th was finally the day we can all been desperately waiting for. The surface map for the day showed a whole lot of nothing for Wisconsin. It's about time we have a break from all the action we have been seeing in the atmosphere!



The effects of the cold front that passed through have finally gone. Today's weather was mild and the skies were mostly clear.

Some scattered clouds were in the sky throughout the day, not really appearing until afternoon. Since the appearance of the cumulus humilis fair weather clouds in the afternoon did not pose any threat. Had they appeared in the morning, we may have been dealing with atmospheric instability. Fortunately, though, we had a picture perfect spring day in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Cumulus humilis clouds dotting the bright blue sky along Highway 29 East at 5:10 pm

Another image of the 5:10 pm sky

Overnight, the scattered clouds disappeared and the winds died down. A few areas of patchy fog appeared this morning, but that burned off as the sun took to the sky.

Yesterday, the temperatures made a huge jump. We finally saw some above average temperatures throughout the day. The high temperature hit a whopping 72 degrees F at 4:05 pm (9 degrees above average). The low was 38 degrees F (1 degree below average) only 45 minutes past midnight.

Today will be an equally nice spring day. Below is the current jet stream map for the nation.

From this jet stream map, it looks like we will finally be seeing the meridional jet flow that is normal for this time of year. Meridional flow will bring fair weather and warmer temperatures as we start receiving tropical winds instead of continental polar chilly bursts.

Currently, the sky is clear and the temperature is 56 degrees F. By this afternoon, we should see another 70 degree F day. The winds in Eau Claire are blowing at 3.1 mph out of the SSW, gusting at 9.2 mph. The barometric pressure is 30.13 in Hg and holding steady. The dew point is 48 degrees F, and the current relative humidity is 76%. The only downfall to the day will be for allergy sufferers. The current pollen rating is 10.5 out of 12. It looks like it is time to stock up on the allergy meds!