The pattern setting up for Christmas week is looking historic. The strength of the ridge in the jet stream bringing record-warm temperatures for many is anticipated to be at records compared to climatology. Above you can see the 500mb char that looks more like a summertime death ridge than a wintertime pattern. All the bright red area is expected to see record-high 500mb heights, which is directly related to the major warmth at the surface. The next five days are averaging ab

Rip-roaring northwest winds howled Thursday night away. Gusts as high as 61 mph were measured in Cedar Rapids, with numerous spots in the 45 to 50 mph range. By Friday afternoon, the intense pressure gradient had relaxed, and the whole event was nothing more than a wind swept memory. A cold one at that, with temperatures once again well below normal. In keeping with the recent theme of our weather, fast moving disturbances will ripple through the upper level flow, bringing fr

Even when the weather is mild, it can be far from good, and Thursday was a perfect example of that. Most of my southern counties hit 50, and even the north maxed out over 40. However, most areas had rain through morning and then with the arrival of our cold front, the wind turned to the NW and by evening gusts of 45 to 50 mph were common with cold air advection in full force. Temperatures spiraled in the Quad Cities from a high of 50 around 9:00am to a reading of 17 by 8:00pm

Despite the beautiful weather we experienced Wednesday, the Accumulated Winter Storm Severity Index (AWSSI) remains in the extreme category from Iowa and Illinois through the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, and Northeast. Extreme, indicating the persistence of cold and snow in the pattern so far this winter. The (AWSSI) was developed to objectively quantify and describe the relative severity of the winter season on a running basis. Goals of the AWSSI Use max/min temperature, snowfa

The winds at the jet stream level are setting up in a favorable pattern to drive mild Pacific air across the Midwest for much of the next two weeks. In doing so, it enables the development of Chinook winds, named after the Chinook Tribe who first noticed them and the significant impacts they had on temperatures. WHAT IS A CHINOOK WIND? As warm, moist air moves inland along the west coast, it encounters a 10,000 foot wall, known as the Rocky Mountains. Forced to ascend over th