DAD GUM GOOD...
- 19 minutes ago
- 3 min read
There's nothing much better than a March day with a high in the 70s and we've got two of those on the menu Friday and Saturday. Thursday won't be bad either, but there is a small issue to over come in parts of my area before the really good stuff checks in. That is snow cover from Sunday night's mini blizzard. Snow cover is reflective of the suns energy, so instead of the solar rays being absorbed by the ground, they are largely bounced back into the atmosphere. That can take as much as 10 degrees off highs with a good snow pack. Our system produced a lot of drifting so while there are 2 foot drifts in spots, the ground is already bare in open spaces where little accumulated, swept clean by the 50-mile per hour winds. With the sun out Wednesday, the visible satellite depicts snow cover in locations where it's white. It's really deep in southern Minnesota and central Wisconsin where 18 to 24 inches remain on the ground.
So, take a look at the highs for Thursday and tell me where the snow cover is by the projected temperatures.
Just north of I-80 there is still enough snow to produce a 32 degree spread in highs from Freeport to Keokuk. Still, a fine day in the north, but significantly colder than in the south thanks to that nice reflective snow cover.
Friday, any remaining snow melts away early where it exists and everybody joins the warm-up party with the EURO showing readings near 70 north to the mid 70s south.
Saturday will be the banner day as highs of 75 to 81 are shown from north to south. It will be a bit breezy but that's the price you pay for highs like that. Well worth it.
All this warmth through Saturday is going to come with mostly sunny skies and no precipitation. By early Sunday, a fast moving front will zip through the area with a chance of some brief light showers. Amounts are shown ranging from a trace to .05". That's hardly enough to wet the pavement. No big deal but the brisk winds that develop Sunday will come off the snow fields of Minnesota and Wisconsin. That produces noticeably cooler temperatures in the low to mid 50s, that's excluding the far south where highs may still clip 60 before the colder air arrives.
After the short step back, you can see the long range ensemble meteograms of both the EURO and GFS, gradually show temperatures trending down some going into April. That said, the EURO shows only 1 day with highs in the 40s after Thursday while the GFS has none. It's not beach weather but it won't produce any snow. Nothing to complain about.
The EURO
The GFS
It does look like we are reverting back to our dry pattern the remainder of the month. From now to April 1st, the GFS shows precipitation of 1/10th of an inch or less.
These are the departures over that period. Some are greater than 1 inch in parts of the region. I don't like that considering the fact much of the region is in moderate drought.
That's all I've got for you tonight. I've been fighting an illness this week that has really knocked me. My doctor, Kyle "the weatherman" Tevebaugh, (that's what they actually call him!), thinks I have Bacterial sinusitis (acute bacterial rhinosinusitis) it's a bacterial infection of the nasal sinuses often triggered by a preceding viral cold, lasting 10+ days or worsening after 5 days ("double sickening"). Key symptoms include congestion, facial pain/pressure, headaches and fever with hot and cold flashes. I feel like I've been beat with a bat. I slept 19 hours yesterday going from shivering to sweating. Honestly, it's weird, uncomfortable, and I would not wish it on anybody. Treatment In my case is amoxicillin which I have already dived into.
That said, I am headed back to bed where Emma Rose the cat and house queen can console me with her purrs and snoring. She's a 23 pound Maine Coon who can really crank it out. She never misses a meal either. We are tight as a tick. Roll weather...TS
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