April 9

Today is overcast. No precipitation as of yet, but definitely incoming.

Temperature: 36°F

Dewpoint: 35°F

Humidity: 100%

Wind: 8mph E

Pressure: 1017.2mb

 



You can see there is a continental polar airmass moving down from the north, mixing with the warm air from the south, creating a mass of moisture and precipitation in the midwest. There is some snow over South Dakota, from the cold air mass.

 This map is nice because it shows the temperature distribution, you can clearly see where the polar and tropical airmasses are flowing; as well as where the most severe weather will be, where the blue and orange mix.

Here you can see today's jetstream image, the purple trough shows us where the strength of that polar airmass is situated.

 Here you can see the incredible amount of moisture in the atmosphere over the mid US. Because of this image I would like to predict that we will recieve rain today, as well as mixing with that cold air, a high possibility of snow later in the day.. If this was in the middle of winter I'd say we'd be getting a blizzard today or tomorrow. Hopefully the snow doesnt last long.

Here is an image of the Eau Claire flood hydrograph. A hydrograph shows the height of a body of water, in our image it is showing the height of the Chippewa River which flows through Eau Claire. As you can see, the recent rain and warming of temperatures has increased the level of the river so we are now in "Action" stage. Action stage indicates that some low lying roads and trails may be closed in case of flooding, the city will probably begin sand bagging some areas. The hydrograph allows the city and its residents to visualize the height of the river and prepare for flood action. Pretty neat!