Sunday, March 13, 2011

The Last Week of Winter Sure Looks Like Spring

A massive high pressure ridge extends form Quebec southwest across Wisconsin and Iowa into the Texas panhandle.  A low pressure storm system is moving eastward out of Oklahoma into Arkansas tonight.  Rainfall is associated with this system from southeastern Kansas across southern and central Missouri into southern Illinois.  There is some snow in the northwestern quadrant of this storm over north central Kansas into southeastern Nebraska.    This system will not produce any precipitation for the Stateline.  Rain will gradually edge northward and northeastward as the low lifts across western Kentucky into southeastern Indiana by 7 am on Tuesday.  Kankakee is about as close as the rain will get to the Stateline with the ridge of high pressure dominating our region though early Tuesday.  The atmosphere will gradually warm this week with temperatures reaching close to 50 degrees on Tuesday, 56 degrees on Wednesday, and 59 degrees on Thursday (St. Patricks Day) with a warm front passing north through the area.  So, some gulf moisture will be in place on Thursday as a Pacific cool front apporaches from the west later in the afternoon encouraging the development of some showers that may linger into the early morning hours on Friday.  The good news is that there will only be a minor cool down following the passage of the cool front with temperatures remaining about average for the season on Friday and Saturday.  By Sunday when the Vernal Equinox occurs at 6:21 pm cdt a brisk southerly air flow will pump in more gulf moisture, and kick off some showers and thunderstorms associated with the next storm system moving out of the Rockies Byinto the plains and midwest.  High temperatures next Sunday will likley be back into 50's again.
By Meteorologist
Eric Nefstead

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