Saturday, August 14, 2010

We Finally Catch a Break!

For it seems like forever the Stateline has been on the northern edge of the massive high pressure area over the southern plains and the lower/mid Mississippi Valley.  The area we found ourselves in what is called the "Ring of Fire".  We have been close enough to the high to have a persistent period of above normal temperatures, but not excessively so.  One of the main problems we have had has been the high levels of low level moisture.  It has been fed in from the Gulf of Mexico, and wrung out in form of regular bouts of shower and thunderstorm complexes rotating around the Ring of Fire.  In addition, it stayed very uncomfortably humid even without a flow of moisture in from the Gulf, because of the evapotranspiration of moisture from the over soaked soils, and the maturing corn and soybean crops over Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.  The upper air pattern will change, for a few days at least with an upper low developing into the Hudson Bay area, and the massive hot high fading a bit off to the southwest.  This change will allow a northwesterly air flow to develop out of Canada for the next few days.  It will be cooler, and less humid.  Daytime temperatures will be around 10 degrees cooler than they have been by Monday, and night-time lows may even drop into the 50's for a couple of nights before the middle of the week.  Not much rain is expected during the next 7 days.  Welcome relief is on the way.  Dew points will drop from the low 70's on Saturday night to the upper 50's by Sunday night.  Air conditioners will get a chance to shut off for a while, and you will feel a whole lot more comfortable by Sunday evening.  Enjoy it while it lasts.  Weather patterns like to revert to what has been persistent, so we may very well be quite warm again before the end of August.

by Meteorologist
Eric  Nefstead

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