Blocking pattern keeps the Great Lakes chill

10:15pm Update: Hurricane Joaquin now a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph.












Several weather features in the atmosphere will all work together to potentially bring a major land falling hurricane to the East coast late this weekend.  But the effects of that hurricane will also have an impact on what happens in the Great Lakes as well.

Now a Category 2 hurricane, Joaquin continues to strengthen in the Atlantic just east of the Bahamas with Hurricane Warnings in effect for the island and surrounding waters.  Hurricane hunters have measured winds within the storm at 105mph, central pressure of 954mb and currently moving to the southwest at 7mph.  A shift to the northwest is expected within the next 24 to 36 hours, before moving towards the Mid-Atlantic.  The image to the left is the current forecast track of Hurricane Joaquin from the National Hurricane Center.  It's extremely important to note that this is a *forecast* and that things could change.  However, I do not believe that a shift to the east and further away from land is likely.

And the reason for that is because of what's happening near Bermuda and what will develop in the southeast by Thursday.  High pressure near Bermuda will help steer Joaquin to the west as winds around high pressure flow clockwise.  At the same time, winds within the jet stream will help steer the storm north, along the eastern seaboard.

The net effect this will have on our weather locally will be to hold on to the chill a little longer.  Hurricane Joaquin will cause a traffic jam in the atmosphere, essentially not allowing systems in the west to move east until the hurricane weakens and moves into the North Atlantic.  This means we continue with the chilly pattern for a while, but it does look like temperatures will rise back to normal as early as next Tuesday/Wednesday - which is in the middle to upper 60's.