Warmer Winds Return This Week

Strong high pressure centered over the middle of the country brought afternoon highs down into the single digits over much of the Plains Monday and Tuesday, and is also part of the reason why the southern states are dealing with wintry weather and accumulating snowfall.  While that high is the source region for the Arctic cold, it'll also be responsible for a warm up over much of the Midwest by the middle to end of the week.


High pressure will slide south of Illinois Wednesday and Wednesday night.  As it does, winds will shift around to the west and southwest.  To the north, low pressure will move through southern Canada and the upper Midwest, also pulling in a little warmth behind it.


Wind around low pressure flows count-clockwise and wind around high pressure flows clockwise.  The difference in pressure between the two systems will cause winds to increase for both Wednesday and Thursday.  Wind gusts nearing 30 mph are possible Wednesday afternoon, and perhaps a bit higher early Thursday.


Along with the increasing wind will also come a warmer air mass.  The five inches of snow we currently have on the ground will hamper the warm up a bit, and I'm not all too convinced that the entire snowpack will be gone, but we should see the snow dwindle a bit by the end of the weekend.