Shirtsleeves by the weekend
There are snow icons in the regional forecast for today, but that's nothing for us to worry about. And by late in the week we should be enjoying temps in the upper 60s, maybe even 70, forecasters say.
You can thank a big high-pressure system now centered over the Great Lakes. After a couple of low-pressure centers scoot by to our south and out to sea today, the high will take over and settle off the coast. That will give us sunshine tomorrow, good stargazing Tuesday into Wednesday. A flow of warm air around the backside of the high, from the Gulf, is next. Gulf air is wet, of course, so we could see some showers by late Wednesday into Thursday, and more Thursday into Friday.
By the weekend, however, things should clear up and temperatures could crowd 70 degrees. If we're going to see another snowstorm this season, it sure won't be this week.
That said, we can expect to read some weather news later this week about severe weather to our south and west. The same flow of warm, moist air that will dominate our weather this week will be clashing with colder air in the Southern Plains. That could trigger severe thunderstorms and possibly tornadoes in the lower Mississippi Valley as the Spring severe weather season gets cranked up.
Here's how we looked from space on Sunday, with clear skies all around. Click on the image and enlarge it with the enlarger button that appears when you move your cursor over the photo. Notice the nearly ice-free surface of Lake Erie. Just a slab along the Pennsylvania shore and at Buffalo. There's also plenty of snow in NY State and northern Pennsylvania. Thanks to NASA's Terra Earth-Observing Satellite and the Smog Blog folks at UMBC.
Categories: Forecasts
Comments
A question for you -- why has the humidity been so lo lately? It seems like it has been hanging in the 20% range for quite some time. I don't remember it being so low before.
Posted by: Jane Evans | March 6, 2006 12:15 PM
It has been dry lately. The humidity at BWI has been slipping into the 20-percent range during the daytime in the past two days, then rising again at night. They were in the 50- and 60-percent range this morning until about 10 a.m.
Low humidities around these parts are more common in winter, when we get cold air masses coming down from Canada and the Arctic. Cold continental air masses like that are very dry by definition. Later this week, as we get into a flow of warmer air from the Gulf Coast, humidities will rise.
I guess I should also ask where you're reading the humidity. If it's an indoor instrument, it will only reflect indoor humidity, which, because of central heating, is extremely dry in the winter time. The outside air is dry enough, and then we wring more moisture out of it when we heat it up in the furnace. That's why some people install humidifiers.
If it's an outdoor instrument, and it is ALWAYS reading 20 percent, it may be broken.
I hope this helps.
Posted by: frank roylance | March 6, 2006 1:11 PM