Day 29

Temperature: 17 F, feels like 17 F

Humidity: 42%

Dew Point: -3 F

Wind: 1 mph SSW
Pressure: 30.48 in
Visibility: 10 miles
Cover: Some clouds
Observation: 5:30 PM
Moon: Waxing gibbous, 81% visible

Today felt a lot warmer than yesterday because of southerly winds. However, there is a low pressure system to the north attached to a cold front that will come to blows early this week with the southerly winds and produce snow. After this snow the temperatures will drop again, but the cold will only stick around for a couple days before climbing back into the mid-thirties as a daily high temperature. There was no precipitation today and none predicted tomorrow. Tonight and the next few days will stay above zero even during the night, yay!

Some of this evening's clouds as seen from McIntyre Library at UW-Eau Claire

Day 28

Temperature: 14 F, feels like 3 F

Humidity: 61%

Dew Point: 3 F

Wind: 3.2 mph ASW
Pressure: 30.58 in
Visibility: 10 miles
Cover: Clear
Observation: 5:30 PM
Moon: Waxing gibbous, 72% visible

Another cold and sunny day in Wisconsin today. The winds are currently shifting from northerly to southerly and that will warm things up a little bit tomorrow, at least just make it warmer at night than the past week of below zero once the sun sets. The high pressure system bringing these cold and sunny days is expected to stick around this weekend but then early next week we could see a low pressure system coming off the Rockies and bringing us a few inches of snow. All of the interesting weather seems to be hanging around the west coast this week and especially today as they deal with moderate rain and snow fall. 

Day 27

Temperature: 10 F, feels like 3 F

Humidity: 49%

Dew Point: -5 F

Wind: 3.7 mph N
Pressure: 30.46 in
Visibility: 10 miles
Cover: Clear
Observation: 4:30 PM
Moon: Waxing gibbous, 62% visible

This high pressure system over the area is sticking around for a while. The cloudy skies of yesterday are gone and sunshine is in its place. It will stay mostly clear for the next 3-5 days with little to no chance of precipitation. But with the sunshine comes pretty cold temperatures where it gets to the mid-teens during the day and dips below zero at night. Tomorrow will be a little warmer than today, but not by much. Right now it looks as though all the active weather patterns are staying to the West and South of us but we are expected to get some heavier snow on Tuesday of next week (5-8 inches). 

Day 26

Temperature: 14 F, feels like 14 F

Humidity: 46%

Dew Point: -4 F

Wind: 1 mph N
Pressure: 30.09 in
Visibility: 10 miles
Cover: Overcast
Observation: 3:00 PM
Moon: Waxing crescent, 51% visible

Today is much colder than yesterday but the strong winds from last night have waned and brought high altitude cloud cover. There is no precipitation expected today and the humidity is low. There is a high pressure system to the north of us that will come down to our area later this week bringing sunshine while the cooler temperatures are going to continue. Luckily we are missing out on the potentially heavy snow that is covering the entire state of Iowa. 

Day 25

Temperature: 25 F, feels like 20 F

Humidity: 40%

Dew Point: 4 F

Wind: 4.2 mph N
Pressure: 29.73 in
Visibility: 10 miles
Cover: Clear
Observation: 6:00 PM
Moon: Waxing crescent, 42% visible

Strange weather day overall. Cloud cover overnight and southerly winds brought warm weather (nearly 32 F in the afternoon) today, with a brief but heavy snow storm early in the morning. Around 10am the sky clouded up, snowed heavily for less than half an hour, and then by 1pm the snow was melted and it was sunny and blue skies yet again. Another cold front has been moving into the area since around 3pm and the winds picked up considerably, even strong enough to blow some of the snow that has been sitting around. The warmer temperatures are already on their way out and temperatures are expected to drop below zero again in the overnight hours. 

Our very bright and blue skies today:

Day 24

Temperature: 10 F, feels like 0 F

Humidity: 35%

Dew Point: -12 F

Wind: 0 mph N
Pressure: 30.53 in
Visibility: 10 miles
Cover: Clear
Observation: 3:00 PM
Moon: Waxing crescent, 30% visible

There is a high pressure system over the Midwest right now which explains the clear, sunny skies and low temperatures. Overnight tonight an occluded/warm front is supposed to move in and could bring snow during the Tuesday morning commute. After a week of rapidly fluctuating air pressure, we should now expect more consistent pressures. The high pressure systems in the US are currently staying in the northern states while a couple low pressure systems are covering the south which is getting a lot of rain/freezing rain because of the presence of a massive cold front. 

Day 22 + 23

Temperature: 0 F, feels like 0 F

Humidity: 43%

Dew Point: -18 F

Wind: 0 mph N
Pressure: 30.70 in
Visibility: 10 miles
Cover: Clear
Observation: 5:00 PM
Moon: Waxing crescent, 21% visible

Yesterday was a lot warmer than today because it was mostly cloudy until around 4:30 when the sun broke through for a while. Otherwise there were a few scattered flurries that didn't amount to anything and gray skies all day. Overnight it cleared though and we awoke to very cold temperatures this morning and perfectly clear blue skies all day because of the high pressure system currently over the area. It has been very cold today and although Wunderground says there are light winds, I would say the winds are more like 5-10 miles per hour because having exposed skin outside right now is pretty painful with the wind. The winds are supposed to pick up tonight and combining with this cold front to produce seriously low wind chills (-25 to - 35). Luckily the winds are supposed to shift and bring warmer air starting tomorrow morning which will make walking to class a little better. The warmer air is also expected to bring snow to the area by Tuesday but there is only a 30% chance currently projected. 

Day 21

Temperature: 17 F, feels like 11 F

Humidity: 98%

Dew Point: 17 F

Wind: 4 mph S
Pressure: 29.87 in
Visibility: 2.5 miles
Cover: Mostly cloudy
Observation: 5:00 PM
Moon: Waxing crescent, 6% visible

Today was a lot warmer than yesterday but the wind still bit your hands and ear when walking around outside. There was a fair amount of snow this morning (earlier than expected) amounting to about just under 2 inches because of a warm front and cold fronts meeting resulting in a low pressure system. Throughout the day there have been occasional light flurries but nothing too extreme. The air is really moist which explains the few snowflakes here and there. Overnight the winds are going to change from southerly to northerly winds and the temperatures are going to drop back to the 0 F or lower end of the thermometer. 

Day 20

Temperature: 7 F, feels like 7 F

Humidity: 34%

Dew Point: -15 F

Wind: 2 mph S
Pressure: 30.38 in
Visibility: 10 miles
Cover: Clear
Observation: 4:30 PM
Moon: New moon, 1% visible

Today was super cold again but not nearly as bad as yesterday. There was sunshine all day, no precipitation, and the wind wasn't nearly as strong. The wind also changed directions from north/northwest to southerly winds. The combination of these two winds are expected to create a small snow storm tomorrow evening (1-3 inches expected). Apparently they do not yet know when it will start exactly, as Wunderground has changed the expected start time from 6 pm to giving a broad 45% chance to the whole day. Tonight is expected to be pretty cold again (down to -5 actual temperature) because the southerly winds haven't won out over the N/NW winds completely yet.

Day 19

Temperature: -2 F, feels like -16 F

Humidity: 54%

Dew Point: -14 F

Wind: 7.3 mph W/NW
Pressure: 30.27 in
Visibility: 10 miles
Cover: Some clouds
Observation: 5:00 PM
Moon: Waning crescent, 0% visible

It has been mostly sunny and bitterly cold all day long; we barely hit 0 F for a few hours before slipping back into the negatives. The temperatures are attributed to the strong northwestern winds coming across the Midwest and the high pressure system currently taking its sweet time to get away from us. We are facing a windchill advisory from 9pm tonight to 9am tomorrow and while temperatures are expected to be in the negative teens, the wind chill is expected to be in the -20 to -30 F range. After last winter of 30-40 consecutive days under zero and ridiculous wind chills, I thought I would be more prepared for this but no one is ever really prepared for it to be so cold the air is taken out of your lungs. Tomorrow is expected to be almost as cold as today and then warming up a little on Friday so we can have 1-3 inches of snow in the afternoon/evening.

This is an amazing website showing the winds all over the world. Kind of mesmerizing too:

http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-87.25,37.32,1024

Day 18

Temperature: 6 F, feels like 6 F

Humidity: 72%

Dew Point: -1 F

Wind: 2.2 mph W
Pressure: 29.95 in
Visibility: 10 miles
Cover: Mostly cloudy
Observation: 6:00 PM
Moon: Waning crescent, 2% visible

A low pressure system moved through the area last night and into early this morning bringing around 1-2 inches of snow. Today was super cold and sunny which was because of the high pressure system that moved in over the area. There was no precipitation during the day but there is a slight chance (~30%) of precipitation tonight. A high pressure system and cold front are coming our way off the Rockies and tonight, tomorrow, and Thursday are expected to be bitterly cold with a high of 1 F. 

Day 17

Temperature: 17 F, feels like 17 F

Humidity: 58%

Dew Point: 5 F

Wind: 0 mph N
Pressure: 30.15 in
Visibility: 9 miles
Cover: Overcast
Observation: 2:00 PM
Moon: Waning crescent, 7% visible

There is an occluded front attached to a warm front and followed by a cold front to the North of Eau Claire. These fronts are keeping temperatures higher today, but the rest of the week is supposed to be very cold again until early next week. Little to no precipitation is expected until potentially later this week. The air pressure will also be high because of the low temperatures, so expect a very cold week with temperatures frequently staying below the 0 F mark. There will also be considerable cloud cover during the day but then clearing off at night giving us the negative temperatures. 

Day 15 + 16

Temperature: 7 F, feels like 7 F

Humidity: 51%

Dew Point: -8 F

Wind: 2.2 mph SSE
Pressure: 30.28 in
Visibility: 10 miles
Cover: Overcast
Observation: 5:00 PM
Moon: Waning crescent, 13% visible

Yesterday (Valentines day) was VERY cold but bright and sunny with perfectly blue skies. It was around -19 windchill when I left to go to practice in the morning at 8am yesterday and I was thankful my car started. The sun felt warm throughout the day but the wind and intense cold didn't make going outside very enjoyable. There was no precipitation and a lower pressure day.

Today has also been very cold but it is completely overcast so we aren't facing the extreme cold like yesterday. There is a slight chance of snow predicted for later (30%). There is a warm front to the west of us that will bring warmer temperatures tomorrow but they wont last long because there is a cold/occluded front to the north that will bring back the cold temperatures. A high pressure system is expected to stay in the area for most of this week until the weekend. There is also no precipitations expected for the entire week so get ready for a lot of cold, dry air. 

Day 14

Temperature: 24 F, feels like 24 F

Humidity: 99%

Dew Point: 24 F

Wind: 3 mph N
Pressure: 29.98 in
Visibility: 10 miles
Cover: Scattered Clouds
Observation: 6:00 PM
Moon: Waning crescent, 31% visible

Today was very cold and overcast. The sun tried to peek through the clouds and there were a few flurries during our protest against Gov. Walker's budget cuts but otherwise it was just cold and gray for a lot of the day. Towards the late afternoon early evening the clouds began to break up and will clear away almost completely which will contribute to the -30 to -35 F wind chills we are expected to get early tomorrow morning. Besides the brief flurries there was no precipitation, but the air is very damp, which makes sense because of the large cold front and low pressure system over the area. 

Day 13

Temperature: 7 F, feels like 7 F

Humidity: 49%

Dew Point: -8 F

Wind: 0 mph N
Pressure: 30.55 in
Visibility: 10 miles
Cover: Clear
Observation: 5:00 PM
Moon: Last quarter, 42% visible

It was definitely colder today than yesterday with the same bright skies. When I did my observation at 5:00, there were a few very hazy clouds.

There was no precipitation last night or today, but the winds were very strong last night which led to some drifting snow. Winds have been coming in from the N/NW for the past day and a half which explains the icy cold weather. The snow that was predicted for this weekend has been pushed to next week, but the cold temperatures (-12 to -15) will be right on schedule. The stationary front to the left of us is responsible for delaying the snow. 

Day 11 + 12

Temperature: 15 F, feels like 7 F

Humidity: 68%

Dew Point: 7 F

Wind: 5 mph W
Pressure: 30.21 in
Visibility: 10 miles
Cover: Clear
Observation: 5:00 PM
Moon: Waning Gibbous, 52% visible

I was out of town yesterday and therefore unable to post my weather observations, so I will include information from both days in this post.

Yesterday was clear in the morning before a system carrying snow moved into the area around noon. There were times of very heavy snow, but it seemed to move relatively quickly from the Eau Claire area. The eye of the storm settled between Eau Claire and the Twin Cities and created white out conditions. I knew this because my group and I were driving the stretch of interstate between the two cities in said blizzard during this time. The snow was falling quite heavily but luckily the winds weren't too strong and there was not much blowing snow during or after the storm. 

Here is a picture of downtown Minneapolis during the end of the storm. A lot more snow fell outside the city limits. 

Because of this weather system, the weather today was bright and sunny and the temperature was much colder. The temperature is also expected to drop even more and air pressure will rise as the night wears on today. There were little to no clouds today and the very bright sun melted some of the snow on rooftops and sidewalks even with the frigid temperatures. I'm predicting cold and clear again tomorrow.