Blistering Summer Continues Out West While Midwest Enjoys Taste Of Fall

Written by on July 26, 2013 in United States of America with 0 Comments

Beneath laden grey skies and outbreaks of rain, temperatures yesterday only mustered 68 degrees in New York’s Central Park, the coldest July day in 8 years while the day started off at a chilly 33 degrees in Saranac Lake, NY and this morning it hit 36. As for the Big Northeast cities, well it was in the more comfortable lower 60s with 50s in the burbs.

Following the passage of a cold front, a cool, dry Canadian high is now dropping south into the Midwest and is producing a fall-like day from the Dakotas to Illinois. Temperatures are some 10-20 degrees below normal and this sure is wonderful for late July and for those how aren’t a fan of the heat and humidity. In fact the air mass now over the Upper Midwest is more typical of early September with dew points way down in the 40s and 50s.

Here are the forecasted highs for this afternoon according to weather.com.

Source: weather.com

Source: weather.com

With clear skies, light winds and dry air, overnight temperatures will tumble with 30s likely across the Arrowhead of Minnesota and the UP of Michigan with potential for light and patchy frost. The suburbs of Minneapolis will drop into the upper 40s.

Source: weather.com

Source: weather.com

1.09 Inches Of Rain In 7 Minutes!

While the fall chill in the Midwest and heat over the West is focus of the US weather map today and in coming days, the weather last night across the Central Plains was something worth mentioning.

An overnight thunderstorm cluster crossed over central Oklahoma and dropped as much as 3-6 inches of rain within a 12 hour period with some spots including Oklahoma City seeing an incredible 1.09 inches of rain in just 7 minutes… Flash flooding of course resulted with flood rescues carried out in many communities.

flooding1

Coolest July Weekend In Chicago Since 1984?

As for the temperatures again, well the heat remains on across the West with 100s once again for such cities as Salt Lake and Boise tomorrow while the upper low drops deeper into the Midwest, drawing cool, dry September-like air all the way into Illinois and Indiana. Highs stay in the 60s in Minneapolis once again. As for Chicago, the high tops the mid to upper 70s today but once that cold front drops through late afternoon bringing showers and some storms, it cools sharply. Highs Saturday will only reach around 68 which would beat the record cool maximum of 69 while Sunday may struggle to make 70 too. Back to back days of 68-70 during a weekend would make it the coolest since 1984 according to WGN’s Tom Skilling..

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While it’s cool and turning cooler this weekend across the Midwest, the heat is on across the West. Check out the forecasted highs according to weather.com.

Source: weather.com

Source: weather.com

Here’s the ECMWF 500mb chart for tomorrow showing the trough and cool pocket.

Courtesy/Owned by AccuWeather Pro

Courtesy/Owned by AccuWeather Pro

The upper low deepens and drifts a touch further south Sunday.

Courtesy/Owned by AccuWeather Pro

Courtesy/Owned by AccuWeather Pro

Here’s the surface chart for the same time and notice the showers broadly over the Great Lakes and beneath the cool pocket. As the sun heats the ground, so air rises into the colder air aloft sparking showers and thick cloud cover.

Courtesy/Owned by AccuWeather Pro

Courtesy/Owned by AccuWeather Pro

Into early next week and the trough lifts out allowing some of the hot air over the Great Basin to replace the Midwest air with something more late July-like.

Here’s the 96 hr 500mb chart showing the return of stronger heights and 80s back into Minneapolis and Chicago as the upper low and cool pockets slides east while a new trough pushes into Washington and Oregon.

Courtesy/Owned by AccuWeather Pro

Courtesy/Owned by AccuWeather Pro

It’s as that trough gets carved out over the Pacific Northwest that heights and therefore surface temperatures lower over the West. This forces some of that hot, dry air back into Texas where Dallas and possibly Houston return to the 100s again.

As for next week, the deep cold upper low slides exits off to the east allowing the Midwest to warm back up but the real heat always stays back to the West or into Texas. That means a good chunk of next week will continue to see a NW upper flow over the Eastern US, albeit not as pronounced as we’re seeing now.

The ECMWF shows the flattening out of the upper pattern through next week.

Mon 29

Geopotential3250032hPa32and32Temperature32at3285032hPa_North32America_72

Wed 31

Geopotential3250032hPa32and32Temperature32at3285032hPa_North32America_120

Fri 2

Geopotential3250032hPa32and32Temperature32at3285032hPa_North32America_168

Sun 4

Geopotential3250032hPa32and32Temperature32at3285032hPa_North32America_216

CFSv2 looks cool over the next 4 weeks.

6-10 & 8-14 day

wk1_wk2_20130725_NAsfcT

Week 3 & 4

wk3_wk4_20130725_NAsfcT

 

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