3/2/2012

We are currently at 37.9°F with 100% cloud cover(looks like stratus clouds), pressure @ 28.61 inches, and a dew point of 28°. There is a very large storm system hovering around a strong low pressure system in southern WI, IL, MI, IN, and OH. It looks like some warm moist air coming from a maritime tropical air mass in the South has hit a cold air mass from a continental polar air mass from the North. From this system may come some more strong tornadoes which will be focused in IN, OH, KY, and TN. Here is a map of current weather watches and warnings for today(Yellow is tornado, blue=snow, pink/purple=sleet).

This winds map shows where the strength of the low pressure system is located and those are the areas that should expect the strongest of the storms.

This map illustrates cloud temperatures. Cloud formations happen in areas of unstable air and the higher the cloud, the colder it is and so looking at the temperature bar on the bottom we see that the bright yellow and orange areas indicate cold clouds. These clouds will be forming ice crystals and so these areas are likely to experience some sleet or cold rain depending on the surface temperatures. I think that the relatively warmer temperatures as of late have caused a lot of surface evaporation and are fueling these large spring storm cells.