Saturday, December 15

A major winter storm will pass just south of us tomorrow, causing lots of trouble for those more rural than ourselves. We will be under the northern wing of the storm and so will be spared from the full brunt of it. But while the major forecasters disagree on the amount of snow that we will see tomorrow, I think that I will have to agree with Tom Skilling and make a prediction of four inches or more of "fluffy" snow, starting slowly in the morning and increasing as the day continues.

The big computer models are predicting a warming trend next week which would turn this snow into the ugly patches of slush that we all love so much. There will still be time for snow before Christmas, so don't fret if you've been dreaming of the lovely old cliché.

Thursday, December 13

Finally, we are free from the threat of freezing rain. Now we will have some boring winter weather, the kind with mostly cloudy skies, moderately cold temperatures, enough wind to cause discomfort, and ugly patches of half-melted snow.

Saturday, December 8 Update

I think that we can expect the following in the Chicago metro area tonight:
Flurries will start after 3pm, increasing to light snow throughout the evening (really light, less than an inch).
Around midnight sleet will mix with the snow and continue through late morning.
As the temperatures rise tomorrow afternoon the sleet will change to freezing rain (it freezes as it touches the ground). As they fall again near sunset the rain will change to snow and gradually taper off.

It appears right now that all of this will be light and intermittent, but it will make for dangerous driving conditions. Because the exact location of the freezing line is very hard to predict, the timing of the different types of precipitation will vary from the north to the south of the city.

Saturday, December 8

No, it's not over. Tonight evening will most likely bring us sleet, freezing rain, and a bit more snow. I can't tell yet when and how it will come, but don't expect much until after 5. I will be looking at the maps again in the morning and will make a precise forecast then. For now, enjoy your Friday night.

Thursday, December 6

A bitter cold morning. The temperatures will rise slightly throughout the day but won't reach 30 until tomorrow. You will notice the sky clouding over, a herald of the coming snow which will start falling not long after dark and continue into the night. A few more inches will fall on top of what we have already. I think that as the temperature increases the snow will be better for packing, so Chicago Weather recommends that you take advantage of the situation and play outside tomorrow night.

Wednesday, December 5

As you may have noticed, it has snowed. And if you are reading this on Wednesday morning it is probably still snowing. What we have just experienced is the first "Alberta Clipper" of the season. These are fast moving winter storm systems that whip down from Alberta and quickly cross the continent. A typical clipper leaves a layer of snow and frigid air in its wake, and this one won't deviate from the norm.

The temperatures will remain low today, with a high of around 30. The clipper itself will have exited the region by mid-morning, but it is leaving us a special parting gift: winds blowing over the lake. These will create some lake effect snow that will gracefully fall through the late morning and add perhaps another inch of accumulation close to the lake.

After this we will have a brief, brief respite. Thursday night the next system will be upon us, and the snow will likely continue. But don't complain yet, there will be time for that later. This is the first real snow and it is beautiful.

Thursday, May 25th

It will be cloudy all day, but doesn't it feel like summer? There are a number of little storms building in the area right now, and they will be periodically passing over us for the rest of the day, although none will be as impressive as last night's storm. Tomorrow will be somewhat cooler with highs in the mid seventies, and I think it will remain cloudy, however the atmosphere will have wore its poor self out and won't be making any more storms. Saturday is when the real warm weather will finally come up here from the southwest, and the high may reach 90.

Friday, April 15

A beautiful summer-like day, highs may reach 85 degrees. Do something fun! Your tax money has provided it.

Wednesday, April 12

This wind and warmth will continue through the rest of the day, and happily the clouds will be moving out sometime around noon. I know that people keep talking about thunderstorms and rain this morning, however I don't see anything coming. But don't hate me if it sprinkles a bit before noon.

Tomorrow will be warm and cloudy, and Friday will be warm as well. I can't tell if there will be any rain, but neither can anyone else, so you can make up your own prediction if you want. A big storm system will be moving through sometime around Sunday, and that will definitely bring rain and lower the temperatures into the 50s for the beginning of next week.

Sunday, April 9

Sunny with a high in the mid to upper-50s today. The sun will feel very warm, but winter will seem to be hiding in the shade. Very low windspeeds will help to make the day pleasant.

Tomorrow then a great week of warm weather will begin. Expect highs in the upper 60s tomorrow, and then 70s for the next few days, with mostly sunny skies as well.

Friday, April 7

A cruddy day with dropping temperatures and rising windspeeds. Drizzly cold rain will be falling intermittently throughout the afternoon. Tomorrow the high will only reach the mid-40s, and the air will feel dry and wintry.

If you are like me and have just lost your job, you will stay inside watching movies and eating oatmeal. If you are not like me and are unfortunate enough to have a job, you should scowl and grumble, pull on your scarf, and try not to catch infections from your co-workers. However don't despair, next week will make everything better. There is a very good chance that the temperature will exceed 70 degrees sometime between Tuesday and Thursday.

Sunday, December 11

Temperatures will fall into the upper teens today as a cold front passes and the snow will start falling again in the early evening. Expect 1-2 more inches. Tomorrow it will warm up again, and then we will have another significant snow event around Tuesday or Wednesday.

Friday, December 9

Today will be clear and bright and cold with a high in the low 20s. Towards evening the wind will pick up and blow the snow around and sting your face. Tomorrow will be a few degrees warmer, but cloudy again...and there may be even more snow. I can't find an exact number (although I haven't looked very hard), but it looks as if 6-7 inches of snow fell in my neighborhood, and Midway reported 9.3". This is the snowiest early December since the infamous winter of '78, when my sister was born.

Friday, October 14

Sunny and pleasant with a high in the seventies.

Tuesday, October 12

Cool and grey.

Thursday Night

This warm front will head back up this way early tomorrow morning bringing thunderstorms and temperatures in the 70s. But as soon as it gets here it will decide to move along and drag a cold front with its own storms behind it in the evening. So be prepared for everything tomorrow. After that some boring colder (mid-50s) weather for a while, and then maybe some more stable warm air in the middle of the week.

Learning Corner : Ions

Dear Weather Goddess,

Could you please clear up a question for me? People are always talking about ions, and whether they are positive or negative.

Why should I care?
What do ions do?
Do they only change polarity during a good (or bad depending on whether you like them or not) thunderstorm?
Do animals freak out due to ion actions?

-Cat


As you may remember from high school science classes, ions are atoms that have lost or gained electrons and therefore carry a positive or negative charge. The earth's normal radiation creates positive ions in the air near its surface, while flowing or evaporating water will create negative ions in the air surrounding it. Why this is is beyond my powers to relate as the explanations are dense and boring and made me sleepy. So just trust me. When a thunderstorm comes along the air near the ground will become positively charged, while the bottom of the storm will become negatively charged. (Once again I can't really explain...) During the course of the storm the combined effects of lightning and rain will leave the air near the ground full of negatively charged ions.

Why should you care? Supposedly these negative ions are responsible for the happy, relaxed feelings we have after a thunderstorm, at the beach, or in the shower. It seems that there have been some real studies shown on this phenomenon that prove there is some truth to it, and seasonal affective disorder and other mild depressions may be partially attributable to positive ions.

As far as animals are concerned there are plenty of words on the web explaining their responses to positive ions before storms and especially before earthquakes. I didn't feel like plunging into that morass, but the answer may be out there if you feel like looking. You can also find quite a bit of speculation on the effects of ions on the stockmarket, crime, sports, politics, empires, dinosaurs etc.

If you are concerned about your positive ion exposure you can buy an expensive thing that shoots negative ions around your apartment, or you can just stop reading blogs, do the dishes and take a shower.

Wednesday Night

Okay, obviously, I was very very wrong. But luckily so was everyone else. So, no nice weather this week. There is this stupid front hanging out just south of us now, and the winds are blowing over the lake for the next day and a half, so we will have some cold blustery weather tomorrow, with a brief respite on Friday, and then some more crap over the weekend. The National Weather Service forecast is pretty dire for the next week, but Skilling is more optimistic, so I will go with him. Expect 40s tomorrow with high winds, then a brief period of warmth on Friday with a high in the upper 60s but dropping rapidly in the evening, then highs in the 50s for the next few days and another warming trend starting on Tuesday. (All of this will be accompanied by periodic rain and persistent cloudiness.)

Monday night, May 9th

My dear readers, I apologize for the long hiatus. I will give you two lame excuses: one, I was working very hard on my new website, conglomeratemap.org, and two, I then was simply lazy and tired for the last week and didn't want to look at the computer, but I think that might have something to do with the western edge of a high pressure system that was hanging out for so long, which always gets me depressed.

Now, happily, I have a wonderful forecast for everyone. Tomorrow will be nice and summery, with a high at or above 80. For the rest of the week we have what I consider to be ideal weather: highs near 80 and storms at night. So far nothing looks like it will be terribly severe, just a nice release at the end of the day.

Thursday Night

Hello everyone and sorry. I have been pretty sick, and also stressed from working on my conglomerate project. I promise a learning corner soon where I will spend time with all of your good questions about ions and wind and winter. But for now, a crappy forecast:

Crappy. Rainy and very windy, high in the upper 40s.