Good Evening Everyone,<\/p>\n
Here’s another edition of my Weather Pattern Review.\u00a0 Obviously the big story of the day was what happen in Dallas, TX.\u00a0 The media captured several destructive tornadoes.\u00a0 The video of these tornadoes really show you the power and the trail of destruction they leave.\u00a0 So, no question, the Spring of 2012 continues to be a very costly one with the amount of severe weather and its only the beginning of April.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Below are the analyses I put together the last couple of days and welcome you to check them out.\u00a0Plus, I’ll provide some insight what some of the maps mean.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So far we have seen very costly severe weather in 2012, record breaking warmth for much of the US and the Pacific Northwest, Southern Plains, and Lower Missippi Valley receiving too much rainfall and getting flooding.\u00a0 New areas that haven’t gotten a lot of precipitation is over California and the East Coast, especially over Florida.\u00a0 Finally, it appears that La Nina continues to fade away.. We’ll have to see when El Nino will kick in. Obviously, a major player to the tropical season.\u00a0 Well, that will be a discussion for another time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Upper Air Trends<\/span> Notice the\u00a0impressive ridge over the central and eastern US.\u00a0\u00a0Very impressive ridging took place west of Alaska and the opposite end Spain.\u00a0 Pacific Northwest was the\u00a0only area that the trough setup during this period.\u00a0 Just a very impressive warm period for the Eastern half of the US.\u00a0 \u00a0 A very early view of the upper air pattern for the Spring of 2012. <\/p>\n Surface, Upper Air, and Storm Report Trends<\/span> Notice how busy its been for severe weather. One of the key players has been the effect on La Nina. La Nina right now is fading, but still has some effect on the amount of severe weather we are seeing, especially with tornadoes.\u00a0 Looks like the Eastern half of the US has received a lot of severe weather.\u00a0 Notice the position of the jet stream and where the storm reports were located.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Temperatures Trends<\/span> The theme here has been the record warmth. The past week really shows the peak of the mild to warm weather. Let’s say the first map for record warmth is so widespread.\u00a0 This really was the peak of the warm weather.\u00a0 Close to 1000 records being recorded the past week.\u00a0 Not much in the way of record cold.\u00a0 The West Coast only had a few. Looks like record warmth won in this department.\u00a0 The next two maps really how the depth of the overall above average temperatures for high and lows.\u00a0\u00a0 When you go from the 30 to 90 day, you can see all that way above average temperatures shrink a bit.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Precipitation Trends<\/span> Portions of the Pacific Northwest and Lower Mississippi Valley continue to be an area that has been susceptible excessive rainfall and flooding.\u00a0 These areas have a higher risk for flooding.\u00a0 Definitely areas to keep an eye on.\u00a0 Two areas to keep an eye are the Pacific Northwest and Lower Mississippi Valley.\u00a0 Seems the pattern has been favoring these locations to be the recipient of systems bringing plenty precipitation.\u00a0 Obviously the ground can’t take anymore rainfall, so flooding is a concern.\u00a0 An interesting trend is one along the East Coast. It will be interesting to see if this spring will be a dry one for these areas.\u00a0 If the ground is very dry, the tendency as you go into the summer, the better chance for heat.\u00a0 So, something to watch as we go deeper into spring.\u00a0 Pretty much the same I wrote last time.\u00a0 Notice how dry its getting over in California and East Coast. Meanwhile, the Pacific Northwest and portions of the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley. <\/p>\n
\nHere are some of the basics I have on this analyses. The 500mb anomaly map is an analysis that’s taking a look from 18,000 feet above the ground. These anomaly maps help identify tendencies how ridges (high pressure) and troughs (low pressure formed. Think of ridges as regions of stable weather (i.e., dry, cold or hot regions) and troughs as regions of active weather (i.e., wet and stormy). The shades of yellow to dark reds indicate ridging while shades of blue indicate troughs. Once you see the ridges and troughs, you can begin to outline the placement of the jet stream.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n– 500mb Upper Air Height Anomaly Map (Thu, Mar\u00a01 \u2013 Sat, Mar 31)<\/a><\/p>\n
\n– 500mb Upper Air Height Anomaly Map (Tue,\u00a0Mar 20 \u2013 Sat,\u00a0Mar 31)<\/a><\/p>\n
\nCheck out these images below. Note the correlation on what we saw with the upper maps and now the surface maps. For the Storm Prediction Center maps, I sketched in the jet stream.
\n– Sea Level Pressure Anomaly Map (Thu,\u00a0Mar 1 \u2013 Sat,\u00a0Mar 31)<\/a><\/p>\n
\n– SPC Storm Report with Jet Stream Overlay (Thu,\u00a0Mar 1 \u2013 Tue, Mar\u00a027)<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThe analysis below are anomaly maps. I really like to use these analyses to show me a signal or trend over the past several weeks and months. What you will see from the maps I put together was how above average its been for the past couple months.<\/p>\n
\n– Record Warmth (Sun, Mar\u00a025 \u2013 Sun,\u00a0Apr 2)<\/a><\/p>\n
\n– Record Cold (Sun, Mar 25 \u2013 Sun, Apr 2)<\/a><\/p>\n
\n– 30 Day Mean Anomalies (Wed, Feb 29 \u2013 Fri, Mar 30, 2012)
\n<\/a>– 90 Day Mean Anomalies (Sat, Dec 31, 2011\u00a0\u2013 Fri, Mar 30, 2012)<\/a><\/p>\n
\nFinally, the last batch of images will show you precipitation trends. So, what do we have her..
\nLooks like the Western US had a fair amount of reports.\u00a0
\n– Record Rainfall and Snowfall Reports (Sun, Mar 25 \u2013 Sun, Apr 2)<\/a><\/p>\n
\n– River and Lake Flood Stages (Sun, April 1)<\/a><\/p>\n
\n– 30 Day Mean Total Anomalies (Thu,\u00a0Mar\u00a01 \u2013 Fri, Mar 30)<\/a><\/p>\n
\n– 90 Day Mean Total Anomalies (Sun,\u00a0Jan 1 \u2013 Fri, Mar 30)<\/a><\/p>\n
\n– Year Mean Total Anomalies (Sun, Jan 1 – Sat, Mar 31, 2012)
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\nRight now, California, Georgia, and Florida will need at least 6 to 10 inches of precipitation to end the drought.\u00a0 Looks like Florida is the driest.\u00a0\u00a0
\n– Precip Need to End Drought (Week Ending March 24)<\/a><\/p>\n