Warmth on the Way

Real-Time Regional Radar:

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Today 5/19 – Mostly Sunny; Warmer – High 77° / Tonight – Partly Cloudy – Low 58°

6am  48° – 9am  61° – 12pm  72° – 3pm  76° – 6pm  74° – 9pm 68°

Today will bring some much wanted warmth to the region. The increase in temperatures will be caused by the departure of a persistent upper level trough over much of the region. This trough provided us with flow from the northwest, bringing us much cooler than normal temperatures. The good news is it looks like this trough is departing and upper level ridging will build into the region.

The introduction of the upper level ridging will also bring together calm conditions for today. Mostly sunny skies is expected with no rainfall expected. Ridging will push all of the upper level support needed for thunderstorm formation well to the north and south of our region. So…yeah, it’s going to be a flippin’ sweet day.

Tuesday 5/20 – Mostly Sunny; Windy & Warm – High 86° / Tue Night – Partly Cloudy – Low 62°

6am  60° – 9am  69° – 12pm  77° – 3pm  85° – 6pm  83° – 9pm 76°

Wax on, wax off, rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat…

So yeah, Tuesday will pretty much be and rinse and repeat forecast from Monday, only a bit warmer as we become more established in southwesterly flow. The upper level ridging feature will remain in place, keeping us dry in the region. The humidity will begin to be on the rise though. We can expect the dew point temperature to creep into the upper 50s and 60s, causing the air to become a little thick.

Winds on Tuesday could become quite strong. The winds will likely be sustained around 10 to 15 mph on Tuesday afternoon, with gusts as high as 25 mph possible. The wind will be out of the south-southwest, so you’ll probably be able to tell the strong wind if you’re traveling on east to west roads. Be careful on the afternoon commute home. Below is a surface windstream map.

Wednesday 5/21 – Increasing Clouds – High 87° / Wed Night – Showers/Storms Possible – Low 67°

6am  63° – 9am  70° – 12pm  79° – 3pm  85° – 6pm  83° – 9pm 77°

On Wednesday, we’ll still remain under the influence of upper level ridging. However, this ridging will begin to slide to the south, allowing for upper level wind speed over the region to become stronger. We will likely see an increase in cloud cover from remnant showers and storms to the north and west of the region. We’ll need to watch for any boundaries that may set up. Storms may form along these boundaries, given high instability values.

We will need to monitor Wednesday night for the potential of some severe weather. This type of weather pattern is conducive of some strong storms. We are located in just the right spot in regards to the upper level ridging, we have quite a bit of instability present on Wednesday afternoon, and we quite a bit of speed shear to be conducive for the development of thunderstorms clusters. The main hazard with any storms that form will be hail and gusty winds. Stay tuned for more details regarding severe potential.

That’s all I have now folks. Be sure to stay tuned to @WxOrNotBG and @WarrenCountyWX on twitter for the latest weather information. Have a great day!