Posted 10:30 AM Monday, by Dave Longley - I struggled to come up with a title for this entry.  Yes it's cold.  Yes, some people saw snow this morning.  Yes, our normal high temperature for today hits 70.  We do truly see light at the end of the tunnel.  We just need some patience.  If there's any left.

The weather map shows a big trough in the northeastern US, which represents a pool of unseasonably cold air.  Temperatures around 5,000 feet are below freezing and some of the temperatures up around 18,000 feet this morning are more typical of mid winter.  It's no wonder afternoon high temperatures will struggle to reach 50 degrees today.

This pattern will be very slow to break down, so we don't expect any significant improvement in temperatures until the weekend.  The problem, which has been the bane of our existence in seeing a prolonged warmup, is an area of unusually high jet stream heights over central Canada, extending eastward toward Greenland.  Also, we have a huge ridge in the jet stream over the western US.  That's why they're expecting highs in the 100's in the Desert SW.  With that type of pattern, the jet stream ends up being displaced unusually far south over the Northeastern US.  Actually, the southward dip has "cut-off" from the main jet stream flow over us, and really has no impetus to move.  So, we stay cool and unsettled.

Just when it looks like this vortex of chilly air will spin out of here, more energy will drop into the cut-off low, reinforcing the cold air over us Wednesday and Thursday.  Bottom line, don't expect any improvement in the weather through Thursday.

As the holiday weekend approaches, the pattern is forecast to break down, and rather abruptly so.  Cool and unsettled weather will settle into the western US, and the ridge over Canada and Greenland will weaken, allowing the cut-off low to move out and the jet stream to lift northward over us.  This will allow temperatures to warm quickly over us.  It won't take much, given the heat we're seeing over the rest of the country.  As soon as our winds shift into the south, then up the temperatures will go.  Whether it's barbecuing, getting the boat out, golfing, or planting flowers, the weather looks right now to be very cooperative for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

Comments?

-Dave