There is certainly no way to put a good spin on the weather so far this week. As I type this up (10:30 AM Thursday) it's showery with temperatures in the mid 40s when our normal high should be in the low 70s. It's hard to believe but our 'best' day this week was Tuesday when we were 63 for a high (still 8 degrees below normal). I can't even justify that I'm saving money not running the air conditioner. Every day this week I've had the heat on in my house. If there is any good spin on this weather just let me know.  I'm open to suggestions.

The weather pattern over North America is really bottled up and is not moving much. Our nemesis is a broad area of low pressure in the upper atmosphere that stretches from Labrador in eastern Canada all the way back into the Great Lakes. It's really the whole Northeast quadrant of the US that has been cool not only this week but for much of May.  Here are some of the temperature anomalies so far:

Syracuse:    -3.3
New York City:    -3.0
Boston:    -1.9
Burlington:    -2.1
Williamsport:    -3.4
Washington, DC:    -1.0
Detroit:    -2.0

I know it's not much of a consolation but cool weather is not playing favorites here in the Northeast this month.  By the way, through Wednesday we were on pace here in Syracuse for the 8th coolest May on record. This followed the 3rd warmest April on record.

The good news is the pattern will slowly break down the next couple of days.  The big low will finally push off to our east and a ridge of high pressure will build in from the west.  While this transition happens there may still be some clouds Friday and Saturday and as we still have temperatures a bit below normal those two days. Keep in mind we have a deep hole to dig ourselves out of to get back into the 70s. In addition, we are debating in the office whether there could be a brief shower either one of those two days thanks to some lingering cool air aloft . We'll keep you posted on that possibility in the regular weather discussion and on TV. The payoff still looks good for the end of the holiday weekend as the ridge builds in and temperatures warm quickly.