On Weather & Climate Through the Eyes of Mark Vogan
Nawabshah Pakistan endures 115 degrees!
Today's Weather Snippets: It's clear now and after a high of 49 degrees at my Lennoxtown, Scotland home, we're heading for a frost tonight as it's already hit 39 degrees!
In International Falls, MN it's 47, Minneapolis, MN it's 67. In Caribou, ME it's 80 whilst Glasgow, MT is a chilly 39! At Flagstaff, AZ it a cool 42 whilst Phoenix is 80.
Photo Courtesy of the USA Today
Officials: Floods kill at least 5 as rain pounds Tenn.
USA Today Here
Officials: At least 5 dead in Tenn. flooding
The Weather Channel Here
Ark. tornadoes kill woman, gov declares emergency
The Weather Channel Here
niger, africa
VIDEO: Drought Leads to Malnutrition in Niger
AccuWeather Here
Today's Weather across America
From AccuWeather
Life-Threatening Flash Flooding Continues in Southeast
AccuWeather Here
VIDEO: Slammed In Nashville
AccuWeather Here
Weather Talk
By Mark Vogan
A very warm tropical air mass is firmly in place across the Eastern US as the trough over the West helps excellerate the flow of tropical air all the way into the Northeast from the typical source region at this stage of the year that is the Deep South, which propelled temperatures yesterday into the upper 80s all the way to Philadelphia and mid-80s into New York City. The warmest high in the US was a toasty 97 degrees recorded at Chesapeake, Virginia which was I'm sure a very uncomfortable afternoon there when combining Caribbean style humidity into the mix. This warmth was seen during last week over the Plains states and now it's right along the Eastern Seaboard coastal plain with further heating in response to the pressing and pushing of the Western trough which is helping force warmer air northeast with a amplified jet pattern and with a strong southwest mid to upper air flow and a jet stream overhead (over Mississippi valley) and combo of enhanced sinking beneath the front-right-rear entrance region, just west of the Appalachain Mountain "ridgeline" this set-up is perfect in producing record heat and the warmest temps in the entire USA since the Southwest has much reduced pressure heights thanks to the trough...
The sinking beneath the jet and helped further by downslope compressional warming down the eastern face of the Appalachains further heats an already hot air mass over the interior Mid-Atlantic, the area between the foothills of the Appalachains and Chesapeake Bay, indeed with the big cities of Washington and Baltimore lying "west" of the Bay, there is hair-drier air pressing right into the city, but had the large body of Chesapeake Bay been to the "west" of the cities of DC and Baltimore, there would have been less heat and more cooling relief as the air would flow over the cool waters of the bay, therefore making temps less warm in the cities. The west/central half of Virginia and Maryland area, directly east of the mountains and further inland from the bay, so, west of the cities of DC, Arlington and up to Baltimore, tend to see the warmest "early season" temps like we have seen during the April heat and previous April heat waves (2009 & 2002) in spots like Frederick, Maryland simply because the air hasn't time to cool once it downslopes the mountains and flows across the coastal plain to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean where it is modified as it enters the cities which sit relatively close to the bay and the Potomac river and there the bay and sea breezes are already triggered due to the land heating process. That's why points west of the cities and just east of the mounains experiences the upper 90s whilst the cities may top around 90 or slightly warmer. Often, during an Eastern Heat Wave, western Virginia & Maryland, just west of Washington DC & Baltimore more often than not experience the hottest temperatures for the exact reasons explained above for anywhere along the entire Eastern Seaboard.
Contrast could not be greater between Eastern US and UK
With strong ridging and summer heat propelling it's way up the US East Coast, very cold air for early May is being driven south where a trough has delivered very cold air down into the British Isles, bringing daytime "40s" and where skies should clear tonight, frost is likely... The northward expanse of heat out of the tropics on the west side of the Atlantic and southward expanse of late season Arctic air over the eastern side, this is all part and parcel of the teleconnected pattern across the hemisphere, changes across the pond should result in changes here, directly in response to the large-scale alterations in the atmosphere, therefore the cold in the Rockies and here in the UK should eventually shift bringing both regions back to warmth and perhaps cool weather back to those who enjoy warmth right now.... Interestingly, that being said, it's May and what we are seeing is "shortening up of wavelenghs", what does that mean, the entire "sub-tropical high pressure cell" is progressing from equator to pole, therefore cold air is shrinking and retreating back towards it's origin.
Though tonight it may fall close to freezing with frost likely, those nights are numbered as though days are cool, unsettled and pretty dissapointing, perhaps it's best we have that kind of weather now, cause it may mean, better, drier, warmer weather for longer during the peak of summer.. Stay Tuned.
What's Reaching Today's Blogs?
A Foot of Rain: Video, Photos From Tennessee Flooding
Jesse Ferrell, AccuWeather Here
Heat Wave Abates in India
Vagaries of the Weather Here
Image Courtesy of University of Cologne
Today's US Extremes
Courtesy of AccuWeather
High: 97 degrees at Ocala, FL
Low: 10 degrees at Bodie State Park, CA
Today's UK Extremes
Courtesy of the Met Office
Warmest High: 56 degrees at Pembrey Sands (Carmarthenshire)
Coolest High: 44 degrees at Inverbervie (Aberdeenshire)
Coolest Low: 27 degrees at Braemar (Aberdeenshire)
Today's Extremes at my house
High: 49 degrees
Low 41 degrees
Thanks for reading.
-Mark
