Month: January 2018

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NWS Outlook for First Half of 2018

The NWS released their new outlooks for the first half of 2018. First of all, the NWS notes that La Niña conditions continue across the Pacific Ocean and will likely persist through the rest of winter. It will likely fade this spring, leading to so-called “ENSO-neutral” conditions, which will continue through summer. “ENSO-neutral” just means that we are between La Niña and El Niño conditions, in other words, neutral.

January

The shorter-range forecasts out to 14 days indicate a shift in the weather pattern bringing warmer and wetter than normal conditions across Illinois. By this Sunday we could be in the 40s and 50s in Illinois (left panel, below) while the prospects of rainfall are high with potential totals of 1/2 to 1 inch over the next 7 days (right panel).


Continue reading “NWS Outlook for First Half of 2018”

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NWS Outlook for First Half of 2018

The NWS released their new outlooks for the first half of 2018. First of all, the NWS notes that La Niña conditions continue across the Pacific Ocean and will likely persist through the rest of winter. It will likely fade this spring, leading to so-called “ENSO-neutral” conditions, which will continue through summer. “ENSO-neutral” just means that we are between La Niña and El Niño conditions, in other words, neutral.

January

The shorter-range forecasts out to 14 days indicate a shift in the weather pattern bringing warmer and wetter than normal conditions across Illinois. By this Sunday we could be in the 40s and 50s in Illinois (left panel, below) while the prospects of rainfall are high with potential totals of 1/2 to 1 inch over the next 7 days (right panel).


Continue reading “NWS Outlook for First Half of 2018”

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First Half of January – Colder, Snowier than Last Year

Summary: we are halfway through January and so far the statewide average temperature is 16.5 degrees, 7.3 degrees below normal. Last year, by mid-January the average temperatures is 25.2 degrees and 1.4 degrees above normal.
The statewide average precipitation is only 0.6 inches, two-thirds of normal for the first half of January. Last year, by mid-January the average precipitation was 0.82 inches, just 0.07 inches below normal. Note that precipitation is a measure of both the rainfall and the water content of snowfall.
Snowfall has been widespread with 2 to 5 inches common in all but western Illinois. For most areas, that is near to slightly below normal. So far our snow has come from fast-moving low-pressure systems out of Canada (so-called Alberta clippers) that are noted for bringing light, fluffy snow without much water content. Last year, some areas in northern Illinois had received zero snowfall in the first half of January and many areas reported less than an inch. Continue reading “First Half of January – Colder, Snowier than Last Year”

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First Half of January – Colder, Snowier than Last Year

Summary: we are halfway through January and so far the statewide average temperature is 16.5 degrees, 7.3 degrees below normal. Last year, by mid-January the average temperatures is 25.2 degrees and 1.4 degrees above normal.
The statewide average precipitation is only 0.6 inches, two-thirds of normal for the first half of January. Last year, by mid-January the average precipitation was 0.82 inches, just 0.07 inches below normal. Note that precipitation is a measure of both the rainfall and the water content of snowfall.
Snowfall has been widespread with 2 to 5 inches common in all but western Illinois. For most areas, that is near to slightly below normal. So far our snow has come from fast-moving low-pressure systems out of Canada (so-called Alberta clippers) that are noted for bringing light, fluffy snow without much water content. Last year, some areas in northern Illinois had received zero snowfall in the first half of January and many areas reported less than an inch. Continue reading “First Half of January – Colder, Snowier than Last Year”