Wow! It's Warm Out There!

So is it really only March 16th?  Well Mother Nature is certainly not keeping in touch with "reality."  A summer-like pattern has already setup across much of the central and eastern half of the country.  Record highs have been falling like dominoes. Chicago, IL for example recorded highs over 80 degrees for the last 2 days.  Even Minneapolis, MN reached 73 on Tuesday, crushing their old record of 64.  The Delta has remained toasty as the words "muggy" and "pop up afternoon thunderstorms" have already been consistently in the forecast. 

So why so warm?  Simple, it's the jet stream, those high speed winds in the upper level of the atmosphere that essentially separate the cold and warm airmasses.  Whenever the jet stream pushes further to the south, the cold air goes with it and vice versa.  A dip in the jet stream is referred to as a "trough," whereas a northward bulge is a "ridge."  We are clearly under a ridge (see image below).  When a trough pushes to the east and clashes with the warm air of a ridge, very stormy weather can result.  For now, the pattern will not change as the jet stream will continue to stay put.  Things may be changing once we get into the middle of next week.  Stay tuned!