Hello everyone!

Another day of mainly quiet weather is in the forecast today as winds aloft are firmly locked into what’s called a “zonal flow pattern”. Zonal flow occurs when winds blow from west to east, with little or no north/south component. To see this in action, check out our Water Vapor satellite loops (what’s that?) showing winds that follow the zonal pattern almost perfectly from coast to coast. What does the zonal flow mean for you? Because we need northerly and southerly winds to drive collisions of Arctic and Tropical airmasses that fuel storms, the zonal pattern means generally quiet weather.

Here’s the ECMWF’s overview map showing just that: quiet weather from coast to coast. A weak system currently bringing light-moderate snow to parts of Wisconsin will move through the Great Lakes this morning, ending up in Southern Canada by this afternoon, before re-entering the US in New England later on this evening. No major impacts are expected, though a quick 1-3″ of snow is expected in parts of Wisconsin and Michigan for the AM commute. Elsewhere, light rain and mountain snow showers will move into parts of the Pacific Northwest this afternoon, but Water Vapor satellite imagery (what’s that?) shows the deep tropical moisture remaining well offshore, with only a small filament of that moisture moving towards the coast. As a result, no major impacts are expected.

This morning, folks west of the Mississippi River will be treated to a total eclipse of the moon as the moon moves into Earth’s shadow. The East Coast will see a partial eclipse before the moon sets. This eclipse coincides with the point in the moon’s orbit where it is closer to Earth than usual, making the moon appear extra large (super moon) which will make the eclipse even more impressive. However, IR satellite imagery (what’s that?) shows some areas of cloud cover this morning including parts of the Central Plains as well as some of the Intermountain West. To see if your view will be obscured soon, or if your currently cloudy skies are about to clear up, check out our IR satellite loops (what’s that?) and click the map to zoom in to state or even county level.

For more information on your local forecast: https://weather.us/

For more information on the local forecast for ME/NH: https://forecasterjack.com/2018/01/31/cool-with-increasing-clouds-today-2/

-Jack