Tuesday, April 26, 2011

I'm still here!

April 26, 2011
10:23 P.M.

Hey everybody, I know I haven't posted for the longest time, but those of you who know me know that I've had a ton on my plate and I simply have not had the time to keep this blog up. Everything is starting to settle down and I will have a lot more time in a couple weeks, after AP exams pass, but I just wanted you to know that this blog exists and I am still here! In addition, I will go to the University of Washington next year and study meteorology so I'll know a lot more about weather. Cliff (I should probably start calling him Professor Mass) knows me and knows about my blog and I am very, very excited to study with him next year.

I might as well give you a quick overview on the weather. We have been pretty cold this month, and I think we have only had one day above 60 this entire month, which is about average for this time of year. We have also been pretty wet. Modeling has inferred that we will see more low-lying spring clouds as a result of climate change, and it makes me wonder if we could even cool down during the spring as a result of global warming. Spring can give us all types of different weather and the temperatures we experience have much more to do with the position of the jet stream than anything else at this time of year. If global warming causes us to have cloudier (and rainier?) springs with more upper-level low pressure systems dropping down from the Gulf of Alaska, we will actually be cooler. But that is all speculation and I can't really back it up, it is an interesting thought though.

Looking at the models, it looks as though we will see yet another strong spring storm come through this Wednesday, with this one being stronger than most we have seen lately. It will also be cold, with the mountains having winter storm watches for around a foot of snow, with less at the passes but more at areas with additional elevation. After the front passes, we could see some thunderstorms Thursday as the already unstable post frontal air will be made even more unstable now that we have a springtime sun that is high in the sky and can cause additional warming, adding even more instability to the atmosphere and giving it energy in the form of latent heat. After Thursday, we will calm down and have somewhat normal temperatures and partly cloudy skies until we return to continued cool springtime showers next week.

Thanks for reading, and I plan to resume regular posting within the next couple weeks!

Charlie