Happy Hump Day everyone! I have been getting this question frequently over the last few days; Are We Done With Winter? We are definitely on the tail of Ole’ Man Winter and our cold, snowy days are very numbered. However, the LRC is has consistently shown our late season cool down in April, with temperatures dipping down well below freezing. As you can see here below, a few guidance numbers from the LRC Dashboard shows 2 to 4 days of low temperatures well below the 32° mark;
As you all know, the LRC is the biggest piece of the atmospheric puzzle. There are smaller influences that we look at daily to see what impact it may have on our LRC model. Once such influence is the AO Index (Arctic Oscillation). When the index is in the positive position, the cold air is tightly wound up at the North Pole, and very tough for it to expand further south into the Midwest. If it is in the negative area, means it is loosely wound and can be picked up easier by the jet stream and storm systems and slam into the USA. Notice in the graphic below how around April 1st, the trend of the AO is to push negative once again. This could end up sending some much colder temperatures down into the Midwest.
This is in line with the LRC Dashboard as well. This gives up rather high confidence of another cold snap in April, before spring begins to take hold in our area. So be careful of sensitive plants and outdoor gardens. This beautiful weather is easy to catch the fever for spring, but Ole’ Man Winter just doesn’t want to let go quite yet. Our next blog we will be discussing how we could enter into EL Nino’ phase and maybe a strong one for this summer/fall/winter, and how it will affect the LRC Model and our weather. Subby
