Northeast warmth may last until next week
1. A very strong ridge has built over the Northeast states and is helping to direct warm air into the region from the southwest. I circled a 5950 height observation on the following map (it is printed at 595 on the map because by convention the trailing 0 is not plotted). If we saw heights like that in July, we would expect afternoon temperatures from DC to Boston between 90 and 100 degrees. As it is, with longer nights, it cools more than in the summer, and with lower sun angles during day, there is less solar heating. In the West, a strong trough has paved the way for mountain snowfall from Montana to Colorado.
2. The surface pressure analysis shows a strong high sloping the Northeast coast. The pressure difference between the high and low pressure areas to the west and south have produced some windy conditions. In Florida, Vero Beach and Fort Lauderdale have reported wind gusts just over 30 mph during the morning. The flow turns around and becomes southerly over the Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes, pumping warmer and more humid air northward.
3. The national map shows snow in Montana, a plume of moisture drifting northeastward from East Texas and Louisiana as well as a show and thunderstorm zone over Iowa, Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
Video:
Elliot Abrams' Video Blog
