A warmup is coming

While our March type weather continues across NE Ohio, it looks like a warmup is set for next week.  Our normal daytime highs should be in the low 60s.  I think next week we're going to be able to hit that mark.  Daytime highs should be in the 60s with even a day or two in the 70s.  Rain is still in the forecast, but in general next week will be a lot better than this week.  WooHoo!

Mother Nature's mood swings continue

It's going to be another one of those weeks...Mother Nature is going to go through more mood swings. Temperatures are going to start off the week below normal...then, on Wednesday, we will get this surge of warm air that will bounce the daytime high up to 70 or higher. That will be followed by a drop of 20 degrees on Thursday as the temperature only gets into the 50s. And, just to make it fun, we may get to experience some severe weather midweek as the jet stream races right over top of us while on the surface the warm and cold air clash. Wonderful!

So you ask, when is it going to get warm and stay warm? That may not happen until mid-May. Sorry.

Finally it's warm!

Finally I think we're turned the corner.  That's not to say that cool temperatures are not in the forecast, but even seasonal temperatures are not that bad compared to the past few weeks. Our normal high for mid-April should be in the upper 50s and then in the mid 60s by the end of the month.

While today (Sunday) and tomorrow will be considerably above normal temperature-wise, we will drop back to reality on Tuesday. A fairly rigorous cold front is due to cross the state Monday afternoon and that's going to bring with it some thunderstorms. Actually, we may have some left over overnight storms during the morning and then some new ones during the afternoon. Some of those afternoon storms could become a bit nasty. You will want to keep up with the forecast tomorrow, but expect to hear the sound of thunder as you go through your day. That's not a bad thing. It just means that summer is closer.

Slow warming begins next week

So the snow Wednesday evening was really annoying, but aside from that, everyone I talked with thought it was kinda pretty.  LOL Well, sunshine and spring flowers are pretty, too and I would much rather see them than the snow this time of year.

I looks like a slow warm-up is going to begin next week.  Don't expect a warm temperature surge, but rather a gradual trend upward through the middle of the month. We may have a couple of days well into the 60s, but only one or two.

Temperatures will start to push toward normal next week. Our normal daytime high should in the mid 50s next week increasing to the upper 50s by mid-April.  It's going to be a hard crawl, but I think we can make it.  Just hang in there, little buddy.   :-)

Warmer temperatures where art thou?

OK...enough of this already! Unfortunately, we apparently have not yet had enough, at least according to Mother Nature. I just checked out the long range models for the next two weeks and sadness has befallen me. Looks like we are going to remain below normal.

The problem we have had this weekend is that a nice cold Canadian HIGH pressure system is located to our northwest and has been pumping lots cold air over the Great Lakes. These morning lows in the mid-teens are really annoying.

Daytime high temperatures this coming week will start to trend upwards beginning mid-week, but in general we will remain below our weekly average high. I am seeing some hope for the first week of April. It looks like we could finally get up close to normal for daytime highs.  For the record, the normal daytime high during the first week of April is in the mid 50s. I can live with that, but don't bet the farm just yet.

Oh, remember last year?  If not, here's how we started off April:

April 1st - High 79
April 2nd - High 82
April 3rd - High 80

Ah...if we could only re-live those days again.  :-)

Stay warm!

The long, long winter...this year compared to last year

I've had a lot of people ask me about this current winter. They seem think that it has gone on "forever".  ("Forever" is a relative term, of course.) Well, it has seemed to have been a long one. That being said, I figured it was time (on this first day of spring) to go back and compare this winter with last winter.  This may surprise you, but the total snowfall difference from December 1 to March 20 this winter compared to last winter is officially less than 2".

For purposes of comparison I'm going to use the official snowfall figures from the National Weather Service at Akron/Canton Regional Airport.  Of course northern Portage and Summit counties received much more snow do to lake effect, but the general pattern is the same. We just had more of it up north. (Note that, according to the Record-Courier newspaper, Dr. Thomas Schmidlin of Kent State University has measured 116" of snow in Kent so far this winter, but that's the snow belt for you.)

From December 1, 2009 to March 20, 2010 (last winter) we officially had 61.2" of snow.  For the same period this winter we had 62.9" of snow. That's less than 2" inches difference.

So, looking at the similarity in snowfall amounts, why does this winter seem so bad? There's a good reason.  This year each month (December through February) had similar amounts of snowfall. (See the chart below) Last winter, we had more snow in February alone than we did in the two previous months combined. So, while last year most of the snow fell in one month (February), this year it has fallen more evenly and consistently throughout the winter, thus making it seem that this winter has gone on forever.

So, there ya go!

                         Last Winter          This Winter

December              9.3"                      19.5"        

January                 14.7"                     18.9"

February               37.2"                     18.4"

March (1-20)        Trace                      6.1"


TOTAL                61.2"                    62.9"

A touch of Spring

Spring officially arrives this Sunday and it actually looks like it's going to be a pleasant day.

As expected, we turned the corner this week temperature-wise.  We are heading into a warmer period, however rain is still in the forecast.  So, generally the next week and a half should average out to be warm and wet.