Closing Bonnet Carre, Still Wary About Effects...

With such clear skies offering great satellite views of our muddy Mississippi, I thought I'd begin with the Spillway closing.  As the slow falls on the river continue (another minor rise is coming), The Army Corps of Engineers continue closing the bays so that all should be done by tomorrow.  With the River remaining high for the next 2-3 weeks, seepage will occur so not all the flow will suddenly end.

A couple of things jumped out at me on these views.  The top one shows the massive flow of muddy waters around us, but also the flow coming out of Mobile Bay from recent rains.  The middle picture shows how clear the waters are on the west side of the River versus the eastern side.  In addition, you see a brighter plomb  out of the middle of lower Plaquemine Parish on what is now called "Mardi Gras Pass".   In the bottom picture, the muddy flow from the Spillway covers most of Lake Pontchartrain, through Lake Borgne and now along the Mississippi coast into St. Louis Bay.  Some of that muddy flow might be from the rivers flowing into the Bay, but regardless, Mississippi Sound's water clarity looks awful.   I'll be watching to see how quickly Mother Nature repairs the damage caused by opening the Spillway this year.  

There is a large upper low centered near Dayton with moisture surging northward on the eastern side and cooler, much drier air being pulled southward on the west side of the low.

You can see how chilly(40s & 50s) it's under those clouds and showers, while back in the sunshine & higher sun angle it's in the 70s all the way up into Montana & North Dakota.

As long as the center of the high is to our west, we'll continue to enjoy the lower humidity. Note the dew points in the 40s all the way down into south Texas.   Too bad we're wasting this great weather as this would be another weekend of Jazz Fest.

In fact, look how all of the low level moisture has been pushed way down into the Gulf.   We will see a couple more cool fronts in May, but one this nice won't return until next October.   Do get outside for yard work, car washing or, like me, Happy Hour (it's been extended to 2 hours now!) as this feel will be memories soon.  Stay home, stay healthy and stay tuned!