Finally A Dry Break Coming...

In watching most local weathercasters, they are very good at telling you the HOW & WHEN, but rarely talk about the WHY.   This wet pattern that we have been in for the past 10-14 days can be traced to a locked in "Omega Block" in the upper air along the West coast.  It produces clear skies there while we stay under a repeated storm track.

Finally models are showing a change coming that should mean much of the next two weeks will be dry with only one or two rainy days due to cold fronts pushing through.

The top graphic is this morning's upper air flow showing the trough off the West Coast with the big upper high extending from Canada down to California.  There remains a trough over the Great Lakes that has deepened slightly forcing the old frontal boundary southward into the Gulf giving us a dry day with even some sunny breaks.   The middle graphic is valid for next Sunday showing the upper western Ridge flattened (gone) with a slight trough over us.  The bottom graphic is valid for the following Sunday (2 weeks) showing a trough over the East Coast that should keep us mainly dry and pleasant, a welcomed change from our recent rainy spell.

Updating where we stay with 2 weeks left in April finds our monthly rain total now at 12.84".  Looking at the above chart clearly has us in 5th place with the potential to easily move into the top 3.  I think we might challenge for number one since I see several more cold fronts coming before the end of this month.  Our next good rain chance arrives for next weekend.

As you can see, most of this week looks dry and pleasant with no signs of real warmth coming.  Our normal/average high is around 80 and we should stay below that for awhile.

Another cold surge is plunging out of Canada that will produce more late April snows from the Rockies (Denver 3-6") across the central Plains into the Great Lakes (Chicago).  We best enjoy our pleasantly cool temperatures because we know what is coming by mid May.  Stay tuned!