Omega Block Is Why We're So Hot...

After a wonderful weekend in Boston attending the U.S. Open Golf tourney, I'm back into the heat of summer, which officially arrives tomorrow morning at 4:13 AM.  Thought you'd get a chuckle of how I looked dressed with 4 layers as temps stayed in the high 50s with 10-15 mph winds.  Couldn't believe how many wore shorts as I was freezing!

No, that is NOT Sean Payton sitting behind me!  I plotted the upper wind flow over the satellite loop that has a big trough over the western states, a huge ridge over the central plains and another deep trough along the East coast.  In meteorology, we call this an "Omega block" since the flow resembles the Greek letter Omega.   It's called a block since it often doesn't move much and can last for several weeks. blocking the typical west to east flow across the country.

Rotating around the upper high are several T-Storm complexes that often are called "ring of fire".  The modern language calls them "ridge riders".   If we can get the upper high to shift slightly westward, perhaps we can get one of these clusters to come drench & cool us?  Of course the media is over-hyping this current heat wave.  It's hot for sure, but we're heading into late June and it's SUPPOSED  to be hot.

Bruce had a graphic that showed how warm this June has been.

Only 2 days have been below normal/average with the next 3 days flirting with record heat.

The big surface high over the east is pumping the hot, humid air up to the Canadian border.  Note Minneapolis is 95 with a 70 dew point, almost just like us!   We have seen a few brief storms around today and that has helped cool down some folks.

If you're looking for some relief at this time of the year, you need to do what I did...get on a plane and head to where it's cooler.  the 7 day offers little encouragement, in fact pushing 100 later this week.

Finally, the Tropics remain quiet in our part of the world.  The Atlantic is quiet which is typical for June.  The Pacific has been more active, but the last 2 storms have stayed away from the Mexican coast.

Computer models are keeping the Atlantic & Caribbean quiet into early July.   I still think the total number of storms this year will be closer to normal/average (14) than the 18-22 most hurricane experts are calling for.  The longer we go without any named storms the better.  Glad to be back and hope you stay tuned!