Our warming trend has arrived...highs Fri. through the weekend will be near or a little above 80 degrees. A weakening cool front will move into the area over the weekend & is the only possible fly in the ointment regarding a perfect weekend of weather. There should be just enough atmospheric moisture Sat. to trigger a few showers in the afternoon & evening. With the help of the peak heating of the day, an isolated thundershower is not out of the question west & northwest of Jax but rainfall amounts will not be great. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we see quite a bit of virga -- a weather phenomenon that occurs when rain drops from a cloud falls through a dry atmosphere resulting in what looks like streaks of clouds extending from the cloud as most -- if not all -- rain evaporates before reaching the ground.
Look at the NASA infra-red satellite from Thu. afternoon. The mid latitude cyclone (low pressure) that initially developed north of the Bahamas early in the week -- via a strong full latitude trough that crossed the U.S. over a week's time -- has become a strong ocean storm resembling a tropical system. The low pressure remains, however, a cold core system with lots of wind & waves as it moves north. The storm will slowly turn more northeast & weaken the next few days but will be potentially dangerous for ships in the N. Atlantic. This storm helped drive the cold air of recent days southward into Florida & brought an unseasonable chill to the Northern Bahamas with severe wave action which has since subsided.
April weather proverbs from the Farmer's Almanac:
** A cold and moist April fills the cellar and fattens the cow.
** Better April showers than the breadth of the ocean in gold.
** In April, each drop counts for a thousand. –Spanish proverb
** April rain is worth David’s chariot. –French proverb
** Moist April, clear June.
** A rainbow in spring indicates fair weather for the next 24 to 42 hours.
** Expect rain if hens spread and ruffle their tail feathers.
Our Jax N.W.S. has an informative (nice job Angie!) write-up regarding the severe weather -- specifically a bow echo -- a couple of weeks ago on April 5th. Click here.
NOAA has released their March weather summary. Though a little below avg. (37th coolest vs. the 20th century avg.) for the Continental U.S., the avg. global temp. was well above avg. -- highest on record in fact.
.....NOAA: U.S. Temperatures Near Average in March as Global Land Temperature Sets Record Western U.S. ........
Snowpack Healthiest in a Decade
An analysis by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center shows that the average temperature for March in the contiguous United States ranked near average for the past 113 years. It was the 63rd warmest March since record-keeping began in the United States in 1895.
The average global land temperature last month was the warmest on record and ocean surface temperatures were the 13th warmest. Combining the land and the ocean temperatures, the overall global temperature ranked the second warmest for
the month of March. Global temperature averages
have been recorded since 1880.
The complete analysis is available online .
U.S. Temperature Highlights
* In the contiguous United States, the average temperature for March was 42°F, which was 0.4°F below the 20th century mean, ranking it as the 63rd warmest March on record, based on preliminary data. * Only Rhode Island, New Mexico and Arizona were warmer than average, while near-average temperatures occurred in 39 other states. The monthly temperature for Alaska was the 17th warmest on record, with an average temperature 3.8°F above the 1971-2000 mean.
* The broad area of near-average temperatures kept the nation's overall temperature-related residential energy demand for March near average, based on NOAA's Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index.
U.S. Precipitation Highlights
* Snowpack conditions dropped in many parts of the West in March, but in general, heavy snowfall during December-February has left the western snow pack among the healthiest in more than a decade, with most locations near to above average.
* Nine states from Oklahoma to Vermont were much wetter than average, with Missouri experiencing its second wettest March on record. Much of the month's precipitation fell March 17-20, when an intense storm system moved slowly from the southern Plains through the southern Midwest.
* Rainfall amounts in a 48-hour period totaled
13.84 inches in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and 12.32 inches in Jackson, Mo. The heavy rainfall combined with previously saturated ground resulted in widespread major flooding of rivers and streams from the Missouri Ozarks eastward into southern Indiana.
* From March 7-9, eight to 12 inches of snow fell from Louisville, Ky., to central Ohio. In Columbus, an all-time greatest 24-hour snowfall of 15.5 inches broke the old record of 12.3 inches set on April 4, 1987.
* In the Southeast, a powerful tornado moved through downtown Atlanta on March 14, causing significant damage to many buildings. This was one of 90 tornado reports from the Southeast in March.
* Rainfall in the middle of March improved drought conditions in much of the Southeast, but moderate-to-extreme drought still remained in more than 59 percent of the region.
* In the western U.S., the weather pattern in March bore a greater resemblance to a typical La Niña, with especially dry conditions across Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California. March was extremely dry in much of California, tying as the driest in 68 years at the Sacramento airport with
0.05 inches, a 2.75 inch departure from average.
Global Highlights
* The global land surface temperature was the warmest on record for March, 3.3°F above the 20th century mean of 40.8°F. Temperatures more than 8°F above average covered much of the Asian continent. Two months after the greatest January snow cover extent on record on the Eurasian continent, the unusually warm temperatures led to rapid snow melt, and March snow cover extent on the Eurasian continent was the lowest on record.
* The global surface (land and ocean surface) temperature was the second warmest on record for March in the 129-year record, 1.28°F above the 20th century mean of 54.9°F. The warmest March on record (1.33°F above average) occurred in 2002.
* Although the ocean surface average was only the 13th warmest on record, as the cooling influence of La Niña in the tropical Pacific continued, much warmer than average conditions across large parts of Eurasia helped push the global average to a near record high for March.
* Despite above average snowpack levels in the U.S., the total Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent was the fourth lowest on record for March, remaining consistent with boreal spring conditions of the past two decades, in which warming temperatures have contributed to anomalously low snow cover extent.
* Some weakening of La Niña, the cold phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, occurred in March, but moderate La Niña conditions remained across the tropical Pacific Ocean.
