Day 40: Warm Air Heading South?
Above is this morning’s 12 UTC (6 AM CST) surfact analysis (essentially, what was occurring at the surface). A very strong surface low pressure was centered over far eastern Iowa, and an associated cold front extended to the south. In winter, this isn’t atypical, so why have I chosen to feature it? Well, the cyclone is so strong that it was able to wrap the warm air all the way around the north side of the low pressure system. The stationary front (alternating blue and red) that extends to the northwest of the surface low is what is left of the warm front that would normally be found to the east of the low pressure center. If you look at the temperatures north of the stationary front you will find temperatures in the low-to-mid 20s. South of this stationary front, you will find temperatures below zero.
As the low pressure moves off to the southeast throughout the day, northerly winds will bring warmer air into central Iowa. Completely opposite of the cold air we normally expect from north winds!
Note: The blue arrow is the movement of the cold air, and the red arrow is the movement of the warm air.
About Patrick
Patrick Marsh is a Ph.D. student at the University of Oklahoma's School of Meteorology. He earned a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics and Physics (cum laude) from the University of Arkansas in 2005 and a Masters of Science in Meteorology in 2007. In addition to working on his doctorate, Patrick serves as the National Severe Storms Laboratory Liaison to the Hazardous Weather Testbed where his research interests lie in working with operational forecasters, data mining, data visualization, and all things high-impact weather. For more about Patrick's work, check out his complete CV!
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