Chicago Storm

I know Ricky briefly touched on part of it...But why has it been so consistently mild/warm, and why will it generally continue into late month? The combination of a bigly/massive Pac jet, the MJO progressing through warmer phases, and the lack of consistent blocking of some sorts. Changes are in the future, though, including some significant stratospheric warming on deck. Will touch on that early next week...

Winds of change are on the horizon… .

your first mistake was subscribing to his blog. .

looking like the palm tree will go un-boxed into january. this will be the first such time since i've had it, which dates back to 2008 or so.

Solid agreement on ENS means for two weeks out. Merry Christmas. .

My in-depth thoughts... Punt till January.

I'd have waited another day or so on this one, due to the pattern. The 18z GFS is what you'd expect to get in this progressive pattern for much of our region...a glorified FROPA.

0.3" ORD, 0.1" MDW and 0.7" RFD with the snow overnight/this morning.

A dusting to 1.5" of snow is still on tap area wide through the morning, with the disturbance/storm system moving through.

For the stuff that isn't thread worthy...

I wouldn't get too caught up in the potential revolving around next weekend for several more days. We're shifting into a fairly progressive pattern, and there are several pieces that need to be well placed for things to work out. Guidance is a go for now...We'll see how things look come Wednesday/Thursday.

Everything favors a progressive pattern, so I wouldn't expect to see that cutoff idea come back and see reality.

that makes zero sense.

We'll be kicking off the calendar flip from November to December with a pattern that actually has some potential if you're looking for wintry weather. The main question is...Will it produce? We are quickly transitioning from one major pattern shift, which is bringing the current wintry period, to another major pattern shift. Similar to the current pattern, this next change will also be fairly short in duration, lasting only a week or so. This new pattern is very complex, blocky, and active all in one. We are seeing a fast-developing, potent -NAO ridge in the vicinity of Greenland, with a PV lobe trapped beneath it, anchored around the Hudson. Further west and south, we will be seeing a formidable -PNA develop for a time, with a fair bit of troughing in the west and also a slight flexing of the Southeast ridge. The -NAO/Hudson PV lobe combo will keep cold temperatures within reach and keep any potential activity from being too far northwest, while the Western troughing will provide numerous disturbances that will eject out across the country. On paper, this period has potential, but at the same time, it has the same amount of potential to feature strung-out/flat messes as well. In other words, keep a watch on things and don't rule out a surprise.

it snowed two days ago.

Haven't had much time to discuss it, but as hinted to in a response to a post from Josh post about two weeks ago, after Thanksgiving was a period to watch for wintry conditions...and that is indeed what we have seen unfold. This wintry period is a product of a potent -NAO and Alaskan ridge pairing, which dislodged a PV lobe, sending it south and anchoring around the Hudson. Albeit brief, this is a fairly significant pattern shift than has been seen this new season thus far. We have another significant pattern shift already in the process of unfolding. Will have more on that tomorrow...

1.8" was indeed the final storm total at ORD. 0.8" at MDW and 1.5" at RFD.

Total of 1.8” at ORD as of noon, which will likely be the final storm total. Eyeballing ~1.5-2” here at home .

The first widespread event of the season is on tap for tonight and Sunday, across a decent chunk of the sub-forum. Guidance has trended towards slightly better phasing between the southern trough/wave coming out of the Plains and a northern trough/wave along the Canada/Northern Plains border. Looks like a widespread 1-3” event. .

Wednesday and Thursday featured top notch weather around here for a week before Thanksgiving, with both days featuring highs in the mid-60's and ample sun. We've reached the point where there's an abnormal amount of foliage still lingering, some of which is still green. Even with the cool down coming for a period of time after Thanksgiving, it's looking likely we'll be still carrying some foliage, some green, on into early December.

just a modest cool down, eh? and only for next week you say, huh? gonna start off the season with two L’s. hate to see it.

I’m guessing it’s some sort of burn at one of the large preserves around there. There were so many burns going on at local preserves today that there was a layer of smoke during the afternoon. It was significant enough to put it in OBS here at ORD for a while.

3.6 magnitude earthquake near I-80 in North-Central Illinois earlier this morning. .

Noticed a few bees and mosquitos around here last week. .

That’s likely a bit too early, but after that quite possibly.