Why so windy and chilly?

Perhaps I still have my southern Texas warmth lenses on, but I think it is fair to say the last few days have been sort of chilly across the Weather First area!

Looking at the last 7 days, we have really cooled things down from where we were last weekend, with temperatures starting the week in the mid 80F’s, and ending the week in the upper 60F’s. Quite the swing! But why?

Well…it is the middle of August. Whether we want to accept it or not, summer will be drawing to an end rather quickly. Colder air is building across northern Canada again. With this in mind, it appears that we are already seeing our first taste of this cooler air thanks to a potent area of low pressure swirling over the northern Great Lakes.

With the area of low pressure over The Great Lakes, and an area of high pressure to the northwest, pressure differences between the low and high pressure systems have lead to quite the pressure gradient over Minnesota. The result… gusty winds that we have been seeing today! These are also the same gusty winds bringing colder, Canadian air southward.

For those of you who, like me, think it is too soon to be seeing these cooler temperatures, you are in luck! This low pressure system will gradually move east over the coming days, and as a result, winds will diminish over our area as soon as tomorrow. This also means less cold air being brought down from Canada!

We will gradually warm things up over the coming days thanks to more sunshine, and less northwest wind. By the middle of the week, we will be back to seeing more summerlike temperatures, that will be right around or slightly above the long term average of 79F for this time of year.