A BLUSTERY DAY IN THE NORTHEAST -- A storm system that intensified along the East Coast late Sunday night continued to move northward on Monday, accompanied by strong winds and heavy precipitation. By late Monday night the low pressure center was located in central Quebec. An occluded front curved southeastward across the Maritimes before becoming a cold front over the North Atlantic Ocean. The central pressure was approximately 987 mb.
As the storm system deepened with a reduction in central pressure, the pressure gradient became greater, as indicated by the tight packing in the isobars on Monday night's surface weather analyses. As a result, strong winds were found to circulate around the low. Wind damage from the high winds were reported across southern New Hampshire and eastern Massachusetts, where a 77 mph gust was observed at Blue Hill Observatory in Milton, MA, a Boston suburb on Monday morning. Other locations on nearby Cape Cod had winds approaching 70 mph. Gusty west winds continued into late Monday night across New England and New York State.
On the east side of the storm, the air was sufficiently warm so rain initially fell across New England. Because of the heavy rain, coupled with snow melt, flood watches were issued for much of New England, especially the Connecticut Valley. In the cold northerly winds to the west of the storm, heavy snow fell across portions of Upstate New York, and northern New England. Some of the snow was lake-enhanced especially over the downwind sections of New York State, with Montague located in the Tug Hill Plateau to the east of Lake Ontario reporting 24 inches of snow on Monday. Other locations had on the order of 12 inches.
The low pressure system is expected to continue to move northward, reaching a position to the east of Hudson Bay by Tuesday morning. The winds should weaken slightly and the snow should diminish except for northern Maine.
UNSETTLED WEATHER MOVES ACROSS THE PLAINS -- A relatively small storm system developed early Monday morning on the lee slopes of the central Rockies and moved eastward across the Plains. During the day the storm system produced a variety of precipitation to include rain, ice pellets (also know sleet) and snow from Nebraska into Iowa and Missouri. Thunderstorms with large hail moved across central Oklahoma on Monday evening. As of late Monday night, the storm system had two low pressure centers located over central Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. A warm front extended eastward across the lower Mississippi Valley. A broad area of rain was found to the north of the warm front, extending across southern Missouri and southern Illinois. Snow continued across northern Missouri and southern Iowa.
The low pressure system should move eastward, reaching northern Arkansas by Tuesday morning. The area of precipitation on the north side of the low is anticipated to spread eastward along the Ohio Valley. In the warm air to the south of the low, a slight risk of severe thunderstorms is expected on Tuesday for central and east Texas.
WET WEATHER ACROSS THE WEST -- An extensive region of precipitation accompanying a cold front stretched along the Pacific Coast from Puget Sound south to San Francisco Bay on Monday night. The cold front that had made landfall along the coast earlier on Monday morning, trailed from a storm system that was located off the British Columbia coast north of Vancouver Island. A stream of rainshowers continued to move northward along the front.
The cold front is expected to dissipate after moving farther inland on early Tuesday. Widespread precipitation should continue across the West. A heavy surf advisory was continued along a portion of the California coast from Point Piedras Blancas to Point Conception through midafternoon on Tuesday as northwest swell with heights between 11 and 13 feet was reaching the coast.
TEMPERATURE EXTREMES IN THE LOWER 48 -- The lowest temperature in the lower 48 states on Monday was 7 degrees at Silver Bay, MN and Monday's highest temperature was 92 degrees at Lajitas, Presido and Wink, TX.
ALASKAN WEATHER -- A potent storm system continued to move across the eastern Bering Sea on Monday, passing to the southeast of the Pribilofs during the afternoon. By later in the evening, this system was expected to approach the western portions of the Alaska Peninsula. With central pressures near 976 mb and a tight pressure gradient surrounding the storm system, strong wind gusts of at least 35 mph were found associated with the system. This storm system has had a history of strong winds and blizzard conditions, with winds gusting to near 100 mph at several locations in the Aleutians on Sunday night. Adak had winds over 60 mph on Monday morning. By late Monday afternoon, winds had weakened and Shemya in the western Aleutians had gusts to 40 mph. These winds have reduced visibility in blowing snow along the coast of the Kuskokwim Delta. A stationary front that ran along the length of the Panhandle was responsible for clouds and precipitation. Rain fell at Annette. Except for the Upper Kobuk and Koyukuk Valleys where sunny skies were found, much of the state was overcast.
Monday morning's overnight lowest temperature across the state was 14 degrees below zero at Barrow and Barter Island. The midafternoon high was 52 degrees at Metlakatla.
HAWAIIAN WEATHER -- Brisk trade winds spiraling out of a ridge of high pressure to the northwest of Hawaii continued to dominate the weather across the islands on Monday. A slight westward shift in the region of the strongest packing of the isobars (reflecting pressure differences in the horizontal) on the southern flank of the high pressure cell has meant that the region of strongest trade winds has moved away from the islands, resulting in a slight reduction in wind speeds of the islands. Trade showers continued over the windward sections of Maui and the Big Island. Gale warnings were posted for the Alenuihaha Channel between the Big Island and Maui. Small craft advisories continued for state waters. The buoy moored near Kauai indicated northwest ocean swell of sufficient height so as to keep high surf advisories in effect for the northwest shores of the islands until Tuesday.
REPORT FROM THE FIELD -- Jim Brey, Scientist-in-Residence at AMS Education, reported from Hawaii on Monday while attending a geographer's conference. He said that the weather was blustery and that heavy rain fell on the Hilo or windward side of the Big Island. He also saw some unique water spout like vortices while on the Kohala side. While at Waikoloa at an elevation of 1,000 feet above sea level, Jim noted that the trade winds funnel down through the saddle between Kohala and Mauna Kea, with the constriction producing winds to more than 40 mph. These winds are locally known as the Hamakua winds. Temperatures there were at about 78 degrees but 88 degrees down by the beach.
FROM DOWN UNDER -- A powerful tropical cyclone called Vance made landfall on Australia's northwest coast on Tuesday. A cyclone is the Indian Ocean equivalent of a hurricane, an organized low pressure system that develops over tropical waters. At speeds reaching 140 mph (equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Intensity Scale), Cyclone Vance caused damage to coastal communities. Hardest hit was the town of Exmouth, 780 miles northwest of Perth. One person was missing.
WORLD METEOROLOGY DAY -- Did you know that today is World Meteorology Day? This day is designated to celebrate the anniversary of the establishment of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on 23 March 1950. The WMO is an agency within the United Nations. The theme of this year's World Meteorology Day is "Weather, climate and health" . Yesterday, the 22nd, was designated the annual World Day for Water, with the theme this year being "Everyone lives downstream".
CLOUD IDENTIFICATION -- For more information describing various aids that you can use in identifying clouds, you may consult the optional material in Tuesday's optional electronic Supplemental Information .
From the files of the Aviation Weather Center, Kansas City, MO and Intellicast
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Prepared by Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 1999, The American Meteorological Society.