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Forecast Discussion: Current Conditions: As of 2 PM on Friday, overcast skies prevail over the region as the frontal system, which drove through our area in the overnight hours, continues to drive off to our east. At the same time, a new area of high pressure is building in over the Midwest / Great Plains area. It is the combination of these two systems that has turned our winds out of the north and allowed a much cooler and drier air mass to begin to build in. In fact, temperatures right now are 25 to 30 degrees colder than this same time yesterday. Talk about a shock to the system... The resulting change in air mass has forced ozone and PM 2.5 levels to fall into the good range. Expect this trend to continue through much of the weekend as the area of high pressure over the Plains dominates our weather. We could see air quality levels rise next week as higher pressure builds in over our area. Now onto the day-to-day details... *** On Saturday, the skies will turn mostly sunny as an area of high pressure continues to slowly migrate east across the Plains. This high combined with an upper level of low pressure will help to keep northerly winds over the region. The northerly winds will, in turn, force cooler, drier air into the region. Afternoon highs are slated to reach into the low 60s. The advection of air from Canada will be relatively clean in nature. Therefore, expect ozone and PM 2.5 levels to remain within the good threshold. *** For Sunday, mostly sunny skies will persist through much of the day as the area of high pressure, which was over the Great Lakes on Saturday, begins to move into our area. As a result, expect the winds to die down (when compared to Saturday) and temperatures to warm. Afternoon highs are likely to peak in the upper 60s. Ozone and PM 2.5 levels are likely to stay within the good range, thanks to the relatively dry air mass in place over western PA. *** On Memorial Day, expect sunny skies to continue to persist over the region as the area of high pressure, that has been to our west since Friday, finally pushes in over the Mid-Atlantic. This high will not only keep the skies relatively cloud free but will allow temperatures to climb back into the low 70s. Even with the warmer temperatures, dewpoint temperatures will be on the low side. Therefore, expect another day of good air quality to result. *** For Tuesday, the skies will begin to turn mostly cloudy as a warm front presses through the region. A disturbance moving along the warm front will help to trigger shower development over the area. Once the warm front has pushed off to our north and east, expect the winds to turn more out of the southwest. The southwesterly winds will then allow for an influx of even warmer, more humid air into the area. Expect afternoon temperatures to peak in the upper 70s. The combination of the cloud cover and rain during the day should keep ozone levels confined to the good range. However, we will likely see PM 2.5 levels increase as |
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