Since the 15th of January, much of South Dakota has been above average for both day time highs and overnight lows. The temperatures that have been recorded, for day time highs, are typical for March while overnight lows have been ranging from 10-22° above normal. The reason is because a ridge has set up over much of the Plains. What is a ridge? Its when the jetstream inclines and, underneath the incline, are warmer temperatures. Below, the picture of the Northern Hemisphere, the orange areas are warmer temperature anomalies while the blue areas are cooler temperature anomalies. Another warm up, well above average is expected to start next week. Though the last half of January has been warm, February is fast approaching and, with it, cooler temperatures return as well. The Climate Prediction Center is forecasting the ridge moving more west, meaning cooler air will move into portions of the United States that have been abnormally warm for the last half of January.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 00:59:41 +0000