The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have reported that this past January was the fourth warmest on record for the continental U.S. The average temperature this January was 36.3 °F nearly 6 degrees above average. Maybe we can turn things around this February and break some more records?!
As we approach the weekend, high pressure dominates majority of the country Thursday, which means primarily sunny skies and dry conditions. Thursday into the day Friday a blast of cold arctic air will dip down from Central Canada and drop temperatures across the Northern Plains, Midwest and into the Northeast through the weekend. Friday will also see some showers turning to snow as this system extends northeast from Texas across Arkansas and Kentucky and as far north as the western portion of the Northeast and the Great Lakes.
Cold temperatures continue to plague the Champaign-Urbana area for Thursday and Friday. During the day Thursday highs will only get to 37 °F with a morning low of 20°F. Despite the cold temperatures the clouds will clear out this evening and we will have sunny and clear skies for tomorrow. Winds will be out of the SW at 6-13 mph. The cold doesn’t go anywhere for Friday with a high of 34°F and low of 23°F, but with the wind chill temperatures will feel more like they are in the lower 20s and teens. Skies will be mostly to partly cloudy throughout the day with a chance of some snow flurries in the late afternoon and a NW turning to N wind at 10-19 mph.
My forecasted high for Thursday was exactly the actual high of 37°F, but my forecasted low was 2 degrees too cold. The wind direction was more westerly than I had said, but the average wind speed did fall in the range between 6-13 mph. On Friday my high temperature was 3 degrees too cold, while my predicted low was more off and 6 degrees warmer than the actual low of 17°F. We did see flurries that turned more to snow and accumulated up to .04." Additionally, winds did end up from the NW and were between 10-19 mph.
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