Dad has been writing about the weather out on the west coast as of late. I thought that I would give my two cents as to what is happening here in the great lakes at the same time. The big thing is teleconnections. This happens all the time in meteorology. As something happens in one part of the world something else happens in another. In this case, there is an area of low pressure in the jet stream over the Pac NW and there is now high pressure in the jet stream over the Great Lakes. To see this I have provided this morning’s 250mb upper air chart from the RAP UCAR site.
Note how the jet stream (the multicolored band) dips south of Oregon and then goes north in the Plains and is way north of the Great Lakes. While Mom and Dad, Amy and Brendon, are cool and damp, we here in the great north woods have bee sweltering today in 90+F heat. The jet stream is a divider of cold air and warm air. If you are south of the polar jet you are warm and if you are north of the jet then you are cold. So there you have it, as the low moves into the Pacific Northwest, we get high pressure in the Great Lakes. That’s a simple teleconnection. There are more out there.

Posted by Jeff, really.