As has been the case for the past few weeks, a persistent ridge across central and/or western (sometimes) Canada is impeding flow and creating some unseasonal weather for parts of the United States.
In the latest installment of our containment story, we once again see an Omega Block attempt to form. This caused the depression to persist in both the Southwest and Northeastern United States while the drought persisted in the North Central United States.
As far as temperature goes, yesterday’s anomaly tells the story pretty well.
We see much higher than average temperatures in North-Central US/Central US and into Central Canada, where the ice sheet is. In the Northeast and into the Mid-Atlantic as well as the Southwest, we see much lower than average temperatures as the lows persist.
Unfortunately, this pattern won’t change much as we progress through the week.
For the Corn Belt region, this is not great news.
The drought continued to widen as the ridges stretched further. Any meaningful rainfall, drought is unlikely to be found anywhere.
Yes, there will be a chance of rain midweek as a cold front in the back door sags the area as it moves back west. But in general, total rainfall looking to stay under an inch through the weekend.
Speaking of an upgrading ridge, the ridge currently perched over North Central America and Central Canada will move west around midweek.
This will transfer the thermal core from the North-Central US to the Northwestern US and Southwestern Canada. Temperatures across the board could be 10 to 20 degrees above average during the mid/half weekend.
If you’re looking for summer temperatures, one place you don’t want to go this week is the Northeast.
As the low trough continues to dominate, temperatures will be much below average and showers will continue into the weekend. Forget swimming or sunbathing; Get those sweaters out!
Further south and west, an active subtropical jet stream will bring much disturbance to the Southern Plains and Western Mountains.
While there is only the possibility of individual severe weather events, there is a risk of flash flooding between today (Monday) through Wednesday in the Southern High Plains. Lots of slow moving rains the ground is saturated will likely cause some flooding problems in this area over the next three days.
Additionally, this continued decline will create a small risk of flash flooding in the Northern California/Great Basin area as rainfall is also expected here.
For the most part, the pattern won’t change much this week as the blocking continues. In fact, we could be “stuck” in a similar pattern until mid-June. We’ll keep you updated as we move forward!
About the author
Meghan Gulledge
Meteorologist – ’22 Mississippi State Writer for Weather.us and Weathermodels.com. Focus on weather communication. BoyMom x1, CatMom ​​x5. Twitter: @MegGulledgeWX
