Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Whats an "atmospheric block" & why is it a problem?

It is feeling like fall (finally) around Kansas and although we've been able to change up our temperatures a bit, we are not going to be change the dry pattern for awhile. It's something we will be stuck with for several more days. What's going on?

It's called a "block" in the pattern and here's how it works. You have a "high" and "low" pressure system stacked on top of one another, essentially backing everything up. It doesn't allow new systems from the west to move east, so you're basically stuck with what you've got. Until either the high or low weakens enough to clear the area, you are basically stuck. This particular setup is what we call a "rex block", but there are other variations.

Another kind of block is called an "omega" block, shaped like the Greek alphabet letter.

The important part of this block is that we aren't going to see any dramatic shifts in our weather to finish off September. Dry weather is not going away soon and it may be another two weeks before chances of rain show up in the Plains. Just look at the map below - that's the precipitation forecast for the next 10 days. 

Another cold front will arrive on Friday - but no rain with it either. Temperatures may cool down slightly, but it will not be as cool as what Kansas is experiencing now.

As we finish off the month of September, it does appear to be warmer than normal. From Texas to the US/Canada border, it will be quite warm with highs mostly in the 80s. Looks like fall will be on hold yet again.

 Have a great day. I'll continue to dig into the data and see when rain might be coming back and post some maps later this week.

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