WEST MICHIGAN (April 27, 2014) — As our FOX 17 weather team has been mentioning the past few days, a slow-moving upper level low pressure will meander in to the Midwest and Great Lakes and control our weather much of this upcoming week. That means keep a trench coat and umbrella handy. It will NOT be raining all of the time, but I envision between one and two inches of rain falling over the next five or six days.
The National Weather Service has already posted a WIND ADVISORY for much of the area from 8AM Monday through 8PM Monday. We’ll see 20 to 30 mph sustained winds (from the east) with gusts of 45 to 50 possible.
These slow-moving upper level low pressure systems are simply cold pools of air aloft. Warmer air below these systems (closer to the ground) is more buoyant and wants to rise. Consequently, that creates instability and the rising air cools, condenses, and forms precipitation. For you weather geeks, upper level lows are best scene on our computer forecast model map at the 500 millibar level (or around 18,000 feet). See below. The map is valid for Tuesday morning. Note the big low pressure system over northern Missouri and associated trough over the nation’s mid-section.
By the time this system lifts out of the Great Lakes late Friday/early Saturday, another disturbance may be approaching later Sunday on the heels of the departing low with more rain chances late in the day. Stay informed! Get the complete West Michigan forecast at www.fox17online.com/weather.
