It's Not Just Cool Here...
At 4 PM ET today Philadelphia with its 63 degree reading was just one degree cooler than it was in Phoenix, where it was 64 degrees at the same time.Yep...we were almost as warm as Phoenix, yet we are running over ten degrees below normal.
Why are the two opposite corners of the country so chilly? Well, here in the East we have been dealing with an upper level trough that has been digging through Eastern Canada, slowly grinding its way east. In the west a massive ridge of high pressure had been in place with record high temperatures in Arizona and other western states.
Phoenix's average high for this time of the year is 96 -- today's high temperature was just 78. Philadelphia's record high temperature for today is 96. Our average is 74, with an actual high of 63.
A massive storm system dug down into the Western United States last night and today, firing off severe weather in Colorado with several tornado touchdowns in the Plains states. Snow fell in Northern Arizona for just the ninth time in 110 years.
At the same time, high pressure has ridged across Central Canada and has brought warm weather (by May standards) up there. This high pressure ridging will be nosed down into the United States, joining forces with a ridge that will develop across the Southern Plains as the Western trough retreats. It's this combined ridge that will bring us warmer weather early next week.
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