WMD Greetings!

Have you hugged a meteorologist today? As noted here in the past, March 23 is World Meteorological Day. This year, it marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the World Meteorological Organization in 1950, and the theme of the celebration is "60 years of service for your safety and well-being." In a message to the world meteorological community, WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud stated

As we celebrate today the 60th Anniversary of the World Meteorological Organization, I would like to pay tribute to the meteorological community worldwide working together continuously beyond all borders to save and protect people, their homes and their livelihoods. My recognition especially goes to all staff in the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and all volunteers who support our work with generosity and dedication.

I am convinced that WMO, together with its Members, will be even more relevant in serving humanity over decades to come. We owe this capability to successive generations of meteorologists and hydrologists from all countries. To all of them, we express our gratitude.

The WMO also published a booklet [pdf] reviewing the history and accomplishments of international meteorological cooperation.

It's mid-March; do you know where your spring is?

Currently
It's a few degrees warmer today than at the same time yesterday, although the winds are actually stronger, gusting as high as 29 mph around the area at 1pm. Temperatures ranged from 45 to 48, heading for a high around 50 under sunny skies.

Outlook
Clouds will increase by tomorrow morning as a low-pressure area getting organized in the western Gulf of Mexico this morning heads eastward. Yesterday, we told you that precipitation from this storm was likely to remain south of us, and that trend has been confirmed by model runs since then. Both major U.S. models this morning are again keeping the precipitation to the south, although some measurable precipitation does make it as far north as central Virginia. This means we can't totally rule out some light rain or snow in the southern part of the area; the most likely time would be tomorrow morning or early afternoon. After that, the most likely time for precipitation in the area is Saturday or Saturday night; amounts will probably be light.

Through the looking glass
I have rarely looked at Southern Hemisphere weather maps, so I find them a bit disorienting; they're a mirror image of what we're used to. Severe tropical cyclone Ingrid, after bouncing around the northern Australian coast, was making its third landfall this morning (early hours of Wednesday Australian time) as a category 4 storm with wind gusts up to 260 km/hr. It had previously strengthened to a category 5 over the Gulf of Timor. ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corp.) was reporting that winds of over 280 km/hr were hitting the remote resort of Faraway Bay. The storm had moved north of Darwin, which was nearly destroyed by Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Day, 1974.

Mid-day: Springing back to winter

To paraphrase the poet, "What is so rare as a day in March?" In Washington so far this month, that would be an actual March day. Of the 7 March days including today, only one (yesterday) has had a high temperature which would be considered normal for any day in March. By late morning today, temperatures around the DC area were already at 60 or higher in many locations with generally south winds. The long-term average high for the last day of the month is 61. At noon, Washington National was at 63, and by 1pm, most reporting stations were in the upper 60's, with 70 in a couple of places. Today's record high of 77 doesn't look in jeopardy, but it does happen to be equal to the lowest record high for any day in March.

Momma Nature finally shut the freezer door at the Weather Grill over the weekend, but it's going to be flying right off the hinges this week. As Jason explains below, winter temperatures will be back by mid-day tomorrow. As Josh showed in the 10-day outlook on Thursday, this is caused by a strong high-pressure ridge at upper levels in the atmosphere over western North America, along with a strong trough developing over the eastern part of the continent. Under the ridge, California is drying out from their recent near-record rains. Under the trough, as it deepens, cold air will move steadily southward from Canada to the East Coast. This pattern also has a lot of energy associated with it, so there will some storm activity at the surface, although the Weather Grill chefs are still trying to decide exactly where and when to serve the spiciest dishes later in the week. On this morning's weather map, this is reflected in a strengthening low-pressure area centered over Michigan with a cold front extending southward to Texas.

We tend to focus our attention upstream (westward), since that's where our weather comes from, but the Northern Hemisphere circulation pattern continues to the east after our weather leaves us. The high-amplitude pattern, with a large north/south component of the upper-level wind direction, continues around the rest of the hemisphere. There is another strong ridge over the Atlantic and a corresponding trough over Europe, which accounts for the cold weather over there. The "Beeb" has posted slide shows of the snow and cold in Britain and the Continent.

Image: An abandoned car covered in snow in Kent, southern England, from BBC