DAYTON, OH — As you step outside today, it sure does not feel like August 20th here in the Miami Valley! Temperatures are anywhere from five to more than ten degrees below normal across the Ohio Valley. In fact, one may say it feels like Fall! Today’s highs are more typical of the second half of September.
No matter what the weather is, we have the ability to trace the air mass to where it was about a week ago! So, while we had been experiencing above normal temperatures, you may wonder where did today’s cooler air originate from? The short answer is Canada...but how did we figure that out?
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has what is called a backward trajectory model (HYSPLIT Model) where we can take the air we feel today, and that model computes where it was a week ago today. This is done by using temperature, wind speed, and simulating the direction that air moves. Generally, this is most handy when we observe substantial changes in the air mass.
So, the HYSPLIT model shows that one week ago today our air mass was located over Prince Charles Island in far northern Canada! The red line shows where the air mass as traveled and the end point is here in the Miami Valley! This is pretty neat to see if you are a fan of cooler temperatures.
Another big change in temperatures is expected as we work into next week as a cold front swings through and brings even cooler temperatures to the Miami Valley!