Big Idea

• Precipitation is unlikely this week
• Perhaps some afternoon breezes
• A complex split jet pattern is affecting us
• We also have a subtropical jet from the west that will persist
• Read more…

We live in a beautiful location with more than our fair share of blue skies and amazing sunsets!

Forecast Summary:

Mostly sunny with precipitation unlikely this week. Some afternoon breezes possible, especially Tuesday afternoon, Thursday and over the weekend. Some high clouds possible, especially Friday and Saturday. Highs in the lower 50s each day, rising into the upper 50s over the weekend. Morning lows in the upper 20s to lower 30s except dropping into the mid 20s Wednesday through Friday morning.  

Forecast Table:

https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/forecast/wxtables/

Navigate on the map to your location and click for a detailed local forecast.

Discussion:

We still have a complex split jet pattern affecting us this week, with a northerly Polar jet stream diving down from the north-northwest behind a blocking ridge along the West Coast. We also have a subtropical jet from the west that will persist mainly over northern Mexico through the week. On Tuesday night to Wednesday and again on Thursday, two back-to-back troughs will dig southward with the polar jet and brush across the northern and eastern part of the state, bringing some breezes and slight cooling to our area. Then, on Saturday – Sunday, a weak low will form within the subtropical jet stream and move into the state. This latter low will produce some clouds and possibly breezes, but temperatures will actually warm up a bit in advance of the low.

At the moment, forecast models are currently not predicting any precipitation for the Prescott quad city area this week. Have a great week and take some time to enjoy the beautiful outdoors!

Weather Wisdom:

We live in a beautiful location with more than our fair share of blue skies and amazing sunsets. You may wonder what causes the sky to be blue. This is actually because of Rayleigh scattering of visible light with air molecules. The air molecules scatter a small fraction of the visible light that enters the atmosphere in all directions, but the shorter wavelengths (violet, indigo, blue) get scattered more than the longer ones. This give the atmosphere (and also the oceans) a blueish appearance. However, when the sun is low on the horizon, the cloud and aerosol particles in the atmosphere (dust, clay, sea salt, pollution particles) produce a different type of scattering called Mie scattering, where shorter wavelengths are preferentially removed from the rays of light due to scattering and the longer wavelengths are able to penetrate further. This is called “reddening” and it gives the sky a red or orange appearance.

C. James

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Curtis N. James, Ph.D.

Professor of Meteorology

Applied Aviation Sciences

Prescott Campus

Met Mail is an unofficial weather discussion and forecast transmitted once or twice a week via e-mail by the Embry-Riddle Department of Meteorology (http://meteo.pr.erau.edu/). Embry-Riddle offers an undergraduate bachelor-of-science degree program in Applied Meteorology. Please spread the word to all potential qualified candidates!

Further Information:

ERAU Applied Meteorology degree program

Official National Weather Service forecast

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