How the upper level winds influence Michiana's weather

Temperature and moisture content on the surface are influenced by what happens almost three miles above us. Upper air mechanics is all about the movement of air masses, which are classified by both their temperature and moisture content. Using weather balloons we are able to find what conditions are happening at certain pressure heights all across the country to see what kind of air mass could be affecting us next. Thus the 500 millibar map comes into play. The lines on this map show where air is moving and what is affecting it, pressure centers. We also can note how wavy it is, with the high pressures and low pressures acting almost as large rocks in a river, and the air has to go around them. These waves are called ridges and troughs depending on what they are attached to, and they can sometimes block weather from moving in certain places if they are strong enough. From what we can see on this map there is a ridge setting up to our west that will be blocking some moisture, which is why we aren’t expecting any rain for the next coming days.

Since we have a trough to our west, we will be seeing drier conditions, and we also won’t be seeing the wildfire smoke from Canada just yet. But as we put this in motion, we can see that the trough moves eastward, we start to have more precipitation chances and if Canadian wildfires are still burning, we could see their smoke in Michiana. Now this likely will not be as oppressive as last year, but it will still affect air quality and temperature, by blocking some of the sunlight that can reach the surface.