Quickly "Breeze"ing Through Today

It's been a windy one in DeKalb today (September 28, 2009). According to the National Weather Service in Romeoville, IL (the Chicago office), our peak wind gust was 43 mph at 2:45 pm. Some people have wondered why today was so windy. We had a tight pressure gradient behind the cold front that passed through last night. The tight gradient lead to fast wind speeds, keeping our winds sustained at 25-30 mph most of the afternoon. Here is what the map looked like from this afternoon. Source was the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center.

So that is the story on our "breezy" day. Winds should be calmer tomorrow as the gradient will be relaxed over the DeKalb area. And with the high pressure moving in, we should see a few days of nicer weather.