You may have heard the term "cutoff low" or seen posts about it this weekend on social media. What is a cutoff low, and how is it impacting our weather here in West Michigan?
A cutoff low is a low pressure system in the upper atmosphere that has been cut off from the main jet stream flow. The jet stream is the fast wind stream that pushes weather systems from west to east in our part of the world. When a system gets cut off, it gets stuck where it is. There's nothing to help push it along, so it ends up sitting in the spot where it was cut off, and spinning, until the jet stream picks it back up again. Usually it takes several days for the jet stream to pick the cutoff low back up and move it out. The jet stream's current location is hundreds of miles north, into south central Canada!
This is the current setup in the United States right now:
There are actually 2 cutoff lows, one in the Southwest and one in the Ohio Valley. The Ohio Valley low is what's impacting us in West Michigan now.
Weather conditions typically experienced in the area of these lows include extensive cloud cover, cooler temperatures, and waves of rain on the north and east side of the low.
The low pressure is sitting and spinning in western Kentucky, but has a large reach. Cloud cover and rain extends from Michigan to Tennessee. The rain we got today (and rain we will get through Tuesday) is due to the low. It has a lot of energy as it spins, and creates waves of rain that move from east to west.
This low is going to be cut off from the jet stream through Tuesday, and it will be meandering around the Ohio Valley during that time. That means we will get more of the same: cloud cover, waves of rain, and cool temperatures, until it departs.
This system is the only one of the week bringing active weather, though. Once it gets picked up again by the jet stream on Tuesday, dry days, sunshine and warmer temperatures return!
In the meantime, rain totals could be heavy. Through Tuesday, another half an inch to over an inch of rain is possible. Some spot could get almost 2"! The heavier totals will be along and east of highway 131, closer to the center of the low, with less rain toward the lakeshore.
For the latest details on the weather in West Michigan, head to the FOX 17 Weather page.
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