Summer entrenched

By DAN ROBINSON Editor/Photographer

Keeping in step with the rest of this year so far, summer-like patterns are in place a month ahead of schedule here in the Midwest. These generally high-instability/low-shear days produce some pulse thunderstorms and a few severe MCS events that tend to die off rapidly after sunset. There has not been much in the St. Louis region to cover, and so far in June, the stronger events have occured on work days that I could not take off. That's not a loss, as none of the recent setups were worth using a vacation day on.

Today was a typical summer setup, with good instability but lacking in shear and strong focusing mechanisms. Some updrafts struggled in the eastern STL metro after noon, but it was a losing battle. This was the scene outside of New Baden at 6PM, with fading cumulus in the late afternoon sun over the golden glow of freshly harvested wheat fields.