By Tammie Souza, FOX 32 News Weekend Meteorologist - bio | email
CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
Sunday started as a picture perfect day with bright blue skies, but by the afternoon we had a milky white haze overhead.
That haze wasn't from clouds - it was the smoke from wildfires in the western United States.
The smoke traveled over a thousand miles on the jet stream in the upper atmosphere. It is visible in the satellite image as rippled lines over northeastern Illinois including Chicago.
The smoke originated last week and only appeared overhead by Sunday. Additional charts below show where last weeks fires were and the path they traveled to get here.
Scientists use satellite images to determine the origination of air masses and track particulates in the air.
Using this method researchers have even been able to identify mercury deposits on the floor of Lake Michigan as particulates from power plants in China that traveled here on strong jet stream winds.
Tuesday, January 22 2013 2:26 PM EST2013-01-22 19:26:59 GMT
Chicago ended an impressive 711 day streak without a sub-zero temperature Tuesday morning. That is the 4th longest such stretch since records began in 1871.
Chicago ended an impressive 711 day streak without a sub-zero temperature Tuesday morning. That is the 4th longest such stretch since records began in 1871.
Friday, January 18 2013 11:18 PM EST2013-01-19 04:18:05 GMT
Frigid Arctic air has been pent up across the Hudson Bay area for several weeks now stuck under the influence a strong polar area of low pressure also known as the "polar vortex."
Frigid Arctic air has been pent up across the Hudson Bay area for several weeks now stuck under the influence a strong polar area of low pressure also known as the "polar vortex."
Friday, January 18 2013 3:41 PM EST2013-01-18 20:41:23 GMT
The U.S. drought of 2012 is considered the worst since the 1950s, but there appears to be some brief relief.
The U.S. drought of 2012 is considered the worst since the 1950s, but there appears to be some brief relief thanks to recent soaking rains stretching from the south through the southeast and the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic states.
Monday, December 3 2012 7:18 PM EST2012-12-04 00:18:16 GMT
Warm, moist air streamed into the Chicago area today and although we were blanketed in fog and clouds, the temperatures soared to record highs between 68 and 72 degrees.
Warm, moist air streamed into the Chicago area today and although we were blanketed in fog and clouds, the temperatures soared to record highs between 68 and 72 degrees.
