Warm air approacheth.

Many chasers are starting to get pretty stoked at the return of warm air to the mid section of the U.S. Several troughs are indeed lining up with their aim on the central part of the country. Whether or not this brings any early season severe weather opportunities remains to be seen, but warmer air will be making it's way into many areas.

Here in central Illinois we've got a decent snow pack, but should see much of this melting down by the weekend as temperatures reach the mid 40's, and potentially 50 in areas with less snow. A second trough will enter the region next week with hints of high temperatures in the 60s here in Illinois.

I'm not getting too excited about storm chasing opportunities for my own mental health's sake, but I will likely use the warmer weather to do some work on the car to get it ready for March. Someone in a thread on the Stormtrack forum brought up the fact that there really is no "Official Storm Season" launch date, but there are psychological barriers. For me, that date is generally March 1st. While there have, and will again be winter storms beyond March 1st, I generally see this as a day as the day when I consider all things possible, and allow myself to get a little more excited about the long term models.

Whether or not we see any form of severe weather in the coming week of troughs, the warm air will be a nice change.