Birds migrate as the front marches east


National overview

The front continued its push to the east last night, triggering migration throughout the Eastern US. Otherwise high pressure from the Great Basin to the Midwest kept things quiet, while migration was again apparent through the Desert Southwest and up the Pacific Coast as far north as Northern California.

national composite nexrad from around 11:00pm on 4/18/13
National Composite NEXRAD from around 11:00pm on 4/18/13

Below are the radar loops from sunset last night through 5:00am (central time) this morning

Upper Midwest

Minnesota & Wisconsin

Frames are every 1/2 hour. click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

base reflectivity image from Duluth base velocity image from Duluth

base reflectivity image from Minnesota base velocity image from Minnesota

Low pressure spinning over the northern part of our forecast area dumped a bunch of cold wet stuff across Minnesota yesterday and last night. This is NOT what we would call a typical spring. No migration was apparent on the radar.

base reflectivity image from green bay, wi base velocity image from green bay, wi

base reflectivity image from milwaukee base velocity image from milwaukee

base reflectivity image from la crosse, wi base velocity image from la crosse, wi

Wisconsin remains on the near backside of the last front, which puts us in the area of high pressure and opposing upper-level winds. No migration was evident over any of the WI radars.

Iowa & Illinois

Frames are every 1/2 hour. click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

base reflectivity image from chicago, il base velocity image from chicago, il
base reflectivity image from davenport, ia base velocity image from davenport, ia

The same goes for northern IA and IL, no migration was apparent on the radars last night.

As always, woodcreeper.com depends on you to report your sightings and be our ‘eyes on the ground’, so please come back and give us an idea of how we’re doing predicting birding conditions in your neck of the woods.

Good Birding,

David

For migration updates in other regions check-

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula - The Northwoods BIRDAR by Max Henschell
New England - Tom Auer’s blog
Florida/SE - Badbirdz Reloaded by Angel and Mariel Abreu
PA/Ohio Valley - Nemesis Bird by Drew Weber
NW Ohio - Birding the Crane Creek by Kenn Kaufman
Pac NW - Birds Over Portland by Greg Haworth
Continental US - eBird BirdCast Forecast & Report by Team eBird

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