Pinning down what a cut-off low is, in bowling terms

It's been a very dreary, cool and rainy start to May across Michiana. A slowly-moving low pressure system (referred to as a cut-off low) is responsible for our daily dose of rain chances and cloudy skies.

What does a cut-off low actually mean, however? We tried to visualize this stubborn forecast feature through a game of bowling.

We can think about a storm system as a bowling ball. Typically, during the spring months, Michiana gets a storm (or low-pressure) system to come through about every four days.

When you bowl, you (hopefully) control where the bowling ball goes.

In the atmosphere, the upper-level winds or the jet stream will control where the bowling ball (storm system) will go.

Our weather, because of the jet stream, usually heads right down the lane, so to speak.

However, sometimes, storm systems get separated from the jet stream, and get stuck in the "weather gutter."

It can take days to get the jet stream to return and pick up the lost low-pressure system. Cut-off lows are very hard to forecast for, both in when they'll arrive and when they'll finally leave.

Fortunately, we are confident that our current cut-off low is moving out, and nicer weather should return by the middle of this week.