Easter weekend was one of the colder Easter holiday’s I can remember. I am sure there have been colder Easter weekend’s but I cannot remember when. It is difficult to go back in the record books and find colder temps because the date of Easter changes every year depending on the phases of the moon and such things. It wasn’t record cold but it was unique because it continues a trend of below normal temps that has been occurring most of this month. Northcentral Wisconsin has been about 5 degrees below normal most of this month and the trend will continue this week as well. People are starting to satirically question me “where is global warming when you need it”. Well, the truth is that the warmest year on the planet was 1998 and there has been a slight downward trend ever since then. Anyway, one thing we can give thanks for is not much snow so far this March. I can’t imagine how desperate for Spring people would be if we had a couple big snowstorms this month. The only big snowstorm in the state this month happened in the south once again. On Friday the Milwaukee area had 12 to 15 inches of snow. The far southern part of our area – around highway 21 and farther south – ended up with 4 to 6 inches of snow. Madison Wisconsin has now surpassed 100 inches of snow for the season. Much of southern Wisconsin has experienced record snow as well – check out this map! Milwaukee is getting pretty close to record snow as well.

Here in our area, snowfall has been about 5 to 10 inches above normal for the winter season and we could get a little more this week. The key word being little. A warm front  – closely followed by a cool front – will move through the area tonight and these two could combine to bring 1 to 3 inches of snow to the Northwoods. In central Wisconsin, temps will be mild enough to cause some of the snow to turn over to rain, so there will not be as much accumulation, perhaps an inch or so. Dry weather should then take over again for Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday, and Thursday. Another weak weather system will move through later Friday afternoon through Saturday morning. Once again there could be some light accumulation of snow. High temps will reach the upper 30s today and possibly the low 40s tomorrow, but then the rest of the week the mercury will stay in the 30s. We will probably be stuck in the 30s over the weekend as well, which means we might not see 50 degrees in March this year. We will have to wait until the first week of April, or later for 50 degree weather. This also means that I am going to lose the latest channel 9 weather forecast contest (predicting how many 50 degree days in the month March). I forecast 5, Megan forecast 4, and Brian forecast 3. It looks like Brian will be the winner (closest).

AGW News:

Looks like I have a couple new things to add to the AGW list of bad things. Researchers say rice production will decline because of hot weather causing massive starvation. Of course, food related problems are already on the list, but only in general terms, this one is more specific because it mentions the problems will come from a decline in rice production. Also, wild flowers in the Rocky mountains are going to die because global warming will cause them to bloom too early, and then late frosts will kill them off. So here is the updated list of bad things (keeping track since November 2007) are projected to occur because of AGW:

(dramatically decreased rice production, fewer flowers in the Rocky Mountains, the Butterfly fish will starve, transportation system will be ruined, air pollution related deaths will increase, tropical fish could go deaf, more ocean deserts, more tundra wildfires, collapsing oceanic food webs, sharks devastating Antarctic sea life, the drying up of Lake Mead by 2021, plant-devouring insect invasions, poor food quality, increased human mortality, solastalgia/mental illness, more wars, the past 1993 conflict in Somalia, more intense heat waves, more heat deaths, polar bears starving, Isle Royale Moose dying, Walruses dying, Penguins starving, Australian bats dying, more hurricanes, less hurricanes, more intense and bigger hurricanes, more stormy weather, rising oceans, more acidic oceans, California wildfires, more droughts, more floods, future disastrous declines in food production, coral reefs (hard and soft) dying, enormous extinctions of plant and animal species, massive loss of fish in the Bering Sea, the earth literally being torn apart, Amazon deforestation, a bigger ozone hole, a smaller ozone whole, less fresh water, more obesity, more hunger, more asthma, more allergies, more infectious disease, more to come)

In other news, particulate matter (soot) is causing more warming than previously thought. It is interesting that not too long ago that we were told that we should be thankful for soot, particulate matter, sulfates, etc… because it is dramatically masking the amount of global warming that would have occurred otherwise. Just a little while ago the soot was benefiting the earth and causing cooling by blocking out the sunlight. You probably remember reading about “global dimming”. Now apparently, the soot is causing dramatic warming. Don’t worry if you are confused, I am too. Perhaps the new article is referring to warming in other parts of the atmosphere besides near the ground. The article does not say, so we can’t know for sure. Most of the soot is coming from China and India where skies are in a state of persistent brown haze. China is also the world’s leading emitter of carbon dioxide. For many years, the international community chastised the U.S. for being the world biggest polluter. Since this is no longer the case, I wonder if southeast Asia and China will feel as much heat. You might remember that the Kyoto accord exempted China and India from any emissions cuts. I wonder if new ‘climate agreements’ will follow Kyoto’s example. Seems it would be foolish to do so. Tony Blair recently said as much when talking about climate change recently. However, he said the U.S., Japan, and Europe should bear most of the burden, because the developing economies need to grow. The interesting part is this, Blair has basically stated that the carbon emission cuts will ruin mature economies such as Japan, Europe, and the U.S. This is something that many people have pointed out and it is a reason why so many people reject such treaties. People don’t like living through economic recession and depression, which is what climate treaties will bring, all to avert ‘possible’ disaster a few decades from now. Instead of stopping progress altogether, why doesn’t the U.N. sponsor more alternative energy research? Why don’t countries give big tax breaks for alternative energy usage? In my opinion, this would be a much better way to tackle pollution.

Justin Loew

Posted under Uncategorized

Happy Easter to everyone!!!  It’s hard to believe that a year ago today, our high temperature in Wausau was 62 degrees with copious sunshine!!!  Things have certainly changed a year later as we are lucky if our temperatures make it to average or slightly above!  The cooler than average temperatures will continue through the week, perhaps even into the start of April.  I guess its a good thing if you are a fan of the colder weather, especially if you enjoy skiing!  The ski resorts I’m sure have had an awesome season and they are still going!

So, not much in the way of a big warm-up this week, but Monday will feel nice compared to this weekend with high temperatures bouncing into the upper 30s with a mixture of clouds and sunshine expected.  It will be a chilly start to your Monday though thanks to clear skies and light winds tonight – lows will drop to the lower teens and I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple spots fell into the single digits!  Monday night looks like it will be interesting as our next weather system plunges into the Upper Midwest.  Even though it seems that temperatures will be cold enough for all snow, higher in the atmosphere temperatures will be warmer which would allow for sleet and/or freezing rain to accompany light snow on Monday night and into Tuesday morning.  We may even pick up an inch or two of snow accumulation, but that will depend on how much moisture is carried into the system.  This wintry mess would make for some slippery travel conditions Monday night and Tuesday!  We’ll keep you posted so stay tuned to TV-9/34 for the latest weather updates!  I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and have a great week!

Meteorologist Megan Syner

Posted under Science

It’s hard to believe that so far this month that we haven’t hit 50 degrees one time and after looking at the long range trends, we may stay that way through the remainder of the month.  I was curious to know when the last time we went through March without at least a 50 degree temperature reading and the last time that happened was March 2001, before then it was 1996!  There was an interesting correlation to the cooler trend – in each case, we were in La Nina pattern which means that temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific were cooler than average.  In case you were curious if this has been one of the coolest March’s, it turns out it is not the coolest but we are currently -5.7 degrees below average for temperatures so far this month.

So, how about our weather pattern?  You are probably aware of the flooding that has taken place across parts of the country and NOAA has their own views about the current flooding and this article discusses those views.  We started the Easter weekend with mixture of sunshine and some high cirrus clouds that thickened during the afternoon hours on Saturday. Temperatures were seasonably cool with highs in the lower to middle 30s. A weak cold front will sweep into the Upper Midwest tonight with a few flurries and snow showers possible through Easter Sunday. Little accumulation is expected with up to a half-inch of snow possible in some spots. Easter Sunday will be on the chilly side though with highs only reaching the lower 30s at best some places may barely reach 30 degrees.

It looks like the below average trend in temperatures will continue again through next week as I mentioned earlier, but there will be some improvement from this weekend. Breezy and milder conditions are expected for Monday with west-southwest winds and a mix of clouds and sunshine bumping temperatures up to the upper 30s and near 40. A low pressure system from the north will dive into the region on Monday night and Tuesday giving us another opportunity for snow showers with light snow accumulation possible.  Wednesday will feature generally quiet conditions, but a stronger storm system is expected Wednesday night through Thursday. This will definitely be a system we`ll be watching closely through the upcoming week because the potential is there for snow and/or mixed precipitation as plenty of moisture is expected to be drawn into the storm.  That is all for tonight, have a very happy Easter!!!

Meteorologist Megan Syner

Posted under Science

I can easily admit that today’s snow forecast was a tough one…yet with some combined brain power I feel we did a pretty good job tackling the snow event.  With such the  strong storm basically grazing the area, it is always tough to explain  who is going to get the snow and who won’t.  Especially when much of the area will only see a few flakes at best.  We only have about 3 minutes or so each weather cast, so we really can’t go town by town.  After days of flip flopping forecast models, yesterday it became pretty clear this storm will be solely a southern tier snow event for the area.  The  sharp cut-off point where the heavy snow will fall became tough to determine with the powerful low passing to the south and an area of high pressure influencing us to the north.  You also have to  sort of  allow yourself a little wiggle room in case the system track a little further in either direction.  So last night we set snow accumulations pretty much Stevens Point southward seeing 1 to 3 inches, with much higher amounts in Adams and Juneau.  As it turns out, the higher totals crept a little bit further north into southern Clark and Wood County, where some 6 inch totals have been reported.  As a competitive forecaster even this small of a jog north burns me a bit.

Well on another snowy note, The southern portion of the state got really hammered once again, with over a foot totals in the Milwaukee metro area.  When this storm is all said and down…Milwaukee will be really close to joining Madison, Lacrosse, and Green Bay for record seasonal snowfall.

Meteorologist

Brian Niznansky

Posted under Uncategorized

Good news on the alternative energy front! The solar power market grew by 62% just last year. It is still a small fraction of all energy production in the world but at this type of growth rate (and the continued high price of fossil fuels) it should catch up relatively quick. Contrary to the forecasts of the IPCC (which indicate increasing fossil fuel usage for the next 100 years) the world is heading toward a different future. The growth has come from traditional photovoltaic cells as well as thin film solar panels. Even more exciting is that research into better more efficient solar panels continues apace. Solaria, a company based in Fremont California has created a solar cell that uses half the amount of silicon as standard cells. The Solaria cell only generates 90% of the electricity that other cells do but it is much cheaper, and price is one of the main stumbling blocks to wider adoption. Another interesting avenue for development is dye-sensitized solar cells. Read about them here. These are not quite ready for mainstream but hopefully soon. Dye sensitized solar cells could be incorporated into windows. In the near future, your windows could generate electricity! Cool.

Of course someone had to ask this question, even though it seems obvious to most of us: Is solar power a ‘green’ energy source? No kidding, someone actually spent time and money studying whether solar power is ‘green’ (good for the environment). Read about it here. And the verdict is…..yes, solar power is more environmentally friendly than fossil fuels. You can rest easy.

Even though it is now settled that yes, solar panels are environmentally friendly (as if it was ever in doubt). What about electric cars? Someone had to research whether or not this type of automotive locomotion was ‘green’. The only problem appears to be that electric cars could use more water than regular vehicles. Some may fret about this but I don’t think it should stop the adoption of electric vehicles. Using more water is a problem that is easily dealt with. The earth has plenty of water.

Weekend Forecast

It looks like fairly tranquil weather over the next few days, although the amount of snow on Friday is a bit of a question mark. At least one computer model is now showing several inches of snow for most of the area, beginning Thursday night and lasting through Friday. Most indications are that the storm will stay to the south and just brush the southern part of the area with maybe a dusting up to an inch. Be sure to check for the updated forecast with Brian Niznansky tonight and Megan Syner tomorrow morning in case any advisories are issued. The weather should be dry on Saturday and then a few light snow showers could affect the area on Sunday. The main thing you will notice over the weekend is that temps will be a bit cooler – in the low to mid 30s – about 5 to 10 degrees below normal for this time of year. Early next week temps should climb up to 40 once again.

Meteorologist Justin Loew

Posted under Uncategorized

I know a lot of people are depressed looking out the door this morning. More new snow is on the ground. On the positive side, skiing conditions are great across the state of Wisconsin. If you haven’t gotten out to ski this winter season right now is a great time. The weather is warmer and you can usually get some good deals on rentals and lift tickets. Another positive note is that most of the snow that fell last night (1 to 3 inches for most of the area) will be melted by late afternoon as high temps reach the mid to upper 30s. More good news is that we should have partly to mostly sunny skies from Wednesday through Saturday with high temps near 40 on Wednesday and in the 30s from Thursday through next Monday. Not much precipitation is expected after this morning. The next chance of light snow showers will be Sunday. The relatively cool and dry weather means that the snow will melt very slowly so we won’t have to worry about any flooding in the near term. We will lose just a little bit each day. Speaking of flooding, this week is National Flood Safety Awareness Week. For a comprehensive review of flooding in the U.S. and flood safety take a look at this NWS website. You can also monitor any current flooding on area rivers at this website. Of course, when it comes to flood safety there are two basic principles: 1. If you live near a river or stream and a flash flood warning is issued for your area, move to higher ground immediately, 2. Never drive through a flooded roadway, "turn around, don’t drown".

Space News:

Good news on the space front as well. Dextre the Canadian space robot now has power and is nearly completely assembled. Read about it here. The robot sounds like a good thing and it will help out future missions with routine maintenance, however, from what I have read, it is not able to do any real space construction or complicated maneuvers. I would’ve thought such a large and expensive robot would have more capability.

The only bad news I have found recently is a Russian Proton rocket malfunctioned during a recent launch. It was carrying a DISH Network satellite. Because of the rocket malfunction, the satellite did not reach its proper orbit. So if you have the DISH network at home, you might have to wait awhile for the super upgrade in service you were expecting (if that was the purpose of the satellite). The company has interesting options to try and rectify the problem. They could try to use whatever propellant is present in the satellite to try and reach the needed orbit. They could even use the moon’s gravity to ‘pull’ or ‘slingshot’ the satellite into a higher orbit. One of the least attractive but often used options is to ‘de-orbit’ the satellite and collect insurance money – essentially letting it burn up in the atmosphere.

Besides the Mars Rovers and other satellites orbiting the red planet, the Cassini mission to Saturn, all the recent lunar observing satellites, and the Mercury Messenger spacecraft, don’t forget the Venus Express. It has been observing the south pole of earth’s twin and has found hurricane-like vortices. Scientists are unsure how or why these form, but they are semi-permanent.

Meteorologist Justin Loew

Posted under Uncategorized

Just like bodies of water and rough terrain, many people believe tornadoes won’t hit large cities.  Well once again last Friday this myth was proved wrong as a preliminary estimate EF-2 tornado went right through the heart of Atlanta, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country.  The tornado packing winds up to 130 miles per hour tracked 6 miles through urban neighborhoods and right into downtown.  By checking out this link, you can ready the official NWS preliminary report on the tornado.  This is just the latest of the several large metro areas hit by tornadoes in recent history…including Fort Worth, Waco, Oklahoma City, and the oddest one, Salt Lake City.  Yes it is quite rare for a tornado to tear through a city, but there is no less of a chance than if a tornado hit a farm field 20 miles down the road.  The rarity is simply because large cities centers are still needles in haystacks in our vast country.

On another note..winter weather continues in our neck of the woods.  Tonight we will continue to see a mix of precipitation with primarily snow falling from Marathon County and north and east.  Total snow accumulations will be right around a couple inches in the center part of the viewing area, with higher totals near 5 inches possible in Price County.  Snow Advisories remain in effect for Price, Ashland, and Iron until 7 Tuesday morning.  We also have the potential to see minor ice accumulations so please take it easy on the roads.

Brian Niznansky 

Posted under Uncategorized

There is not too much to talk about as far as weather goes here in our area…after tonight. It looks like high temps in the 30s for the entire week and upcoming weekend with not much precipitation. The interesting news is that it is starting to look like we might not hit 50 this month, which would be rather odd. There have been years in the recent past when the thermometer has broken through 50 degrees more than ten times in the month of March. If we don’t make 50 this month I will get crushed in the latest weather office forecasting contest. The contest was to predict how many days would hit 50 or greater this month. So far we have zero and it looks doubtful we will reach 50 even once. I forecast five 50 degree days. Megan forecast four. Brian is in prime position to win this one as he only forecast three 50 degree days.

What about today and tonight? Some light snow and rain will occur late this morning through the afternoon. Roads might get a little slippery this afternoon and remain that way this evening as temps will range in the low to mid 30s. A light mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain will continue tonight so be careful on the roadways. Be sure to plan a little extra time to get to work tomorrow morning. The precipitation will not be heavy but it doesn’t take much ice to cause a major pile-up on the freeway. Snow accumulation will likely be an inch or so in central Wisconsin tonight, with some heavy amounts possible in the northwoods. 2 to 4 inches is possible in the far north and thus a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY has been issued for Price, Iron, and Ashland counties effective until noon Tuesday.

As far as the Easter weekend goes. Right now it looks like good travel weather on Saturday with some sunshine and dry conditions. A small storm system could affect the area on Sunday, bringing snow showers, however, temps will be warm enough (in the 30s) that there should not be much if any accumulation.

Energy News:

I am always keeping my eye out for the latest technologies popping up to replace the recently very expensive fossil fuels. I came across this article about something called "Green Freedom". Apparently the Los Alamos National Laboratory is developing a process (and device?) that takes carbon dioxide out of the air a turns it into usable fuel. This may be the same device/process I reported on a couple of months ago (see here). The linked article above doesn’t really give any important new details, except that name "Green Freedom" is more boldly applied. I guess marketing is important, but what we really need are results and so far a working prototype has not been constructed.

Meteorologist Justin Loew

Posted under Uncategorized

Here we go, I bet you all didn’t see this one coming…now if you think back to November 2007, NOAA claimed that even though it was a La Nina winter that temperatures would still be above average and the warming trend continue.  Well, it looks like Mother Nature had a different plan, check out this link to find out what NOAA has to say about this winter…I have to admit I was a little shocked when I read the article, but not too much   What I’m really curious of is how the increased solar activity that started recently will affect our temperatures over the next several years.  A typical solar cycle lasts about 11 years (roughly) and it takes about 1-2 years (roughly) for our climate to actually be affected by the increased solar activity and over time when there have been periods of increased solar activity, global temperatures increased.  I find it ironic that CO2 levels are said to be at an "all-time high" and yet our temperatures are not skyrocketing as they were projected to!  I recently read an article that discussed how there are more scientists that are neutral on the topic of global warming than there are totally for or against it – I think I fall in the neutral category too because I feel that our climate is changing due to a combination of natural and human effects, but climate is constantly changing, it always has and always will!!!  Believe it or not, we are still getting out of the last ice age and officical temperature records have only been kept for almost 200 years so it only seems ‘natural’ that temperatures would be rising.  I’ll save the global warming blogging for Justin, he is better at it, but those are just a few of my thoughts after reading the new article

Onto other weather things!  It was a decent weekend, temperatures were still below average but we stayed in the lower to middle 30s and there was lots of sunshine!  As we start off the work week, our weather won’t stay as pleasant.  A strengthening low pressure system will surge into the Upper Midwest on Monday bringing a copious amount of moisture with it.  There are still a lot of uncertainties with this system, particularly in regards to timing, type and amount of precipitation and all three will likely vary across the viewing area.  By Monday afternoon, we will start to see light snow and/or drizzle develop from south to north with a trace up to an inch of snow possible by Monday night.  The heaviest precipitation is expected late Monday evening through Tuesday morning.  A warm front will push into central Wisconsin Monday night, but the front will not make it through the entire viewing area due to the track of the main low from southwest to northeast.  Light snow will begin to mix with sleet and freezing rain south of Highway 29 late Monday evening and by midnight the wintry mix will likely changeover to all rain as warmer temperatures trickle in behind the warm front.  Along and north of Highway 29, light snow will begin to mix with sleet and freezing rain by midnight, perhaps earlier depending of the timing of the warm front and the wintry mix will likely continue through Tuesday morning creating very slippery conditions.  In the far north, precipitation will stay all snow where several inches may be possible.

On Tuesday morning, the low will have tracked east of the area wrapping in some cool air into the area which will change rain showers back to a mix south of Highway 29.  By midday, precipitation will changeover to all snow showers across the majority of the viewing area and then end by late-afternoon/evening on Tuesday.  Through the rest of the week, temperatures will stay below average with readings generally in the lower to middle 30s.  As for precipitation, there may be a few snow or rain showers on Wednesday and again Friday.  Will we see things warm up more in the near future?  The long-range models hint at a quick warm-up (perhaps near 50) towards the end of the month, but lets keep our fingers crossed (those who already are).  I’m thinking about even growing some flowers this year which is something I’ve never done on my own before so I’m kind of excited to give it a try!   That is all for tonight, have a great week!

Meteorologist Megan Syner

Posted under Science

High pressure is moving into the area and that means pretty good weather for the area. Temps will be a little cooler than normal with highs in the 30s but there should be partly to mostly sunny skies so it will feel fairly nice. The next chance of messy weather will come on Monday and Tuesday of next week when rain and snow showers are likely. The latest computer model projections are indicating a little less precipitation than what was in the outlook a couple days ago. It still bears watching as this system will have a lot of moisture and will be nearby. Late next week looks dry and cooler once again with high temps in the 30s so there will likely be snow on the ground for Easter weekend.

Space News:

We finally have a couple of pictures from the Cassini fly-by, but only a couple. There are raw images available here. However, the raw image page is hard to navigate. The only media release photo I have seen so far is here. (along with an article) Hopefully more close-up pics will be available by next week.

More power problems in space. This time with the giant robot Dextre. NASA delivered a software patch this morning but that did not help. There is still some chance it will be fixed. Let’s hope, for the pride of Canada, and for the future of space exploration and construction, that Dextre ends up alright.

Energy News:

Yesterday I mentioned how Kyoto is ending up to be a fairly meaningless agreement because China’s carbon emissions are going to totally swamp any cuts by 2010. One country will totally negate all the carbon actions of most of the rest of the world. So what is the alternative if we are not going to require cuts? (whether cutting carbon is needed or not is another question). How about investing money in alternative energy or offer deep tax discounts for using alternative sources of energy. If all the Kyoto negotiators had spent their time, energy, and money helping the world switch over to alternatives we would be a lot farther ahead right now. Instead they sought to punish the most prosperous country in the world (U.S.) for its perceived unfair usage of fossil fuels. What people rarely mention is the benefit that arises out of our current fossil fuel usage. Medical technology, computers and the Internet, food production, everything that we have, everything that we see is all built on the fossil fuel infrastructure. There is no way we can make drastic cuts without also hindering progress and causing severe economic hardship. We have to make note of  how much energy is needed to maintain modern society and then develop the new energy sources needed to allow progress to continue. Kyoto was just going to yank the carpet out from under the world.

Posted under Uncategorized