With the cold front moving through, things are starting to stabilize a bit.  I think the overall severe threat is starting to diminish, but certainly some hail is possible with the remaining storms.  So Far the largest hail reported is 2 NW of Neillsville at 2 inch diameter.  Golf ball size hail has also been reported on the northside of Wausau and Merrill.

Meteorologist Brian Niznansky

Posted under Uncategorized

Clusters of storms continue to develop ahead of a cold front.  So far this evening some of the storms have reached severe criteria.  Right now hail seems to be the primary threat.  As I write at 7:00 p.m. Friday evening…. One of the stronger cells is working through Clark County, and will head into Marathon County shortly.  Another larger yet now weaker cell is moving through Oneida County.  Hail at this point seems to be the primary threat.  One other thing to point out… the cells are starting to take on more of a linear appearance which would switch our main concerns to more of a wind threat than hail.  We will continue to monitor the storms and keep you updated on the web and on newsline 9.

Meteorologist Brian Niznansky

Posted under Severe Weather, Spring, Storms

Not only will today be the warmest day of the year so far, we already had our first hail of the season (pea-sized here in town, a few in the 0.50 inch to 0.88 inch range in Marathon City – about nickel to quarter sized). In past years, any hail over 0.75 inches could have prompted a severe thunderstorm warning, but this year the criteria has been raised to 1.0 inch. Based on the extremely small sample size of “the storm this morning” it seems the criteria change has worked out well. Even though there was one report of hail over 0.75 inches, there wasn’t a need for a severe thunderstorm warning. So far I have not heard of any wind damage or other ill effects around the area – just hail reports. One of our photographers shot some video of the hail this morning in Wausau. Take a look on the homepage in the video player section.

The super-duper best thing about the thunderstorms is that we received some beneficial rain. Here in Wausau it was 0.35 inches. Judging by radar, it looks like a portion of northeastern Marathon county ended up with over a half inch, possibly as high as 1.0 inch. More rain is likely late this afternoon through Saturday morning and again from Sunday afternoon through midday Monday. Amounts could range from 1 to 2 inches. Rainfall in this range would bring us up to, or above normal for the month of April. Yay!

The downside is that we could have a bit of severe weather. Check the latest SPC convective outlook here. For late this afternoon through early evening (about 3pm to 9pm), it doesn’t look like all the severe weather parameters are coming together for a big event (widespread wind damage, hail, and tornadoes) but there is enough wind shear to generate a couple of super cells. StormTrak 9 meteorologists will be watching the situation closely. You can also follow along with iTrak interactive radar. Check it out here on our website. Also notice we have a new place where you can submit weather/storm photos. It is called reportstorms.com. If you upload a picture of storm damage, hail, or thunderclouds, we will be able to use them on TV to keep other viewers abreast the situation in Northcentral Wisconsin.

So there could be a couple of severe thunderstorms this late today. The next slight chance will be Sunday night into Monday morning. The SPC does not show a severe risk in our area as of yet but the latest computer models are indicating a shift that could bring slightly warmer temps during that time frame. By Tuesday dry weather will return and it should remain dry through most of Thursday.

Space News:

I have so much AGW news that it is making my head spin but with all the interesting weather this week, school talks, and the snowmelt contest going on, I haven’t had enough time to organize it into a coherent blog entry. It will probably end up being a multi-part blog coming up during quiet time period of weather. Some good environmental news along with some bad.

Instead, how about a little update on one of my other favvorite topics: Space exploration. The Mars Rovers are gradually showing signs of wear from the rugged conditions that exist on the red planet. Spirit has recently had some computer problems. First it mysteriously rebooted its computer, then it developed amnesia. Controllers are trying to figure out what is causing this but are not having much luck so far. I figure this is to be expected. After 5 years on the planet, things are bound to start failing. What I think would be interesting is if they shut down one of the rovers before it suffered complete breakdown. Drive it to a sunny protected spot and put it in preservation mode. Maybe only waking up once a year to report that it was still alive. If it lasted a few more years, then maybe humans would be able to visit (or “rescue”) it during a future spaceflight to Mars. I know, kind-of a strange and far-out idea, just thought it would be cool.

WhiteKnightTwo of Virgin Galactic’s space fleet is continuing its testing. The only problem so far was a small problem with high winds during a landing this week. Apparently, somehow, the tail was dented by the rudders or the ground when it was landing. A tiny moment of distress in an otherwise smooth operation thus far.

I have some other interesting space news but again I am running out of time today (more next week) so I will leave you with a gallery of Hubble’s “greatest hits”. I know many of you have seen some of these before but the pics are so amazing and beautiful, I never tire of them. I suspect that for all who would like to travel to the stars someday, the images are enticing. The best part, NASA images are copyright free. Use them as you like. They make great desktop wallpaper.

Lastly, do forget to get your snowmelt contest entry in this weekend or early next week. The deadline is April 30th. I see hundreds of you have already entered. You could win a $250 gift card from the R-stores of Northcentral Wisconsin.

Have a nice day! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under iTRAK, Severe Weather, Space, Storms

Warm air will surge across the state tomorrow behind a warm front passing through this evening.  High temperatures Friday are expected to top out around 80 degrees.  Dew points will also rise into the 60′s by tomorrow afternoon, making things a bit muggy and also pretty unstable.  The atmosphere will likely be primed for thunderstorms once a cold front begins to slide down by tomorrow afternoon.  Some of tomorrow evening’s thunderstorms could be on the strong to severe side.  The Storm Prediction Center has the entire area under a slight risk for widespread severe weather.

Storms will initially fire up in the Northwoods tomorrow afternoon, then spread across Central Wisconsin by tomorrow evening.  Right now, I think the primary threat appears to be large hail.  We will have to watch this closely.  This will also be a good time you can use the new I-Trak Radar here on the Waow.com website.  Also if you end experiencing a storm you can submit us information or even pictures by using “Report Storms”, also available through a link on waow.com. 

Meteorologist Brian Niznansky

Posted under iTRAK, Severe Weather, Storms

A statewide tornado drill will occur today from 1 to 2 pm this afternoon. It is a good opportunity to think about what you would do in the event of severe weather (whether it be a tornado, severe thunderstorm, flash flood, lightning storm, hailstorm, snowstorm, etc…) Preparation is the key! know what to do before a storm strikes. You need to be aware of your surroundings. You might take a different course of action depending on whether you are inside vs. outside, at home, at work, at school, shopping, etc…

This is also a good time to remind everyone to take warnings seriously. Here is an article from earlier this year which reviewed why people ignore storm warnings. In this case study (tornado outbreak from February 5-6 of 2008), 57 people died and two thirds of them lived in mobile homes. Perhaps you were unaware of this, but official NWS safety guidance is to leave your mobile home in order to increase your chance of surviving a tornado. Go to a stronger structure or go outside and lie in a ditch. Mobile homes are notorious death traps during tornadoes. Still, others who died in the tornado outbreak became victims because they ignored the warnings. I am fully aware that we have false or semi-false alarms during the severe weather season, but the old saying still holds “better safe than sorry (or dead).” We have the tools nowadays to typically provide anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes warning before a tornado strikes. This should be plenty of time for everyone to find a safe place to ride out the storm. Maybe you think that you are immune to bad weather – thinking you have survived hundreds of storms throughout your life – and you will somehow not be affected. Don’t bet on it. Stay safe.

You might have to put your severe weather safety plan into action before the end of the week. Temps are warming up and severe thunderstorms are possible late tomorrow in the northwoods, however, after dark on Friday night a few strong storms could develop in central Wisconsin as well. Check the SPC for the latest severe weather outlook. Also, in case you didn’t hear, we have a new free tool you can use to track storms. It is called iTrak interactive radar and you can find it here on our website. Check it out when the storms are coming through the area tomorrow. Click here. The cold front that is bringing the chance of severe weather tomorrow will slowly move through the area over the weekend and this means some outdoor plans could be ruined. Right now I am calling for a 70% chance of rain and isolated thunderstorms on both Saturday and Sunday. It will also be cloudy and cooler with high temps only in the 50s. The good news is that we could use the rain. Even though we just had 2 days of steady rain earlier this week it was very light. Moore of the area could use a good soaking. Drought conditions have actually improved very slightly this week in Wisconsin.

Have a good Thursday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Severe Weather

The NationalWeather Service Tomorrow will hold a State-wide tornado drill as part of Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness week.  The drill will begin around 1:00 tomorrow afternoon.  First a tornado watch will be issued for the entire area, followed by test tornado warnings.  Local Sirens will go off, and we also plan on issuing test weather crawls on Channel 9.  This is just a test, but made to run as the real deal.  This will give agencies, schools, law enforcement, and T.V. stations a good test before the severe weather season starts. 

Here is a link to the N.W.S Tornado Drill Webpage.

What will make things a little bit tricky…we may have a few showers or even isolated thunderstorms moving through the area during the time of the drill.  Although unlikely, in any case of actual severe weather, the drill will be cancelled and we will of course continue to cover the actual severe events.

Meteorologist Brian Niznansky

Posted under Severe Weather, Storms

Hi everyone I wanted to say Happy Earth Day too!

I am also not completely sold on how poloitical the day has become but I do remember back when I was a child and we put on a simple play in second grade on ways to help the Earth! ( It was a big production that we worked months on for!)  They were such simple things as keeping the running water off when brushing your teeth, not taking long showers, recycling goods, using electricity when only needed etc…. 

Things have definitely changed over the past few years with the green movement.  I am gonna share just a few links that may be helpful for teachers or people wanting to find out more about the holiday.

http://earthday.wilderness.org/links.htm

http://www.earthday.gov/kids.htm

http://www.earthday.net/

http://holidays.kaboose.com/earth-day/

We may see our first round of storms this weekend.  A warm front will push in tomorrow and will bring warm temperatures and lots of moisture. Then a cold front will brace us this weekend pushing through sometime Saturday.  With the clash we could spark a few storms Saturday and even Sunday.  This is something we are keeping an eye on, and of course since it is Severe Weather Awareness Week it is always good to be prepared for any severe weather!

Have a good night! Meteorologsit Kristen Connolly

Posted under Uncategorized

Happy Earth Day! Although I must admit, I am not a huge fan of the day. It is a good thing in principle, and I certainly often promote cleaning up the environment, clean energy, planting trees, etc… Unfortunately, Earth Day has also transformed into a political statement. In most incarnations, the real environmental work is just window dressing, while the political message is at the core. The implication is that you are not a real “environmentalist” unless you belong to a certain political group. Maybe you have not seen or felt this pressure in your area. I have. Of course, AGW is a big political topic this earth day and will continue to be in the future, no matter if the average global temperature goes up or down. Here is an article with a future timeline of what will happen to the earth if we continue on a path of business-as-usual (an unrealistic scenario). You might have seen many of these predictions before. Glaciers melting, people and animals dying, oceans dying, what-not. We must remember that these predictions are based on “static” thinking at worst and “linear” thinking at best. The future (progress and technology) is evolving at an exponential pace. Take one example from the article: By 2050, “in Australia, there will likely be an additional 3,200 to 5,200 heat-related deaths per year.” This is assuming there will be no changes in the way we live. No changes in medical care, no changes in housing, no changes in air conditioning, no migration. It is taking today’s city, humans, technology, and economy and just adding a few degrees to the global temperature. I guarantee that by 2050, you will have a hard time recognizing human society, as compared to today. This doesn’t mean we should not care about the environment or help to keep it clean, just that the wild apocalyptic predictions are highly unlikely to come true – even though they are often presented as fact.

A little warming in in our immediate future as high temps will hit the 50s today, the 60s tomorrow, and the 70s on Friday. Our weather pattern will also remain conducive to additional rainfall with slight chances of showers or thunderstorms from late tonight through Friday and then at least a 60% chance of rain and thunderstorms on Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully we will receive some heavy amounts to help alleviate the drought.

Have a nice Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under AGW, Spring

The wintry weather continues today.

Picture taken By LooraLee Jensen of Rhinelander

Here is a new picture ofthe snow in the northwoods:  A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect for Oneida, Vilas, Forest, Florence, Lincoln, and Langlade counties through 10am. Another inch or 2 accumulation is possible this morning in the advisory areas. Some snow will fall in central Wisconsin but most of it will melt. The snow will taper off during the afternoon and we will have more sunshine and warmer temps by tomorrow and again on Thursday. We have received over 0.60 inches of precipitation here in Wausau since Sunday. The precipitation has been nearly continuous for 48 hours yet it hasn’t added up to much. I would have been happier if it was over an inch. We could receive another couple tenths today. The eastern part of the area is where precipitation amounts were over an inch so far and where some spots could end up with over 2 inches. Most of the precipitation has fallen as snow in the northwoods. Parts of Forest, Langlade, Vilas, and Oneida county picked up 6 to 10 inches of snow on Monday. Hiles was the highest report with 10.1 inches.

Looking outside and seeing snow might make you complacent about severe weather, but it shouldn’t. The weather can turn around quick here in our area and in fact, some thunderstorms are possible late this week. This is Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness week here in Wisconsin and it is the right time to think about your severe weather action plans. Here in Northcentral Wisconsin I cannot remember the last time someone died because of a flash flood, a severe thunderstorm, or a tornado. Some people might say we are lucky. I would say that people around these parts are very well prepared and always stay safe when warnings are issued. Let us make sure this trend continues this year. Here is some NWS information about Awareness Week. You can also check out some good information here.

Have a good Tuesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Severe Weather, Winter Weather

Snow has returned to north central Wisconsin and wow has it piled up in the Northwoods.  Eagle River is one of many locations in Vilas and Forest Counties reporting over a half a foot of snow.  Several more inches of snow will fall there tonight and into tomorrow.  Snow accumulation in Central Wisconsin will continue to be hampered by warm ground and air temperatures.  If we see some heavier bands of snow move in later tonight, locations around Wausau could see an inch or two on the grassy surfaces.

Today I was fortunate enough to visit some of the brightest kindergartners and first graders at St. Mary’s in Marathon.  They had awesome questions and I was really impressed by their weather knowledge and excitement.  I’d like to say thanks and I had a great time!!!

Meteorologist Brian Niznansky

Posted under Spring, Winter Weather