The month of September 2012 has come to a close and it is time for a little review. The most interesting aspect of the month is that it was the first below normal month (in Wausau) since September of last year. We had 11 months in a row with above normal temps and then it was just barely below normal in September. Our average high was a little above normal but the average low was a few degrees below normal, so when you put them together, the month was about 1 degree below normal.

The one thing that was also below normal that was more troublesome is precipitation. In Wausau (and most of the area, and most of the state) precipitation was at least 2 inches below normal. The dry weather is noticeable, as I have seen many of the lake levels turn lower recently. Also, some of my long-lasting plants and second plantings in the garden have not turned out very well because of the lack of rain. I could have kept watering but there were not enough plants to justify. Therefore, I will have to just live with what my broccoli and kale plants can squeeze out of the dusty soil. There might be a hard freeze in town this weekend (on Sunday) anyway, so I probably wouldn’t be harvesting superfood into late October like in previous years.

Another remarkable thing about September this year is that we had an early frost. Normally, we would have our first frost in the city somewhere around the first couple days of October. This year, our first frost was on September 19th. It was thought to be a record low in Wausau at one point (31 degrees), but at second glance the automated airport data only showed a low of 32. It was the coldest temperature of the month in the city, but other locations in the countryside had several nights from the 19th onward with low temps down in the 20s. We also had snow south of Wausau on the 22nd! It was an early end to the growing season.

Here are the stats for Wausau:

Average High: 70.6  (normal: 68.8)

Average Low: 44.7  (normal: 48.1)

Precipitation: 1.61 inches  (normal: 3.90 inches)

Snowfall: 0.0 inches  (normal: 0.0 inches)

Highest Temperature: 88 on the 4th

Lowest Temperature: 32 on the 19th

And now a report about the little fishing expedition I took. I promised to keep an eye on the solar-lunar table and weather conditions to further expand knowledge about fish and game activity. During my approximately 3 days of fishing there did again seem to be a pick-up in activity correlating fairly well with the solar-lunar table. Also the fishing was a little better on the day when the pressure was a little lower. I didn’t get to check out rainy/cloudy weather vs sunny skies because it was beautiful the whole time.

It wsn’t a perfect corellation (and certainly not a rigorous science experiment), but it did seem to be better at the times I was expecting. The one interesting thing about testing the theory out was that I had to fish most of the day on one river/stream and during the times when the activity was not projected to be good – otherwise how would one know or compare activity between the different periods. Even when the action was slow or non-existent, it was nice exploring new fishing areas and the colors were at their peak. The scenery was awesome in some spots.

Now that I have researched the fish/weather activity and tried it out through years in real world situations, I think I am going combine all of that knowledge into a daily fish and game forecast. It will probably start out on our web page but perhaps find a place on our TV broadcast as well. We get many requests for such a forecast every year, so it is about time to put something together.

Have a fine Monday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Fall Color, Monthly Recap, Nature

The first thing I HAVE to mention is the first snowfall contest. If you haven’t yet entered, if you have been waiting and checking the extended weather charts to get the best read on trends, you had better get a move on. The deadline is midnight tonight. Just go here and predict the date of the first “official” one inch of snow in Wausau. The average date of the first one inch snowfall in Wausau is November 14th. Last year it was a little late, not ocurring until November 24th. Many years it does not hit until December. I will let everyone know my prediction Monday. I think I am going to take a chance and predict a date outside of what is normal – just to be a little different.

Secondly, this is the time of the week to take a look at the US Drought Monitor. For us, it is a bit boring, which is a good thing! Not much changed since last week. About 65% of the state is indicated as abnormally dry. The coverage of the dry conditions decreased only by a fraction of a percent. Given that we did just get through 11 days in a row of wet weather, I suspect that next week’s Drought Monitor report will show less dry areas in the state. The best news in the country is that some rain fell in Texas this past week. It was not widespread or heavy enough to end the record drought, but any drop is welcome, I am sure.

Recent Color - Bob Whetstone, Medford

Thirdly, I want to make sure to highlight this weekend’s weather. It will be nice for the 1st weekend of October. We should have plenty of sunshine and high temps in the 50s on Saturday and in the 60s on Sunday. According to the latest Fall Color Report, the color are near the peak in the northern half of the area and close to 50% for most of the rest of the area. This means, this weekend could be the best one for a nice Fall Color trip or drive. By next weekend we could have more clouds or rain. If you don’t have time to get out there over the weekend, there will be some very nice days early next week as well.

Fourthly (if that is a word), I want to continue on the theme of progress that I started with yesterday. I often talk about gains in efficiency and all the wonderful new breakthroughs in alternative energy but not too much about things as prosaic as food production but there are exciting things going on there as well.

Read almost any environmental-themed website and you will find a lot of concern (to put it mildly) about how humans are using up all the resources of the planet, we are running out of fresh water, there isn’t enough productive land or fertilizer to feed everyone, and basically we are all going to die (like this article). I am here to say that it is not as bad as it looks and that we will like find solutions to keep everything moving forward.

First and foremost, the root of the potential problem is population increase (which ties in with my recent blog post “Housing Starts Negative“). Worse yet, the countries with the least ability to feed themselves are the ones having the most kids. What is up with that? It is all backwards. People with the least ability to feed a family should not be having multiple kids. I guess, it is what it is, and people will continue to need food, so where will it come from?

How about from the quarter acre farm? It does not take a genius or tons of work to grow a significant amount of food on a typical city lot. I make most of the small part of my yard that receives adequate sunlight. I drive around and see many large suburban lots, not only here but all over the U.S., many that are more than an acre in size, being used to grow grass. If there was a food shortage, these big lots could grow enough food for multiple families. In short, there is plenty of productive land that could be used to produce food. It seems more and more people are getting into the homegrown revolution which is a good thing.

Unfortunately, the biggest obstacle to growing more of our own food might be the government. I cannot believe a judge in Wisconsin recently explained that people “do not have a fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice”. Seriously!? This person is a judge in Wisconsin? We don’t have a right to have chickens and eat the eggs, own a cow and drink the milk, or grow a garden and eat the veggies, according to this fellow. Not without the government’s say so. And no, this is not a joke and it is not from the Onion. Grrrr. I had better stop before I blow my top.

Back to some of the good news. Even larger industrial-type agriculture has its share of innovation and each step makes it more likely that we will be able to produce more food with less energy, using less land and water that years past. Take a look at this recent development in aquaculture. A researcher in Texas has developed a new way to raise shrimp that involves a “racetrack” system of rearing the shrimp that uses less space than conventional outdoor ponds. The grow through successive stages of the equipment until they reach the bottom fully grown. Plans are being made to scale it up to factory size so we will soon find out if it lives up to its promise. Whereas not-so-environmentally-friendly outdoor ponds can produce 20,000 to 60,000 pounds of shrimp in a year, the racetrack system can produce a million pounds, using the same amount of water! If this system works at scale, then there will be much less pressure on the oceans of the world to produce seafood for humans.

Have a nice weekend! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Drought, Ecology, Environment, Fall Color, First Snowfall 2011, Technology

It’s time for that amazing annual event known as fall color.  You probably have spotted a few rogue trees and bushes ablaze in yellow, orange, or red already.  The color popping foliage will advance rapidly over the next few weeks.   

The latest fall color report from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism indicates Lac du Flambeau could be one of the top spots to visit this weekend with 50 to 74% of peak color reported.  Numerous spots in the north half of the state are reporting 24 to 49% of peak color including Price County, Minocqua, Eagle River, Antigo, Medford, Marshfield, and Wisconsin Rapids.  Also Richland County is southwest Wisconsin is in that range as well. 

Spooner is reported to be about 2 weeks from peak color.  Green Bay, Madison, and Milwaukee are all reporting from 0 to 24% color with peak expected by mid-October or so.  You can read the entire Wisconsin fall color report including upcoming special events, attractions, and the in various fall color hot spots around the state.  Just go to the following link.  http://www.travelwisconsin.com/fallcolor_report.aspx#/Report.

WHY DO LEAVES TURN COLORS IN THE FALL?

The simple answer is that leaves stop producing chlorophyll as sunlight and temperature decreases in the fall.  As the green chlorophyll pigment fades away, the other colored pigments which have been in the leaves all along show up.  It’s actually a complicated and cool process.  The USDA Forest Service has put together a fine, detailed explanation of the chemicals and science involved. Check it out here.

INTERESTING TREE RELATED SPOT

Speaking of things you may want to check out sometime, how about the Grove of Great American Trees in Washington D.C.?  I just learned about this for the first time this week.  Apparently some government officials thought it was important to have a place set aside to honor and dedicate to the official various state trees of the country.  There is much history and often times economic, cultural, and environmental significance attached to the state trees.  So a 30 acre tract of land in the D.C. area was planted in 1989 with groves of state trees.  For example, for the Wisconsin grove, you would find sugar maples. The planted grovers are mingled with some native large trees which were on the land already.  They help to provide shade for some of the state trees that need it to thrive.

 Each state’s grove is labeled with interesting and educational information posted nearby.  There are a handful of states such as Alaska, Hawaii, and Florida that don’t have their official state tree growing at this park, but rather have substitutes.  I’m assuming the climate of Washington D.C. isn’t suitable for their particular species.  Well, since I’m a tree buff, I hope to see this Grove of Great American Trees someday.

Well, the sunshine will be returning a bit this weekend and for sure next week.  So I hope you have a chance to get outside and soak up the emerging fall colors a good bit!

Posted under Ecology, Fall Color, Seasonal Items

The last time it was this cold so early in the month of September was back in 2007.  We had a sharp polar blast that produced a record low of 30 degrees at the Wausau Downtown Airport on September 15th of  that year.  As it turned out, temperatures never got that cold again for the rest of the month.

Last year, 2010, we had our first frost in the Wausau area on the very last day of September.  Otherwise it was a rather warm month.  I remember an early September freeze a number of years back that came so sudden that it caused the leaves of the ash trees to fall off the very next day!  What was so interesting about that was the fact that the leaves were still perfectly green.  I’ll never forget that.  The green leaves were kind of solid and stiff and you could actually hear them hit strike the ground as they fell straight down. There was no wind that morning.  It must have been such a shock to the trees that they just couldn’t take it.  Normally green ash trees turn a yellow-brownish color for a week or two before the leaves fall off.

Well, now that the background is set.  Let’s just say it, we could set a record low temperature in the Wausau area Friday morning.  The record low is 32 degrees from 1916 and we are forecasting the low around 30-31 degrees at the airport.  If this happens it will be one of only a handful of record low temperatures we’ve broke in the last 10 years in Wausau.  Some of that is probably due to global warming.  Some may be from expanded areas of buildings and pavement around the metro area which increases the urban heat island effect.

It will be interesting to see if this cold weather accelerates the fall colors.  It usually does.  You might be wondering if the cold weather and fall are setting in early?  Actually this spell looks more like an aberration than anything.  The computer models over the next two weeks generally keep a mild pattern around with temperatures at or above normal at times.  There could be a few bursts where readings actually get up toward 80 degrees again.

So I guess you can look at this cold snap as a trial run of real autumn.  It is giving you a chance to find the coats and gloves and blankets again.  Then you can set them aside for the eventual full fledged return of the cold air.

Posted under Fall, Fall Color, Freeze, Records

I have to say…besides of course the double cheese combo at Mc’d's…I had the perfect October combination today…beautiful weather, beautiful fall colors, and golf!   What a day it was.  Golf actually got off to a slow start this morning due to the frost covered greens, but there had to have been at least a 30 degree swing in temperature from when we started our round around 9:00 a.m and ended around 1:00 p.m.  Nekoosa today had a 43 degree swing in temperature from 27 this morning to 70 in the afternoon! 

Speaking of swing…my golf swing was not up to par today.  Had some great shots but just as many bad ones, oh well.  I snapped a couple pics along the way.  Besides struggling to find my ball under leaves, this is my favorite time of year to golf.

I was asked a really good question on the course today.  “We had frost…where was the Frost Advisory?” 

The National Weather Service will pull the plug on the Frost Advisories and Freeze Warnings after the first couple heavy frosts and freezes in the area.  How far we are into Fall will also play a factor.  Bottom line, frost advisories have to come to an end at some point or else we’d have them every night pretty soon.

Meteorologist Brian Niznansky

Posted under Fall, Fall Color

As Justin posted we now have partnered with NRG radio! This means just more chances to get the forecast from the StormTrak 9 weather team.  Let us know what you think! I know on our end we are very excited about this new endeavor.

I also wanted to direct you to my next have you ever wondered piece… Why is Static Electricity bad in the Winter? … with the cold temperatures we have seen in the overnight I know it has been bad! When someone asked that question My hair is always the first way I can tell it is staticy.   So if you want to know the answer check it out!

As we keep saying it looks like an Indian Summer is upon us, I can’t believe that it will be in the 70′s this week! What gorgeous weather we will have for mid October.  Make sure you see the Fall colors as they are almost done!

Hope you have a great night! Meteorologist Kristen Connolly

Posted under Fall, Fall Color, new media, Science, Weather NEws

Big news for everyone out there in Northcentral Wisconsin. StorrmTrak9 forecasts are now on a few radio stations in the area. Here is the list:

Big Cheese 107.9 http://www.bigcheese1079.net/ 

Central Wisconsin’s Listen at Work Station, Mix 96.7 http://967wljy.com/

 Classic Rock 103.3 WGLX http://www.wglx.com/ 

Today’s Best Country, Y 106.5 http://www.wyte.com/

You will hear StormTrak9 forecasts throughout the day and night on all four stations and we will have some interactive chats with the radio DJs in the morning. For starters, you can hear me on Big Cheese 1079 every morning Monday through Friday at 6:13am and 7:50 am with Trav & Christy. Tune in during your drive to work in the morning because it is “time to go for the gusto, drive fast, and eat cheese!”

As far as the weather goes, I can’t say enough good words about the forecast for this week and most of the weekend. It looks like we could reach Indian Summer conditions by Friday and Saturday with high temps around 70. The next chance of rain will not occur until late Sunday at the earliest. The Wisconsin Fall colors are happening earlier this year and are at their peak in most of the area right now! The colors are also more vibrant this year. My theory is that the above normal rainfall led to healthier trees this year and healthy trees bring good color. The last few year of Fall color have not been as vibrant most likely be cause of the persistent drought conditions.

Have a nice Monday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Fall Color, forecast

Talk about a cold night last night!  We have another one in store for tonight!  The good news is the seven day may be the best forecast I have seen for the area.  I can not believe we are going to see 70′s for the mid of October.  This year is completely the opposite of what we saw last year.  We had a mild and dry Sept last year and a wet and cool October.   This year it is vice versa! Here are just a few of the lows that we hit around the area:

Land O Lakes 23

Rhinelander 23

Eagle River 25

Conover 25

Neekoosa 25

Neecedah 25

Whittlesey 26

Antigo 27

Stevens Point 27 

Medford 28

Rib Mountain 29

For most areas it was the first freeze and the coldest night that we have seen so far this year!  I was up around 7 am and it was so cold out! It was neat though seeing the frost covering the ground. 

I also went hiking today because I wanted to see the Fall colors before they go away! It truly was a perfect fall day for it.  We will see a warm week ahead and if you haven’t been able to take a drive, hike or a bike ride and enjoy the beauty I really suggest you make the effort this week.  I wanted to share a few pictures from my hike up Rib today!

 Here is the pic of the frost, kind of hard to see but the ground is covered!   Have a great night! Meteorologist Kristen Connolly

Posted under Fall, Fall Color, forecast, Freeze

There is reason to celebrate today!

Is it because the fall color is in full swing and quite vibrant this year? Well, that is one reason.

Is it because a new habitable exoplanet has been discovered and it is only 20 light years away!? That discovery tripped my trigger, but I doubt too many others would celebrate.

Is it because dry and mostly pleasant weather (except tomorrow and Saturday) is on the horizon? This means river levels will continue to return to normal. This is certainly good news and something I would celebrate at least a little. I was out in the countryside yesterday hoping to do some trout fishing before the season closed but I couldn’t find a stream that was not flooded. Most of them were still a foot or more above normal.

What I was referring to in the beginning of the blog is the status of the drought here in Wisconsin. Many of you are probably thinking right now – what drought? I know it doesn’t seem like we have been experiencing drought for at least 2 or 3 months now, however, it takes awhile for the official drought status to catch up with the reality on the ground (because it is a multi-factorial calculation). This week’s update of the US Drought Monitorindicates Wisconsin is 99.9 percent drought free. Don’t ask me where the speck of remaining abnormally dry conditions is located. It is too small to show up on the graphic but perhaps it is in Florence county since that is where some of the last remaining dry conditions were located last week.

Have a nice Thursday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Drought, Fall Color, Space

I can’t believe that it is almost October, and that some places up north are almost to peak for fall color!  Fall officially started a week ago but across the area it has felt like fall the entire month of September.  Fall is such a gorgeous time of the year with the leaves changing colors.  I have talked about this a few times but I can truly say the season I probably missed most living in Florida and Texas was fall.  The natural beauty that fall brings really is spectacular.

Last year I wrote an article about why leaves change.  That is always a common question that people seem interested in.  So if you want to know the answer you can check out this link.  I’ll give you a clue, it has to do with the sun!

If you haven’t had a chance to get out and experience the colors for yourself you can look at this link to find out how far along your colors are! The site also has great ideas and maps on where to go to see the leaves.  I know that I am going to head up to Rib Mountain soon, before it’s to late!

Here is the map of colors across the state:

Last but not least! We saw our next Tropical Storm today, Tropical Storm Nicole.  But she was very short lived.  She was only a tropical storm for around 7 hours!  Her last advisory was just issued so she is no more.  One thing she did though bring LOTS of rain to Florida.

Have a great day tomorrow in enjoy the beautiful fall weather! I will on the golf course!

Meteorologist Kristen Connolly

Posted under Fall, Fall Color, Tropics