WATCH THE VIDEO HERE! 

It’s been a fairly unbelievable stretch of weather the past few days.  In the past nine days, Wausau has recorded 10 new record high temperatures.  Six have come as new record daytime highs (March 10^th, 11^th, 14^th, 15^th, 16^th, 17^th, 18^th) and three have come as record high overnight low readings (March 12^th, 15^th, 17^th). 

One of the contributing causes for the warm weather we’ve seen is the position of the jet stream.  At the time of this writing there is an enormous trough or downward plunge over the western United States.  And at the very same time there is an enormous ridge or upward shooting branch of the stream over the eastern United States.  The pattern has been stubborn and very slow to change. 

With cold air shooting southward and warm air blasting northward, the western United States has seen cold temperatures, rain and snow while the east has been setting record high temperature readings for days on end.  In fact on Sunday the higher elevations of northern Arizona picked up a foot of snow while Wausau recorded a fifth consecutive record high temperature. 

When the jet stream takes on such a unique shape some very interesting temperature readings can be recorded.   For fun I thought it would be interesting to compare where the numbers were across the country.  And Wausaustacks up near the top! 

Sunday saw temperatures reach 57 degrees inSan Diego, California. Los Angeles, California hit 58 degrees. Phoenix, Arizona only warmed to 64 degrees Sunday afternoon.  Now here’s where it gets fun: El Paso,Texas saw a daytime high of 78 degrees, the same reading recorded here in Wauasu, good for a new record high.

It’s not too often we out-warm Phoenix.  But when we do, it sure is fun to have bragging rights, and as evidenced by the jet stream pattern, meteorologically interesting to investigate as well!

Posted under Environment, new media, Records, Seasonal Items, Spring, Weather History, Weather NEws

Aside from a handful of short cold snaps and brief bouts of a few inches of snow at a time, this winter has proven to be fairly tame.  Especially when compared with last year’s winter that provided much of the United States with considerable snowfall. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has just released two images showing just how striking the difference has been in terms of snow depth.  In the image below, you’re looking at the continental United States.  Areas shaded in a taupe-peach color indicate areas that are dealing with nearly 40 less inches of snow compared to the winter of 2010-2011.  Areas in the blue color are places with nearly 40 more inches of snow. 

The top image illustrates the comparison in December, the lower in early February. 

What a difference!  We can see it has been a unique winter anecdotally, but when you look at the numbers and see how widespread the difference has been, it really is quite striking! 

To see the entire article from NOAA, follow this link: http://www.climatewatch.noaa.gov/image/2012/fierce-2010-2011-winter-dwarfs-this-seasons-snowfall

Image from NOAA.

Posted under Arctic climate, Environment, forecast, Nature, new media, Science, Seasonal Items, Snow Totals, Weather History, Weather NEws, Winter Weather

Posted under Education, Environment, Natural Disasters, new media, Records, Seasonal Items, Severe Weather, Storms, Weather NEws, Weather Safety

The plane used by NOAA to study hurricanes, and now winter storms. Image from NOAA.

A Gulfstream twin-engine turbo jet used to study hurricanes will be put to work to help forecast winter storms this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  

In an article published Jan. 12^th, NOAA says the jet will be flown around the North Pacific Ocean in January and February.  It will deploy sensors to “collect information where the jet stream and moisture from the ocean interact and breed potentially powerful winter storms that impact North America several days later.”

On board the aircraft meteorologists will be looking at a host of atmospheric conditions.  Included in their laundry list are wind, pressure, temperature and humidity levels.

In the article, National Centers for Environmental Prediction Capt. Barry Choy says that comparing the information gathered with the sensors with satellite imagery “significantly enhance[s] four-to-seven day winter weather forecasts.” 

NOAA uses the plane to study hurricanes during the late summer and fall seasons.  Its selected flight path will be to the east and west of Hawa’ii where the plane is currently stationed and as far north as Alaska. 

To read the article in its entirety and to see photos, log on to: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2012/20120111_g4hawaii.html

Posted under Arctic climate, Environment, forecast, Hurricanes, International Weather, Nature, new media, Oceans, Science, Seasonal Items, Severe Weather, Storms, Weather and Health, Weather History, Weather NEws, World Weather

Image from NOAA

The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, but even a little bit of sunlight created a brilliant photo op from space.

Check out this incredible image from NOAA–its an image of the earth that includes all of South and North America plus parts of the North Pole and Antarctica taken on the 2011 Winter Solstice. 

Here’s the desription provided by NOAA: “Taken on December 22, 2011, this full hemisphere scan from the GOES East satellite shows Earth on the 2011 winter solstice. The solstice is the shortest day of the year, and is also notable because the Sun’s angle relative to the planet is at its most southern point, leaving the North Pole in darkness. The high angle is evident in this image, were no visible cloud imagery can be seen over the North Pole, whereas the South Pole is well lit. Clouds are actually present over the North Pole (and would be visible in infrared imagery), however the visible imager sensor on GOES requires sunlight to capture imagery – and there is no sunlight at the high latitudes.”

To see the image in more detail follow this link:  http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/MediaDetail.php?MediaID=912&MediaTypeID=1

When you get to the page, if you click on the image once, you’ll get an expanded zoom that shows amazing detail! 

It’s a bit astonishing to look at the image.  The earth looks so quiet, peaceful and calm.  You can’t tell that millions of people are on it, living their lives unaware of their photo being taken from space. 

What a nice way to bring in 2012, by seeing the earth from afar, and perhaps to reflect on what an incredible gift it is! 

And happy new year! 

Posted under astronomy, Environment, International Weather, Nature, new media, Science, Weather NEws, World Weather

Former presidential contender Mike Huckabee thinks the weather may tip the balance of who wins the Iowa Caucuses on Jan. 3. 

Though political analysts make a living on predicting events like this, Huckabee does know a thing or two about Iowa.  He did after all pull a surprise win there in the last go-round in 2008.  But how could the weather change an election outcome? 

What’s at play here isn’t “if it snows candidate A will win and if it rains candidate B wins”.  The factors at work entangle some interesting political stories that have appeared in the primary process throughout the contested campaign.    

According to a report from KOAT-TV, Huckabee’s hypothesis is that should the weather be good on Jan. 3, Mitt Romney will win.  But if the weather is bad, Ron Paul will walk away the winner.  (view the full story here: http://www.koat.com/r/30072141/detail.html).   

In winter there are groups of people who classify good weather as getting six inches of snow in six hours.  But in this situation, good weather implies conditions that would not prevent people from getting out to caucus for their candidate.  The basis of Huckabee’s argument is the more Iowans voting, the better it is for Romney.  The poorer the turnout, the better chance Paul has for pulling an upset victory.    

So is there anything to this?  Well, there could very well be.  Political stories, whether domestic or international always catch my attention and anyone who has paid attention to the primary race so far knows of the many storylines that have characterized the campaign. 

Ron Paul does have some very dedicated supporters though his poll numbers don’t reflect the same amount of enthusiasm nationwide.  Mitt Romney has considerable campaign dollars, but seems unable break above the 20-25% barrier in the current field amongst likely Republican voters. 

When it comes down to it, I suppose the enthusiasm factor would play a fairly sizable role in who wins the Iowa caucus.  If you feel strongly about a candidate, trekking through snow may be something you’d be willing to do.  But if you’re so-so on a candidate, would you spend a day battling poor weather conditions to caucus for them? 

We’ll just have to wait and see what happens!  Perhaps Gingrich, Santorum or Bachmann will play a larger role in the process than Huckabee is anticipating.  But if our relatively mild and somewhat drier winter continues it will be very interesting to see how that impacts turnout!

Posted under Environment, Nature, new media, Seasonal Items, Weather NEws, Winter Weather

Posted under Arctic climate, Climate Change, Environment, International Weather, new media, Science, Space, World Weather

Some NASA astronauts just released one amazing video.  It’s a four minute and 56 second video that time-lapses the International Space Station’s rotation around the earth. 

The video is amazing.  It’s quality is superb.  And when you see it you get the opportunity to see features of the Earth from a perspective you’ve likely never seen before. 

The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights are incredible to see looking down on the Earth instead of from the surface to the sky.  Seeing the collective lights of our planet’s cities matched under the clouds visible from space is beautiful. 

Plus, the trance-like music the video is set to is very relaxing! 

Check out the video here: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8373771/astronauts-share-orbit-of-earth-in-stunning-time-lapse-sequence

Posted under astronomy, Environment, new media, Science, Technology

With news of another satellite falling back to Earth in the near future I came across this interesting story from NASA. 

The agency has selected twenty of its followers on Twitter to get an exclusive look at the soon-to-be launched National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite.

The satellite will help us with weather observations, but one of its duties will to be giving us a closer look at climate issues. 

To learn more check out this website from NASA!

Posted under Climate Change, Environment, International Weather, Nature, new media, Science, Space, Uncategorized, Weather NEws, World Weather

Here’s a few links to global news sources, with non-English articles roughly translated.  It’s always interesting to see what people around the globe are talking about and to see a perspective from outside the US is fascinating. 

Read the article in French or English. 

- Irene leaves behind flooding, millions without power — and relief that it wasn’t worse:  Toronto Star (Canada)

Read the article in English. 

- Wirbelsturm traf USA mit seiner sanfteren Hälfte:  Der Spiegel (Germany)

Read the article in German or English. 

- Kiwis batten hatches in NY ghost town : The New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)

Read the article in English.

- Orkaan Irene trekt voorbij New York:  Radio Netherlands Worldwide (The Netherlands)

Read the article in Dutch or English. 

- Two million evacuated as Hurricane Irene hits US: Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (Ghana)

Read the article in English.

Posted under Hurricanes, International Weather, Natural Disasters, new media, Severe Weather, Storms, Weather History, Weather NEws, World Weather