Lightning image from the National Weather Service

Improved education on the dangers of and safety precautions associated with lightning has given 2011 the lowest number of lightning deaths recorded in the United States, according to the National Weather Service.

Of the 26 people killed by lightning in the United States and Territories, one was in Wisconsin.  According to NWS statistics, McKenzie Klar an 11-year old camping in Burnett County this past July was killed after she was struck by lightning when under a tree.

Both Utah and Michigan recorded three deaths, while the remaining fatalities were reported in Montana, South Dakota, Colorado, Kansas, Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida and Guam.   

The majority of the deaths were reported in late summer and early fall with July seeing the most.  Nine people were killed by lightning that month, but that number is down considerably from the 16 that is reported average amount.       

The 2011 totals beat the previous record low amount of fatalities by two since 2008.

To see the statistical breakdown of the numbers, check out this website: HERE.

And to see the complete article from the National Weather Service for yourself, check out this website: HERE.

Posted under Environment, Nature, Records, Recreation & Sports, Science, Seasonal Items, Severe Weather, Storms, Summer, Weather and Health, Weather History, Weather NEws, Weather Safety

The average August temperature in the United States was 3.0 degrees warmer than usual according to recently released climate data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Statistics indicate the month of August 2011’s average temperature was 75.7 degrees.   

NOAA is using figures that compare data from years 1901 to 2000.  The numbers are then used to determine the above-average temperatures that have been felt around the country.  A sizeable portion of the United States saw new record warmest recordings for the month of August. 

Data including the full summer indicate an average temperature in the United Statesof 74.5 degrees in 2011.  That puts it 2.4 degrees above what’s usually seen in an average summer. 

A map showing how average August temperatures compared with normal.

Central Wisconsin was noted for having above average temperatures in August along with the majority of the state.  Only two of the nine regions in Wisconsin broken down by NOAA were noted as experiencing near normal temperature readings.

A large section of the southern tier of the United States saw new record warmest readings for August.  All but one region of Texas and New Mexico were among the areas experiencing record heat. 

Problems were also compounded considering the worsening drought situation in the south.  According to the US Drought Monitor “despite record rainfall in parts of the country, drought covered about one-third of the contiguous United States.”   

The figures released on September 8^th also included a laundry list of other notable climate features that have been recently recorded.  Among the most notable is that not one state had monthly average temperatures below the usual values, with only nine titled under the category of being “near-normal.” 

To read the entire story and see the data, follow this link to go to the NOAA page where the information is broken down.

Posted under Drought, Environment, Heat, Nature, Records, Science, Seasonal Items, Summer, Weather History

We’ve been hearing about the horrible wildfires in Texas lately.  Well there is severe drought ongoing in northern Minnesota as well.  In fact on August 18th a forest fire began due to lightning in the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area about 14 miles east of Ely.  Officials have been conducting specialized firefighting operations over the past few weeks to gradually contain in. 

It is really pretty remarkable all the data and technology they employ to fight such fires.  About 1700 acres have been burned so far by the so called Pagami Creek Fire.  You can learn much more about this fire by checking out this website.  http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2534/

If you looked carefully into the sky Friday in parts of the TV-9 viewing area, you may have noticed a thin milky haze or veil way up high.  This was actually smoke suspended many thousand feet above us that originated in northern Minnesota and Canadian fires.  We’ve had a persistent flow of air from the north, northwest in the middle levels of the atmosphere over the past week driving down particles from those areas.  Notice on the satellite image from Friday there are some some ribbons of the smoke showing up, especially in western Wisconsin.  The dark color on the image indicates clear skies, while the smoke areas have a light gray or milky shade.  Heavier clouds from a storm south of Wisconsin show up as a brighter, opaque white.

Other Weather News:  Summer 2011 Very Warm Across the U.S.

According to NOAA and the National Climatic Data Center, meteorological summer 2011 (June – August) was the second warmest in recorded history.  The average temperature across the U.S was 74.5 degrees which is 2.4 degrees above normal.  The hottest summer ever was that of 1936 with an average temperature of 74.6 degrees.  However the state of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana did have their hottest summer on record in 2011.  Of course they also had exceptional drought.  Their number of days with 100 degrees or higher was off the charts. Some areas had over 70 days of such heat.   You can get a better feel which states had the most hot days by viewing the map below from NOAA.

You can also get many more interesting facts about summer 2011 weather including precipitation trends from this link.  http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2011/20110908_auguststats.html

Posted under Monthly Recap, Seasonal Items, Summer, Weather NEws

Well August continued the them of this summer, warm.  It wasn’t nearly as warm as July was though.  We had no 90 degree days in town, which is somewhat unusual.  There were several days in the mid 80s.  The coolest temperature at the Wausau Downtown Airport was 51 degrees, although there were a handful of nights with lows in the 40s in many outlying spots. 

 In Wausau the average low temperature was 58.6 degrees which was 1.6 degrees above normal.  The average high temperature was 79.1 degrees which is 1.4 degrees above normal.  By the way, we are now using a new set of “normals” that covers the period from 1981 to 2010.  Up until August we were using data from the 30 year period from 1971 to 2000 for the “normals”.

Rainfall was pretty interesting.  For the entire month we picked up 5.36″ in Wausau, which is 1.20″ above normal.  This is kind of misleading, since about 80% of the rain fell in two days during the first week of the month.  On the 2nd, 1.96″ fell and on the 6th, 2.43″ occurred.  It was really pretty dry the rest of the month and you could tell the lawns and plants were getting a bit browner and drier recently.

Look Ahead to September

As we lose more and more daylight heading through September, of course the normal temperatures drop.  In Wausau, the normal low temperature for September goes down to 48.1 degrees and the normal high temperature slips to 68.8 degrees.  It typically is still a fairly wet month with a normal rainfall of about 3.9″.

Even though we have some cool weather in the forecast around Labor Day, the long range models show a fairly dry and warm pattern developing over the Upper Midwest later next week and into mid-month.  So right now, my estimate would be that we will end up warmer than normal in September, and probably somewhat drier than usual. 

It’s one of my favorite months.  Fall color really picks up late in the month and I get to harvest a lot of those late season crops like squash and apples as well as dig up those delicious potatoes.  I usually start picking my field corn and sunflowers as well later in the month for my chickens.  It’s neat seeing the season’s worth of sun and rain and hard work produce its harvest.  Maybe you enjoy a first frost that normally comes in September as well.  Here’s to a great September for all of you!

Posted under Monthly Recap, Summer

The line of thunderstorms that was advancing across Wisconsin Tuesday night associated with a cold front got me thinking about severe weather chances at the end of summer.  Here are a few general thoughts on this topic.  With the longer and cooler nights, lower sun angle, and generally lower dew points at the end of summer it is certainly less common to have severe thunderstorms than earlier.  There just isn’t as much thermodynamic energy available for storms as in June and July.

However it does happen on occasion.  It just takes a good surge of southerly winds at the right time to funnel in muggy air to collide with a cold or warm front near us and we can have trouble.  This is especially true when strong jet stream winds and a low pressure system are plowing into the Upper Midwest as well.  In fact one thing late season events have going for them is that the jet stream winds start to strengthen in September as the temperature contrast increases between northern latitudes and southern ones.

 So the bottom line is that you should not let your guard down quite yet.  Keep your severe weather action plans handy and your weather radios,  and monitor forecasts frequently when there is a threat of thunderstorms in the late summer and early autumn.   After all, we’ve even had some sporadic tornadoes up into Thanksgiving time in Wisconsin.   The following link is a good one to check out for severe weather safety for outdoor activities, business, and family activities.  It would be a good one to print off and hang up on your fridge.  http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/grb/outreach/brochures/WeatherPlanningStrategy.pdf

If you need more encouragement to be careful, below are information links to several severe weather cases that have hit central and northeast Wisconsin in late August and September.  The case studies are courtesy of the National Weather Service Office in Green Bay.  The first one is the Labor Day tornado outbreak of Sept. 2, 2002 that stretched from Ladysmith to Wausau.  http://www.crh.noaa.gov/grb/events/090202.php

The next storm event occurred on Sept. 13, 2005 and extended from Portage County east to Lake Michigan and featured high winds, hail, and a tornado.  http://www.crh.noaa.gov/grb/events/091305.php

Posted under Severe Weather, Storms, Summer, Tornadoes, Weather Safety

July will go down in the record books as one of warmer and wetter than normal conditions in our area. 

Here are the stats for the Wausau Downtown Airport.

• Average high temp 84 (3.2 degrees above normal)
• Average low temp 63.6 (4.3 degrees above normal)
• Rainfall 5.53″ (1.41″ above normal)
• Lowest temp, 52 and highest temp, 94
• It reached 80 degrees or higher on all but 6 days
• 15 days with highs of 85 degrees or higher
• 4 days with highs of 90 degrees or higher

Interestingly enough, 94 degrees so far has been the ceiling for how hot it gets in Wausau this summer.  We hit that twice in July, and once in early June.  For the whole summer so far, we’ve had 7 days of 90 degrees or higher.   We had about 4 days where the heat index reached into the 105-110 degree range.  We had many days with dew points in the 70s and several where low 80 degree dew points were observed in central Wisconsin.  In fact on my home weather station, I had a dew point of 81 registered on four separate days.  That’s incredible.  I think that is what I will remember most about this July, the intense humidity.  There are summers around here where the dew point never gets above 75.  So to have 4 days in July with the dew point at 80 degrees or more, is certainly remarkable.

July Statistics From Around the State

Location                # of 90+ deg. days          Total Rainfall

La Crosse               9                                              4.6″

Madison                 8                                              1.85″

Wis. Rapids           6                                             7.00″

Eau Claire              6                                             7.43″

Marshfield             4                                             7.18″

Green Bay              4                                             5.30″

Rhinelander          3                                             2.36″

As you can see, there were a few drier pockets.  Rhinelander was below average on rainfall as was Madison.  Actually a good chunk of far south and southeast Wisconsin was on the dry side.

Well it appears August will start out above normal for temperatures and we could see some heavy rain Tuesday in parts of the area.  We’ll see what happens after that!  My hunch is that we will rack up another 90 degree day or two in August.  Stay cool.

Best regards,

Tony Schumacher, StormTrack9 Meteorologist

Posted under Heat, Monthly Recap, Summer

If you like big weather numbers, the past few days have not disappointed.  High temperatures Wednesday in Wisconsin included:  100 in Janesville, Racine, and Necedah, 99 in Watertown, 98 in Milwaukee, 97 in La Crosse and Stevens Point, 96 in Madison, and 95 in Superior and Green Bay for some of the hottest.

The storms that rolled through Tuesday evening brought wind gusts to 60 mph in numerous spots from Taylor and Clark Counties in a swath southeast to the Waupaca County.  Stevens Point was especially hard hit with 75 mph winds estimated by the National Weather Service.  They did a storm survey damage and believe it was not a tornado because all the trees down were laying in the same direction, to the east or southeast.  That means it was a straightline thunderstorm wind event.  The National Weather Service says the damage occurred mainly from 10:00 to 10:15 p.m. with the core of damage from downtown Stevens Point into the Whiting area.

We did have reports of a few funnel clouds in the region however.  Below you’ll see one of those sent in from the Abbotsford area.

Tom Danen, Abbotsford, evening of July 19th

Rainfall was the other notable feature of the storms Tuesday night.  I guess that shouldn’t be surprising given how much moisture was hanging in the air with the tropical dew points pushing 80 degrees.  There were several bands that had over 4.0″ of rain from western into central Wisconsin.  See the precipitation estimate map from the La Crosse National Weather Service below.  The oranges and reds are the heaviest amounts.

Some rainfall reports include:  4.56″ Lublin (Taylor Co.), 4.0″ Gilman and Spencer, 3.93″ Owen, , 3.5″ Polonia, 3.25″ Scandinavia, 3.12″ Rib Mountain, 2.45″ 1 mile NE of Wausau, 2.25″ Stevens Point.

Here’s hoping for some less impressive weather over the next few days!

Posted under Heat, Natural Disasters, Severe Weather, Storms, Summer, Tornadoes, Weather NEws

Tony asked about air conditioning use in yesterday’s blog entry. I think I might be the least attached to air conditioning out of all the people I know – at least at home – just ask my wife. We don’t have central air. We only use one window unit for one room in our house. I usually do not turn it on unless the temperature in the house rises up to 80 or above (and it is especially humid). We don’t use air conditioning much in order to save energy and money. Air c0nditioners are huge energy hogs. In fact, as I blogged about a couple weeks ago, newer air conditioners, because they have to use different refrigerants - have a bigger carbon footprint than older models. They are bigger and require more resources to manufacture.

I was thrilled 2 years ago when we only had a few days in the 80s and a couple in the 90s. July of 2009 was particularly cool. It was a rare Summer when I didn’t even put in the window unit air conditioner. I was happy to save a lot of money by not using it. I could probably survive just fine without any air conditioning at home. It helps that I am relatively young. As we age, our bodies have a harder time regulating internal temperature and thus the environmental temperature matters a lot more. Keeping the ambient temperature in a comfortable range (with air conditioning and heating) is crucial.

Work is another matter. As Tony mentioned, our electronic equipment would not work all that well in hotter conditions. It would also be more difficult performing many tasks. Even office work would be uncomfortable if the indoor temperature routinely rose above 80. It is hard to imagine how people got by back in the early 20th century (especially in the southern half of the country) - but they did. Offices and factories used fans and worked at cooler times of the day. I remember a story my Grandpa Schmidt told me about growing up in the 1930s. There were a few years during the 1930s when they had to deal with major heat waves. At times, the high temps would rise above 100 for several days in a row. During these 100 degree days, my Grandpa and his family would do chores in the morning and in the evening and then spend the middle of the day underground in their root cellar/tornado shelter. Along with the hot weather they would also have some significant drought. They had to cut brush to feed the cows because all the grass had burned up. So I guess the moral of the story is we should be thankful for air conditioning, and during times of drought for irrigation and free trade (to maintain crop growth and food supplies). Now if we could only develop some better alternative energy supplies to power our air conditioning. That would be grand!

Speaking of dry weather, the latest US Drought Monitor countiues to show extreme to exceptional drought across the deep south, Texas, and New Mexico. Here in Wisconsin we have been fortunate. There have been a couple periods of dry weather but not enough to change our drought status. The Monitor continues to show Wisconsin 100% drought-free which does not happen very often. If we have some scattered thunderstorms around the state over the next few days (which seems likely) then perhaps the drought-free status will last a while longer.

The main problem over the next few days will be the building heat. High temps will be close to 90 on Saturday and then rise into the low to mid 90s for Sunday and remain in that range for much of next week. With high humidity, the heat index will likely be above 100 degrees for several days in a row.

Have a pleasant Thursday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Alternative Energy, Heat, Summer

I’m really curious how much you currently use air conditioning and is that different than when you were growing up?  I know all too well my childhood home had no air conditioning.  We got by, but I do remember a lot of summer nights that were grueling.  My bedroom was in the upstairs of our house and it seemed the heat always got trapped up there.  On a plus note I had a nice big window that usual let a good breeze in.  But still, after being out in the hot barn milking hot cows, it would have felt really nice to come in to an air-conditioned house. 

Now my own home has central air, as do my vehicles, my office, and of course most public facilities.   I’ll be honest…I’ve grown to expect it.   It sure makes life in the summer more comfortable and tolerable.   It sure keeps the computers, printers, and electronics running better to be cooler and in lower humidity conditions.

I keep my house A/C set at about 75 degrees.  How about you?  Do you prefer 72 or do you keep it up there at 80?  I find myself feeling chilly if I go below 75, especially if I’ve just stepped in from 90 muggy degrees outside.  It really gets to be a shock on your body to be jumping back and forth if the differential is too big between the outdoor and indoor temperatures. 

Just imagine if for some reason we had to eliminate air conditioning.  Do you think dress codes would change in your workplace?  I imagine it would only take a few weeks of sweating it out and some employers would allow shorts and tank tops.  Maybe instead of suit and ties, it would be shorts, ties, and sandals for the office.  I have a hunch summer would be  a grumpy time at the factory or workplace if there was not A/C.

Then there is the whole electricity use issue with air conditioners.  They are monsters in that regard.  It often uses more electricity than any other item in your home during the summer.  A 2.5 ton central A/C system uses approximately 3500 watts of energy per hour.  A medium size window unit uses about 900 watts per hour.  Just for comparis0n, a refrigerator with the door left open uses around 360 per hour, a desktop computer around 160, and a ceiling fan about 75 watts per hour.

For those of you with tight budgets, which seems like most of us nowadays, fans are your friend when it comes to summer cooling.  As you just saw they use only a fraction of the electricity of air conditioners.  If they are positioned right, the breeze they provide can make it feel about 6 to 9 degrees cooler.

Well I guess the bottom line is we need to not take air conditioning for granted.  Be thankful for it and use it wisely.  Perhaps you could get one with a timer so it is just working when it really needs to.   Just remember the electricity needed to run them is probably generated from the burning of fossil fuels.  This in turn releases more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and could lead to even warmer weather down the road. 

Good luck dealing with the intense heat wave getting ready to settle in starting this weekend.  I hope you find some cool spots to chill out in and be refreshed as it wears on.

Posted under Heat, Seasonal Items, Summer, Technology

If you pay attention to nature stories and trends you know there has been a lot of concern about bee health and populations in recent years.  I for one have not seen many bumble bees this year, but I just saw huge numbers of honey bees over the weekend.  They were getting nectar from two spots in my yard in particular.  One was on some 15 foot high linden / basswood trees.  The trees are absolutely loaded with their white flowers this year, more than I can remember in a long time.  I could smell the sweet aroma 30 feet away from the trees.  In any case there must have been a few hundred honey bees going to work on those flowers.  It was like a symphony of buzzing. 

I was trying to mow lawn near the trees so they made me a bit nervous.  I’ve been stung before by bees and have had no serious reaction other than localized pain and swelling near the bite.  But still the thought crossed my mind, what if 3o or 40 of them came after me.  The sound of the lawn mower seems to agitate them.  Well, luckily they were more interested in the basswood flower nectar than me.

The other spot I noticed a lot of honey bees was near my garage entrance. We have several large spirea bushes.  They were in full bloom with pink blossoms.  Here too, the buys were very busy.  It’s interesting because last year, I saw a lot of bumble bees and very few honey bees.  This year it’s just the opposite.  I wonder if the wet weather last growing season and into this spring was hard on the bumble bees?

Finally, it was nice to see several monarch butterflies over the past few weeks.  Many experts are concerned about their health and trends as well.  It’s not exactly clear why they seem to be declining.  There seems to still be an abundance of milkweed plants in rural areas of Wisconsin, themain habitat for the larval monarchs to feed upon.   However some states and counties  declare milkweed plants noxious weeds because they can be poisonous to livestock and other animals.  As such other parts of the country have taken steps to eradicate it.  Actually the chemicals in milkweed work to the monarch’s advantage since they make the monarchs poisonous to predators. 

The adult monarch butterflies do consume a huge amount of nectar from a wide variety of flowers.  They continue to do this on their winter migration south to Mexico.  They actually gain weight as they migrate which is strange.  However they feed little once they arrive in their over-wintering spot.   Follow this link to read a nice page on monarchs from federal forest service.  http://www.fs.fed.us/monarchbutterfly/habitat/index.shtml

Well, I hope the sunny and comfortable weather the next few days allows you to enjoy the insects that flourish this time of the year from the things right in your very own yard.

Posted under Ecology, Environment, Seasonal Items, Summer