The day has arrived. The last day of the year. We survived 2012 and it is time to reveal our top 3 weather events of 2012 for Northcentral Wisconsin. First, I will repost numbers 10 through 4 in case you weren’t paying attention last week.

• 10. The number 10 weather event was killing frost(s) in April. This would normally not be anything special because frost occurs very frequently in Wsiconsin during the month of April. What made the frost in April more significant this year is that temperatures had gotten so warm in March. It was warm enough in March to cause many fruit crops and trees to start growing and blossoming. Those blossoms were “ripe for the picking” so to speak, when the frost came around in April. Many apple orchards in Northcentral Wisconsin lost almost their entire crops. Other fruit trees were similarly hard hit.
• 9. October of 2012 was the 7th wettest October on record. We recorded 5.49 inches of rain during the month in Wausau. Some spots had even more. This might not have made the list except for the fact that it was also the wettest month of 2012 and the rain came too late to do much good. The growing season, which had been very dry, was over by the time we recived enough moisture to be beneficial to the crops.
• 8. Did I mention that 2012 was a warm year? It turns out that 10 out of the 12 months during 2012 were above normal, most of them were significantly above normal. The only two months that were below normal on temps were September and October. Even those two months were just barely below normal. 2012 was not a year when we had to complain about the cold too much. In fact, I think this year I have probably heard the least amount of complaints about “cold weather” in my entire career. It was a nice respite. Most years, most people complain nearly contantly about how cold it is, which always makes me wonder why more people do not move to warmer places.
• 7. Making it to number 7 on the list is a non-event. There was hardly any severe weather in the area. Since most of the year was quite warm, one might think there would have been more opportunity for severe weather to develop. Interestingly, sometimes it can be too warm. If there is not enough cold air to form cold fronts at the surface, or form instability higher in the atmosphere, then thunderstorms just won’t form. Of course, it was also quite dry for extended periods of time. If there is not enough moisture in the air then we will not end up with thunderstorms, and thus little severe weather. The most active period of severe weather was from June 14th through the 20th when we had a few rounds of thunderstorms and some tornado warnings in Marathon and Langlade counties.
• 6 – A very warm winter with little snow. This was a continuation of a trend that began in December of 2011. December (2011), January (2012), and February (2012) were all about 6 degrees above normal. Snowfall during January in Wausau was 12.9 inches but it fell over many different days and was not enough to open snowmobile trails in most of central Wisconsin. During February 12.2 inches of snow was reported in Wausau but most of that – 6.9 inches – fell on the last 2 days of the month. Snowmobile trails were able to open for a few days in some counties during early March. Because of the warm and relatively snowless Winter, the skating rink in downtown Wausau was never able to be opened. Total snowfall for the year (not including today’s light snow) in Wausau was 46.2 inches which is about 13 inches below normal for the year.
• 5 – A strong Winter storm on December 20th. This one should be fresh in everyone’s mind as it occurred only about a week ago. It was the biggest snowstorm of the year in Wausau with a record 10.9 inches for the day. 6 to 10 inches of snow was fairly common across much of central Wisconsin. The highest snowfall in the state was in the Madison area where some locations reported close to 20 inches. In addition to heavy snow there was some gusty wind which created blizzard conditions in the southern part of the area and southern third of the state. Check this past blog post for some extra details on the storm.
• 4 – Another strong Winter storm makes the list at number 4. This is the one that was referenced earlier, the one that occurred on February 28th and 29th. We ranked this one higher than the December 20th storm because the highest snow totals in the state were in our area. Around 20 inches of snow was reported in many locations in the northwoods. In Wausau the total was 6.9 inches. It was just enough snow to open a handful of snowmobile trails in the area, but it didn’t last long. By the 10th of March it was melting away fast. Check this past blog entry for a map of the snow totals from this storm. Check this blog post for additional information.

And now on to the top three which should come as no surprise to anyone – as they once again are related to the warm year we had.

• 3. Heat waves! We had several heat waves during the year and the worst was from July 2nd to July 6th. In Wausau we had 5 days in a row with high temps in the 90s. On three of those days we had highs of 96. The 96 degree high temp on the 4th of July set a new record. The 96 degrees on the 5th of July tied the old record. High temps hit 100 in the southern part of our area and in the southern part of the state. As mentioned previously, it ended up being the 2nd hottest July on record in Wausau. Check these blog posts for a review of the July heat waves: Comparing to the 1930s, Holiday heat records. And, the southern half of the area had hotter temps during the July heat wave(s) because we had…
• 2. Severe Drought. It was bad. I remember driving into southern Wisconsin over the 4th of July and already by that time, everything was brown. The drought was quite severe in the southern half of the area, south of Marathon county, through the first 6 months of the year and then spread northward into early Fall. Thankfully, the southern half of the state did receive some beneficial rain later in the year, but it was not enough to save non-irrigated crops.
• 1. As many of you probably guessed, the number 1 weather event of the year was the record warm March. We had so much unusual warmth during March that we smashed all kinds of records all over the state, including here in Northcentral Wisconsin. We tied or broke 20 different daily records for warmth. It really felt a lot like early Summer in the middle of the month. All the snow melted and vegetation started turning green. We broke the old warm March monthly record (from 1910) by 2.5 degrees. Some further reading: Warmest March on record, Does a hot March foretell a hot Summer?, A warm spell for the ages.

And now a few more fun lists looking back at 2012 and looking forward to 2013:

• Actually this first one is something more dramatic and positive than fun. It is a look at amazing medical technologies that grew-up a bit in 2012 and should make a big impact in 2013. Medical progress continues at a rapid pace. Hopefully soon we will be able to more effectively combat the ravages of aging.
• Wired’s top image galleries of 2012. Many of which I have shared throughout the year.
• Wired’s top science images of the year.
• Some of the “big numbers” behind the big science and technology stories of the year.
• 100 best space photos of the year. A great gallery if you love space, but be sure to have a lot of time on your hands.
• What will be some of the top science stories of 2013. This article has a few cool candidates, including a comet that could outshine the moon.
• Five technologies that could continue to change our world in 2013.
• And how about 13 tech items you might have caught wind of but probably will not come to fruition in 2013.

Have a good Monday! Meteorologist Justin Loew

Posted under Records, Seasonal Items, Top 10 List, Weather History, Weather NEws

And now, as promised, here are your top 3 weather events of 2011 plus a recap of the weather statistics for the year.

3. The long cold Winter and Spring. When I asked people about the weather in 2011, the cold and the tornadoes are what came to mind first. This year was one of the coldest late Winter and early Spring periods we have experienced since 1996. I say this based on the fact that ice and snow lingered longer into the growing season than in any other year since 1996. I was amazed to see a huge slab of ice along the trout stream I was fishing at on the opening day of the fishing season - ON MAY 8TH! There was also a bit of ice along the shorelines of lakes and rivers in the Northwoods in early May. We had a late snowstorm on March 22nd-23rd (8 inches), another one on April 3rd (1.5 inches), yet another one on April 19th (1.9 inches, which broke the record for that date), and finally on May 3rd (0.10 inches). Temperatures averaged a little below normal for each month from January through June. Suprisingly, even though it was consistently below normal, we did not set any new record cold temperatures in Wausau, but there were a couple of records in a few other communities in the area.

2. Juneau county-Wood county-Saratoga tornado. This was not only one of the most significant weather events of 2011, it was one of the longer tornado tracks in Wisconsin history – remaining on the ground for about 70 miles! Luckily, as was the case with the Chili tornado, this one struck in relatively low population areas. Instead of rehashing all of the details here, check out these past blog posts about the event. First blog post after the tornado with an approximate track and quite a few pictures. Tony’s blog post that contains the first NWS summary. A blog post with links to many other pages with tornado data. A final blog post with the official tornado track.

1. April 10th tornadoes in Merrill and Cottonville. This severe weather and tornado outbreak was the obvious choice for the number one weather event(s) of the year. Not only because there were a couple of long-track damaging tornadoes in our area but also because it was a record for the number of tornadoes in one day in April. It was also quite odd that we had such an outbreak of severe weather when – as we saw in number 3 above – it was a cool and snowy Spring. Somehow mother nature was able to squeeze in one warm day with strong storms during April. The high temperature on the 10th was 74 – 10 dgrees warmer than any other day during the month. The strongest tornado of the day (in Merrill) was also the most damaging tornado to hit our area since the Big Flats tornado way back in 1994. Miraculously, unlike 1994, no one died during this tornado even though more than 20 homes and other structures were heavily damaged and/or destroyed. It was rated an EF3 tornado, the strongest in our area since the June 7th, 2007 tornado which tore up the forest in Shawano, Menominee, Langlade, and Oconto counties. What I remember most about visiting the damage area on the north side of Merrill is all of the insulation. As we drove down the roads, you could see little bits of yellow insulation clinging to every tree and lying in every yard, for as far as the eye could see. A lot of post storm analysis focused on the Merrill tornado but we shouldn’t forget that another strong tornado cause quite a bit of damage in Adams county around Cottonville. Two short-lived tornadoes also struck Forest couunty and caused some damage. Here is a page of blog posts that contain most of the information about the severe weather on April 10th.

Now on to the weather stats for 2011. These are preliminary numbers because we will have to eventually factor in the high and low temperatures of today and tomorrow as well as any precipitation totals. For the preliminary temps I just plugged in what we are forecasting for today and Saturday which is usually very close to the actual temps.

The interesting part about the temperatures this year is that the weather started out quite cool. Each of the first 6 months were below normal. September was below normal as well. The other 5 months were far enough above normal that the entire year ended up slightly above normal. The average high was almost exactly normal, but as has been the case in the last few years and even the last couple of decades, the average low was almost a degree and a half above normal, thus the average for the year was about a half degree above normal.

Once again this year, we did not have a record low during the Winter (in Wausau). The last time we had a record low during the Winter was in 1996. Not only were there no record lows (in Wausau) during the Winter, there were no record lows (in Wausau) for the entire year. In the category no records, there were also no record warm low temperatures and no record cold high temperatures. Record high temperatures were a different story. We broke or tied new daily records (in Wausau) on 6 different occasions:

1. 50 on February 13th
2. 90 on June 3rd
3. 94 on June 7th
4. 93 on June 8th
5. 80 on October 8th (tie)
6. 79 on October 10th (tie)

We had 4 days (in Wausau) with daily record precipitation:

1. 0.89 inches on March 22nd
2. 1.38 inches on April 10th
3. 1.57 inches on July 19th
4. 2.43 inches on August 6th

We had 3 different dates with record daily snowfall in Wausau:

1. 8.7 inches on February 20th
2. 1.9 inches on April 19th
3. 3.2 inches on November 9th

The highest temperature of the year was 94. As mentioned earlier this week, this mark was reached (in Wausau) on 4 different occasions; June 7th, July 17th, July18th, and July 20th. The lowest temperature of the year (in Wausau) was -21 on January 21st, however this number is a little suspect. Tony and I noticed that the temperature sensor at the downtown airport in Wausau seemed to be reporting a couple of degrees too low during the middle of January when that low temperature occurred. The sensor was fixed later in the month. Outside of that period the coldest temperature was -17 on February 10th and 11th.

(Update: edited on January 2nd to factor in the last two days of December 2011)

Average High for 2011: 53.03  (normal: 53.06)

Average Low for 2011: 35.07  (normal: 33.7)

2011 Total Precipitation: 35.53 inches (normal: 32.41″)

2011 Total Snowfall: 65.8 inches (normal: 59.6″)

So once again we have a year with above normal temperatures which has been a trend over the last couple of decades. We did have a couple of cold years during the last 2 or 3 decades (real bitter cold in early 1996 in fact), but most years have been above normal. During this time frame, most of the increase in our temperatures has occurred because low temps have been rising. High temperatures have not budged all that much. As I mentioned earlier this week with regards to the humidity, the increase in low temperatures probably has to do with more moisture in the air. The oceans have been getting a little warmer in recent decades and this allows more moisture to evaporate into the air. When the air is more humid, temps do not drop as much during the night. Whether you think the warmer temps over the last 2 or 3 decades is a natural trend or it is due to anthropogenic global warming, it seems the trend, in general, continued in 2011. The global forecasts from climatologists have been relatively accurate thus far.

Have a Happy New Year! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under AGW, Climate Change, Top 10 List

Seeing no one else is too upset about the scheduling of the Rose Bowl, I will continue on our year-end countdown of the top weather events of 2011. Today I present numbers 6 through 4.

6. July 17th through 20th Heat Wave. This was a 4 day heat wave the was probably a bigger national story than it was a local story. We didn’t break any high temps here in Wausau but we hit 94 degrees on three of the days. Wisconsin Rapids tied a record high on the 20th when the temperature rose to 96. Even though we didn’t break many daily record high temps here in Northcentral Wisconsin, there were hundreds, maybe thousands (if memory serves me correctly) of daily records broken across the country. Excessive heat warnings were issued for parts of the area on each of the four days. On the 19th we also broke a record for rainfall with a total of 1.57 inches in Wausau. There were some severe thunderstorms and a bit of flash flooding during the heat wave, but thankfully nothing too widespread or serious.

5. Frequent Snow in January. You might not think that this should be so high on the list, but then again we have short memories. I certainly remember a lot of people complaining about how much snow fell in January. It wasn’t the amount of snow that was remarkable, it was the frequency. We had at least a trace of snow on 25 out of the 31 days in January! Even though we were constantly driving on slippery roads, brushing snow off of our cars, and shoveling our driveways, the total snowfall for the month was only 16.3 inches. The normal snowfall for January is 13.5 inches. One past blog post describing the Winter conditions in January.

4. The Chili tornado on August 23rd. This was one of 4 significant tornadoes that struck Northcentral Wisconsin during 2011. The one aspect of the tornado that was quite fortunate is that it hit mostly rural areas of Clark county. If it had stayed on the ground for another 5 miles, it might have affected the south side of Marshfield. As is, the tornado did cause damage to 8 different structures in its path. One death was indirectly attributed to the tornado. It was an elderly man in hospice care. Other than that indirect fatality, I am very proud of Wisconsinite’s storm preparedness and StormTrack9′s coverage of severe weather. We made it through another year without any direct fatalities from tornadoes. Rob’s blog entry recapping the stats of the tornado. Justin’s blog entry with the tornado track.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the top three weather events and some year-end statistics of 2011.

Have a good Thursday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Top 10 List

Before any science or weather related items, I was wondering if there are any other Badger fans out there upset about the Rose Bowl being scheduled on a Monday. Because New Year’s Day (traditional date of the Rose Bowl) falls on a Sunday this year, it has been moved to Monday, January 2nd. What genius (NOT!) decided on this move? I understand that Sunday bowl games would have conflicted with NFL games, but why not move the big bowls up to Saturday December 31st instead? Maybe I am more upset about it because I have to work on Monday AND Tuesday next week, but it still does not seem like the optimum date. Having major bowl games on Saturday (New Year’s Eve) would have been better for game-day get-together’s (not to mention traveling to the game). What a party it would have been for college football fans. Instead, the Rose bowl falls on a Monday. Are there any other Badger fans upset about this? Does anyone know why they moved the game to Monday instead of Saturday? Rant over.

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Here in the blog I write most often about science and weather which invariably brings me to the topic of technological progress from time-to-time (like earlier this week in regards to the creation of a deadly virus, and this older blog post here). I try my best to elucidate what it means for our future but might not always relay the most coherent stream of thought. Thankfully there are other people writing about this as well, and I am glad to share their thoughts.

One of the main worries about technological progress (outside of the potentially deadly side effects) is the replacement of people in the economy. Robots have been replacing manufacturing workers for decades now and software and computers are starting to replace knowledge/IT workers. What are humans to do? Will there be jobs in the future? Here is what Rodney Brooks foresees in future manufacturing plants. He expects each worker to become more productive through the use of advanced robotics and software. Even without additional schooling, factory floor workers could become more like engineers with the use of advanced tools. Marshall Kirkpatrick worries about a robot takeover and thinks that some of the best future jobs will be in educating people how to use future technology.

They both make a good case that we will be able to adapt to rapidly changing workplace conditions in the near future, but in the medium to long term, all the predictions tend to get muddled – much more muddled than predictions from past years. The problem is that when computers and robots become sufficiently advanced, they become more human, or at least more “intelligent”. The line between human and machine gets blurred, and that is a world that is very difficult to imagine. The one thing I do know is that it is probably worse to stand in the way of progress than to adapt carefully as we roll along. I do a lot of work (outside of TV) in order to bring about a safe and prosperous future and here I feel my best bet is to inform. If more people are aware and thinking about future changes, then maybe the transition to a different social/economic model will be a “positive” event.

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Now on to the top ten list of weather events in 2011. Yesterday I listed some honorable mentions and today I will focus on numbers 10 through 7.

10. Four days with a high temperature of 94 degrees. I am always on the look-out for odd patterns of highs and lows and this was one of the more interesting aspects of 2011. Having 4 days (June 7th, July 17th, July 18th, July 20th) in one year with the high temperature is not all that spectacular (sometimes it happens in just one month) but 94 was also the warmest temperature of the year (in Wausau). It was as if there was a ceiling on how high the temperature could rise this year. We kept rising up to that level, but never above. Here is a page of blog posts which cover some of the heat from 2011.

9. We experienced above normal precipitation for the second year in a row. Now many of you might not think that this should be on the list, mainly because it was on the list last year as well, but after 7 years in a row of below normal precipitation (in Wausau) from 2002 to 2009, another “wet” year is welcome. We continued to see lake and ground water levels rise in the area and this is a great development. I hope we have above normal precipitation once again in 2012. It would be especially good if it was spread out like it was in 2011 when we didn’t have to deal with much flooding. Through yesterday, precipitation in Wausau was 3.13 inches above normal with a total of 35.39 inches. This includes rain and melted down snow.

8. A mild end to the year. When I ask people about what they remember about the weather in 2011, most remark about the cool weather and late snowfall that we had. The cool start to the year was remarkable, but it has been balanced out by a very mild end to the year. It has been so warm (as compared to normal) over the last three months, that we might end up above normal for the year. October and November were about 4 degrees above normal and December is on pace to be 5 to 6 degrees above normal.

7. Awesome Indian Summer weather during early October and the color season. This was one of the best stretches of weather during the year. We had sunny or mostly sunny skies for 10 days in a row in early October during the peak of the color season. This is a time of year when we often have consecutive days of cool, cloudy, and rainy weather. This year I could not believe my eyes when I looked at the extended outlook at the end of September. I thought it was too good to be true, yet day after day we had sunshine and tranquil weather. It also warmed up. The 1st of October was pleasant with high temps in the upper 50s. On the 2nd we reached the upper 60s. From the 3rd to the 10th high were in the 70s to around 80. We also tied 2 record highs. One was 80 degrees on the 8th and the other was 79 degrees on the 9th. Here is a page of blog posts from that period in October.

Stay tuned tomorrow for numbers 6 through 4 in the year end countdown. On Friday I will list the preliminary stats for 2012. Will the temperatures end up above normal?

Have a fine Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Science, Technology, Top 10 List

Just to tie up yesterday’s blog entry about how the solar industry has hit some tough times, here is another good review about the year (2011)  in energy – the positive and the negative. The most significant nugget from the article I gleaned was that solar panel prices have decreased by 50% in the past year. I have read a couple of articles indicating that the current major limiting cost component preventing more people from buying solar panels for their house is installation cost. It can cost many thousands of dollars to get a couple panels mounted on your roof. I would suggest that there is a good new opportunity for entrepreneurs out there to install solar panels on residential housing. The panels are cheap enough for more people to buy them. Now someone needs to figure out a cheaper way to install them.

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Since the last day of the year is coming up on Saturday, I have to start counting down the top ten Northcentral Wisconsin weather events of 2011 – today. Later this week I will also post the official stats of 2011, along with notable records. Even though we had a cool start to the year, we might end up above normal because the last three months have been quite mild (above normal).

First in the list of Top Ten Weather Events of 2011 is the honorable mention category. The weather team came up with 14 significant weather events of the year which means 4 of them did not quite make the cut. Here are those 4 in no particular order of importance:

Honorable Mention #1: High humidity during the Summer. This is one that Tony suggested and I had forgotten about, probably because I am young enough and the humidity does not bother me too much. We had several days when dewpoints were in the 70s and a couple where they touched the low 80s, which is getting close to record territory. Although I don’t have official data available right now, from memory I would say that 2 or 3 decades ago, dewpoints in the 70s were quite rare. The most humid days would have dewpoints in the mid to upper 60s. over the last few years has become more common for the dewpoints to climb into the 70s for at least a couple days each Summer. I am not too surprised by the increase in humidity because air and ocean temps have warmed up a little over the last couple of decades. Not only does warmer air hold more moisture but warmer oceans evaporate more moisture into the air.

Drift at Tony's House

Honorable Mention #2: Record Snowfall on February 20th. Winter did not seem to want to end earlier this year. We had plenty of cold weather and snowfall but only 2 days with record snowfall early in the year. One record amount happened on April 19th (which in retrospect could have made the list since it was so late in the Spring), and the other occurred on February 20th. The record snowfall was only 8.7 inches but it was only part of the total snow from the storm. Another 4.8 inches fell on the 21st. Roads were bad with significant drifting. A couple February blog posts about the storm.

Honorable Mention #3: Record high temperatures in early June. This one was suggested in the blog comments and I agree that it was significant. After such a long Winter, it seemed like we jumped into a steamy Summer without having much Spring-like weather. We had record high temps of 90 on June 3rd, 94 on June 7th, and 93 on June 8th. It is not too often that we have several record high temps in a short time span. Two in a row is fairly common. Three or more in a row is more notable. June blog entry about the heat.

Honorable mention #4: Record Precipitation on March 22nd. It was a significant snowstorm that brought the record precipitation on this date. We did not break a record for snowfall because it was split between 2 different days – 4.4 inches on the 22nd and 3.6 inches on the 23rd. The record precipitation occurred because the precipitation started as sleet and rain. The total precip. for the day was 0.89 inches. Tony remembers this storm quite well because he ended up getting stuck on his way home from work. It was a blinding snowstorm at times with thundersnow at times. Here is Tony’s blog post from March about the event. Here is Kristen Connolly’s recollection as well.

Stay tuned for numbers 10 through 7 tomorrow.

Have a nice Tuesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Alternative Energy, Top 10 List

Since there is almost nothing going on in the weather currently, and it looks like it will remain relatively quiet for the foreseeable future (a couple of weeks at least), it is time to start thinking about the biggest weather stories of the year. Which I will blog about/reveal, a few at a time, on the 28th, 29th, and 30th of this month.

Please help me out. If there is a significant weather event you remember from this year, please leave a comment and let me know what it was. The weather events could be from Northcentral Wisconsin or other areas of the state. Some of the top candidates that have been rolling around in my head thus far are the tornadoes. We had three different occasions when significant tornadoes struck Northcentral Wisconsin. We had a very cool Spring and the Winter seemed to last forever. More months this year were below normal than above normal. We had a couple of large snowstorms early in the year. We had a heat wave in the middle of July. There were a couple of daily records here and there. The weather during the Fall color season was phenomenal! No white Christmas this year. These are just a few of the weather events that might make the final list.

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Follow Up on LED lighting: Seeing as how the incandescent light bulb is being phased out around the world, I thought it would be a good idea to check up on how LED lighting is making headway. As far as bulbs for the home, it is still not a mass market revolution (as I had hoped for a few years ago), but more companies are producing products that will hopefully drop in price and become more widely used. The coolest idea lately is printing thin sheets of LEDs that are flexible and could be used in many places like on a wall.

As far as the upcoming ban on incandescent light bulbs here in the U.S., it appears that might be delayed. The Congress dropped the impending ban when they voted on the new spending bill over the weekend. I am not one who agrees with ever expanding government dictates – based upon philosophical/political grounds – but as far as clean energy goes, there is not much argument when it comes to light bulbs. The CFL and especially LED bulbs are much more efficient than incandescent. The old bulbs do produce a more natural light which I enjoy, but the alternatives are getting much better. The CFL’s do contain small amounts of toxic metals, but it is not something I am terribly concerned about. I don’t think I have ever broken a CFL bulb in my house. I think the cost is the major objection for most people. CFL’s are still typically 5 to 10 times more expensive as incandescent bulbs (LEDs are 10 times or more expensive). In the past, when I looked at the how long it would take to pay-off the more expensive cost of the CFLs, it wasn’t all that great, but there were some savings over the long run due to lower electric bills.

Have a good Monday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Alternative Energy, Top 10 List

The day has finally arrived to unveil the top 3 weather events of the year in Northcentral Wisconsin. Before we get into the list, I have another weather event to discuss and that is a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY in effect for most of the area for this afternoon and evening. The only counties NOT included in the ADVISORYat the time of this writing (morning) are Juneau, Adams, Waushara, Waupaca, Shawano, and Menominee. Temperatures have fallen a little below freezing and will not recover too much by late afternoon when the rain will begin and thus some of the rain will fall as freezing rain. Be very, very careful driving home from work this afternoon or heading out to New Years Eve parties this evening. Freezing rain is the worst type of precipitation during the winter season because it causes the most accidents. Later tonight the temps will plummet and it will remain very cold over the weekend so watch out for ice on sidewalks and parking lots.

Now on to the top weather events of 2010. For numbers 10 through 7 check here. For numbers 6 through 4 check here.

3. October 26th and 27th wind storm. This wind storm was not associated with severe thunderstorms but with a large area of low pressure. Wind gusts topper out at 60 to 65 mph in the area and caused a lot of power outages. By itself, the wind would have ranked much lower on the list. What is special about this event is the low pressure system that caused the high wind. It produced the lowest pressure ever recorded in the continental United States. The center of the storm system was in Minnesota (where the record occurred) but it was close enough to Wausau to produce the second lowest pressure ever recorded here. Whenever you are dealing with an all-time U.S. weather record, and the storm in in our neighborhood, it has to go high on the list.

2. Flooding on September 23rd and 24th. Flooding rains of 3 to 5 inches hit much of Northcentral Wisconsin (some spots had 7 to 9 inches) on the 23rd and the after effects were felt quite widely on the 24th and following days.

The Raging Wisconsin River

 The high rain totals were in areas south and west of Wausau. We had some amazing pictures from the Yellow River in Wood county, the Rib River in Marathon county, and the Black River in Clark and Jackson counties. Check out this cool time lapse of the Black River rising to record levels in Black River Falls. Here is a neat picture of the Rib River in Taylor county. Here is another page of blog posts with a recap of the flooding. Also helping this event get close to number one for the year is the fact that is was a record rainfall of 3.38 inches in Wausau on the 23rd.

1. Above normal precipitation in 2010! I hope this doesn’t seem too anti-climactic but I consider it the most important weather event of the year because we had previously spent 7 years in a row with below normal precipitation in Wausau and most of Northcentral. It was seven years in a row with significant periods of drought affecting everything from farmers to fishers. If you remember back to the beginning of the year you will recall that there was a severe to extreme drought in the northern half of the state. The state did not become drought-free until a little while after the flooding mentioned in #2. As many people “in-the-know” would tell you, the low water levels were getting to be worrisome. I talked to several people whose wells had gone dry and who had to drill deeper to find water. Another year or two of dry weather and we might have experienced water restrictions in area communities. Nearly everyone was familiar with the affect of the dry weather on area lakes. Several reservoirs had literally “dried-up”. Most natural lakes were down 2 to 4 feet before recovering a little this year. A few of my favorite trout streams were nearly unfishable due to low water. About 5 years ago, Carter creek in Adams county dried up completely. The dry weather also made it tough for gardeners, just ask my wife about how much we had to water the plants back in 2009. During the last 7 years we missed out on about 45 inches of precipitation! This year in Wausau we had 38.10 inches of precipitation – thus far – and this is nearly 5 inches above normal. Now we just need 6 or 7 more years with precipitation 5 inches above normal and we will catch up. While that would be nice, not everyone would be happy. I remember talking to a few folks this summer (farmers and gardeners) who were trying to grow crops on heavy clay soil and they were not happy. The excessive rain drowned out some of the crops. The mosquito population increased a bit as well this year and will continue to do so if we have successive years of adequate or above normal precipitation. I don’t think people are prepared for the onslaught of mosquitoes that will come with more years of wet weather. Those 7 years of dry weather kept most of the biting insect population waaaay down – well below what should be expected for Wisconsin. We have been spoiled.

For more big weather events in the entire state of Wisconsin, check out this page from the NWS in Milwaukee.

Stay tuned on Monday for the final numbers of 2010. We already know that precipitation was above normal, but what about the temperatures? The warmest of the year? The coldest?

Lastly in today’s post a few other yearly-end and year-forward articles for your reading pleasure:

If you only have time to read one of these this would be the one: Duh! The most obvious scientific discoveries of the year. These are things  that are common sense to most of us, but were the focus of rigorous study none-the-less.

Potential scientific breakthroughs to look forward to in 2011. Not a great list, mostly things that have been expected for a while now.

The top eight space mishaps of 2010. Number 1 is the Japanese venus probe missing the planet. Perhaps it can study the sun instead, since it might be orbiting it for a few years. This is an unfortunate “loss” for JAXA, but they have many successful space missions under their belt and I wish them much success in the new year.

Things to look forward to in private space travel in 2011.

Have a happy new year! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Science, Space, Top 10 List, Winter Weather

Time to continue the countdown of Northcentral Wisconsin’s top ten weather events. Check yesterday’s post for numbers 10 through 7. Today I will cover 6, 5, and 4 and tomorrow you get the top three.

6. Pittsville wind storm July 14th. Check here and/or here for a previous in depth analysis of the storm. This was actually more than a “Pittsville” storm but that is where the most significant damage occurred. During the day, we had 3 different waves of severe thunderstorms and the damage in Pittsville occurred with the 3rd wave. The storm that produced widespread damage had previously produced sporadic tornado touchdowns in Jackson and Clark counties. When it hit Pittsville it had transformed into a strogn strait-line wind storm. There were many power outages, trees down, and structures damaged, not only around Pittsville but most of northcentral Wisconsin. We also recorded a record rainfall of 2.70 inches in Wausau on that day. Since this was the most significant severe weather event of 2010 and probably the biggest since 2007, it probably should have ranked higher. Anyway,

5. No Snow in March. Even though this is a “non-event”, it ranks quite high on the list because it was the first time in Wausau’s weather history (and all of Northcentral Wisconsin) that we have not received any snow in March. We didn’t even have a trace! March is known by many as the month when we have the “tournament storm”. It is usually a volatile month and some of our biggest snowstorms in the past have occurred in March. This year was as quiet as a mouse – when it comes to snowfall. It was also the 4th warmest March we have recorded in Wausau.

4. December 11th blizzard. This was one of the bigger snowstorms to hit Northcentral Wisconsin in recent years. It produced 13.5 inches of snow in Wausau, 12.8 of which fell on the 11th. 12.8 inches is the second most Wausau has ever recorded in a single calendar day. Snow totals were as high as 20 inches in parts of Taylor county while most locations were in the 8 to 12 inches range. The snow, wind, and cold paralyzed much of the area for 2 days. Perhaps this storm could have ranked lower, but it was fresh in my mind since it occurred only a couple weeks ago. Check this page of previous blog posts for more stats  and pictures regarding this snowstorm.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the top 3 weather events and a summary of 2010 statistics.

Some other year-end and year forward articles:

Wired magazine picks their top science breakthroughs of 2010.

Top environmental stories of the year (a lot of doom and gloom). Perhaps the biggest story is that environmental Armageddon did not occur.

The top six spaceflight stories of 2010. I hope next years list includes private/commercial astronauts making their way into space.

Have a nice Thursday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Science, Technology, Top 10 List

As promised, today I will start counting down the top ten weather events of 2010 in Northcentral WI, as decided by….me. I don’t have a specific formula for determining the top ten. I just go by my perception as the year rolls by. Some of the questions I aks myself are:  How much impact did the event have? How does it compare to historical records? How many people did it affect? The thought just occurred to me that I should put a list of weather events in the blog before the end of the year and then have people vote on the top weather events. Perhaps we can do it that way next year. Thanks for all of those who left comments about the top weather events. Ray brought up one event that I had forgotten about and that eventually made my list and that is the May snowstorm. Thanks for the reminder. With all that said, let us get started:

10. 46 tornadoes in Wisconsin. Since this is the second most tornadoes ever recorded in Wisconsin during a calendar year, some of you might think this deserves a higher rating. I didn’t give it a higher rating be cause hardly any of the tornadoes occurred in our viewing area. From the preliminary data, it looks like less than 5 occurred in Northcentral Wisconsin. In fact, it might have only been 3 (which will be covered later in the top 10 list). The most positive aspect of this very active tornado year is that most of the tornadoes were weak and short-lived and nobody was killed by a tornado. It just goes to show you that Wisconsinites take severe weather and severe weather safety seriously.

9. Snow fall (2 to 4 inches) on May 7th and 8th. There are several aspects to this event that demands its inclusion on the top 10 list. First of all, accumulating snow in May is unusual, even for Wisconsin. The snow was heavy enough to bring a few trees and branches down around the area, causing power outages. The snow caused 15 million dollars damage to the state’s ginseng crop. Also, we hadn’t seen any snow since late February (blame El Nino) so many people had gotten it in their heads that winter was definitely over. Lastly, even though it is very unusual to have such heavy snow so late in the Spring, we did not break any records for snowfall. In Wausau we had 2.4 inches on the 7th and and 0.50 inches on the 8th. The record snowfall on the 7th is 2.5 inches and the record on the 8th is 1.5 inches. Here is a previous blog post about the snow – with pictures.

8. July 20th wind storm. A line of severe thunderstorms on this day produced powerful downburst winds that were measured at 90mph and estimated to have reached 100 mph.

July 20th Damage

Perhaps I rated this one a little higher than other events because trees were knocked down on my street and in my neighborhood on the north side of Wausau. When you are in the action, it certainly sticks in your mind. Power was out at our house for 14 hours. Chainsaws could be heard for several days after the storm. This same storm system also caused some damage in Wittenberg including roof damage to the high school. Many viewers took dramatic pictures of the dark clouds and damage on that day. I have included one here. Check these blog posts from July to read more about the wind storm.

7. Iron County/Springstead Tornado. Tornadoes always rank high in year-end lists and this was one of the few in our area.

Arial View of Iron Co. Damage

This tornado in Iron county was part of a group of severe storms that also produced 2 tornadoes in Ashland county. What made the Iron county tornado so interesting (and rank high on the list) is that it was the first tornado reported in that county since 1970. Tornadoes are much more rare in northern Wisconsin. The Iron county tornado, while fairly weak and short-lived, was especially scary because it struck after dark in remote parts of the Turtle-Flambeau flowage area. The tornado tore down trees in a primitive campground just north of Springstead. It was very fortunate that none of the campers were killed. One person was seriously injured and had to be evacuated for treatment. You can find more blog analysis and pictures about this tornado in our July blog roll.

Coming tomorrow – numbers 6, 5, and 4. They only get bigger!

Some other year-end reviews:

The year in computing as reported by Technology Review.

The year in web as reported by Technology Review.

How about one of my favorite subjects – Electric Vehicles. Check out what to expect in 2011 (hopefully a lot more than what was promised in 2010).

And a final reminder to be careful of ice this weekend. All the rain and snowmelt that occurs over the next two days will freeze up on Saturday turning sidewalks and parking lots into skating rinks.

Have a good Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew

Posted under Science, Severe Weather, Technology, Top 10 List, Tornadoes

Update on the mini-snowstorm: The official total snowfall on Monday in Wausau was 0.70 inches. That is quite a bit considering there was no actual low pressure or “weather system” in the area.

While researching the weather data for my top 10 Northcentral Wisconsin weather events of 2010, I came across some bad information about tornadoes in the state. A story crossed the national wire that claimed Wisconsin had 68 tornadoes in 2010, making it the sixth most in the nation, with Minnesota being number 1 with a whopping 144. You can read a version of the story here, and you can see the SPC website list of tornadoes by state here. The problem is that the SPC table is depicting a preliminary total for the nation (and various states) that uses Local Storm Reports (LSR’s) for the tabulation. The final numbers only include tornadoes that are verified by local NWS investigation. The NWS in Wisconsin only verified 46 tornado touchdowns this year in Wisconsin – a far cry from the 68 in the SPC table. Unfortunately this story has traveled around the country and a lot of people are mis-informed. In the future, the SPC should be sure to better label the tornado statistics table as “PRELIMINARY”. One interesting thing is that even though the true number is only 46, it is the second-most ever recorded during one calendar year in Wisconsin.

Besides tornadoes (which made the top ten list, which will start tomorrow), here are a couple of honorable mentions for top weather events/statistics for 2010:

Honorable Mention #1. It was a warm year. 9 out of the 12 months were above normal – some of them significantly so. March was the 4th warmest on record for Wausau. The mean temperature in March was about 8 degrees above normal. April was not far behind with a mean temp about 6 degrees above normal.

Honorable Mention #2: The strange grouping of sets of 5 in daily records. According to my preliminary count, in Wasuau we had 5 record high temperatures (tied or broken), 5 record warm low temperatures (tied or broken), and 5 days with record precipitation. Another “almost” 5 was the 5 days in a row with nearly the exact same high temperature. From March 14th through the 17 the high temperature was 63, then on the 18th it only reached 62.

Now some other year-end and year forward science articles for you to peruse:

The year in technology from Newscientist Not the best list I have seen.

IBM’s next 5 in 5 What 5 technologies IBM thinks will affect our lives the most in the next 5 years.

New space exploration and “big” science coming in 2011.

The most significant virtual reality technology of 2010.

Have a good Tuesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Records, Science, Technology, Top 10 List, Tornadoes