Through the years, I have  often mentioned some of the opportunities available to inventors and entrepreneurs in trying to reshape out energy usage and infrastructure. After my trip to Florida for the last few days, I am reminded of another industry that needs to be disrupted and changed, and that is the airline industry. Unfortunately, this is one that is tougher to crack because of a mountain of regulations and the massive - sunk - legacy costs in the current infrastructure. Congratulations to Southwest for doing what they can to make the flying experience a little cheaper and slightly more convenient, but for the average jane or joe, flying is a nightmare. It is an exercise in patience standing through the myriad of lines for hours (for security, for ticketing, for food, to board and un-board, to claim your bag, to get a rental car, etc…) It is an exercise in hidden costs that make every trip more expensive than you thought. It is an exercise in discomfort as you are crammed into seats, aisles, and bathrooms that don’t fit a lot of people. All this being said, flying is quite nice for anyone who can afford a private jet or to pay for first class – which is sadly just a tiny sliver of society. The rest of us wait for someone to shake up the industry. (side note: most of the people working in the industry are not really to blame, they generally do their best in a flawed system.)

While musing about how horrible flying is, particularly in the U.S., my wife mentioned that we should have airplanes shaped more like “flying saucers”, then there would potentially be more room for people to sit. I have often thought about different aircraft designs, but it is hard to beat the “tube with wings” design for ease of manufacture and ease of flying. Thankfully, some people are working on new designs. Check out this new blended wing design from NASA. It could potentially shave 50% off of fuel costs if it had a state of the art engine. If such airplanes are ever developed, I hope there is some consideration for passenger comfort – a balance to be struck between efficiency and price. If airlines stuff new airplanes with as many seats as possible, we will just be back to square one.

Other than the unpleasantness of flying, my recent trip was enjoyable, and as usual I took note of how things look in a different part of the country – in a different city – from an environmental perspective. At first glance, Orlando does not seem as bad as LA, Phoenix, Miami, or Chicago because it is more spread out. There is plenty of sprawl but it is not as continuous as some other American cities. You will pass many small forests, swamps, and lakes moving from one side of the city to the other. Because the terrain has plenty of trees you cannot see how big the city is from ground level. You cannot see the downtown area from very many locations, so it seems like you might be in a smaller city. However, the problem with Orlando is that mass transit is almost non-existent. If you live in Orlando, you need a car. It is so spread out that it takes 30 minutes or more to complete almost any daily task. Forget about walking. Orlando was built for cars. Sidewalks are hard to find outside of a few select areas. Besides that, it would take you all day to walk to most destinations. Orlando had the distinction (at least as recent as a couple years ago) of having the highest vehicle-pedestrian accident rate in the nation. When there are hardly any sidewalks, that is bound to be a problem. Big cities in the south, like Orlando, also have a big energy budget for air conditioning. I was talking with friends about utility bills and they mentioned how electricity can run in the hundreds of dollars per month range. They asked me what my utility bill was like and I said I paid between $100 and $200 per month for gas and electricity combined. The gas being for heat of course. Heating a domicile, as it turns out, was a rather foreign concept to them. If the climate continues to warm, air conditioning will have to evolve and become more efficient, otherwise the big cities will continue to scorch in the Summer. Air conditioning, while cooling to interior of buildings, adds to the heat outdoors. When you have millions of air conditioning units operating is close quarters (in the city) it only adds to the urban heat island effect.

I didn’t happen to notice much alternative energy. I can’t say that I saw one solar panel or wind turbine. So Phoenix and Denver have Orlando beat in that regard.

Other than having to spend a lot of time driving from destination to destination, Orlando does offer some of the world’s best entertainment in the theme parks. It is also, of course, a nice destination to escape the cold of Winter if you are so inclined.

Have a nice Friday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Alternative Energy, Environment, Travel

 

 

 

 

Christmas isn’t exactly what comes to mind when you think of tornado season in the U.S. However a vigorous storm system passing through the Southern Mississippi Valley Tuesday afternoon will gather many of the necessary ingredients to produce supercell thunderstorms in a strip from Texas to Georgia and Tennessee. Damaging straight line winds, large hail, torrential downpours, and tornadoes are expected. In fact the Storm Prediction Center believes that some of the tornadoes could be strong, long lived, long tracked twisters with winds over 150 mph. That part of the country has a moderate risk from the Storm Prediction Center for the dangerous conditions Christmas Day.

The peak time for this activity would be around the mid to late afternoon before the atmosphere starts to cool off in the early evening. Warm and humid air will be flowing north from the Gulf of Mexico and will collide with cold and dry air punching south across the Plains. It will clash near the low pressure system moving northeast from Arkansas. Our thoughts and prayers go out to that region that hopefully nothing to devastating happens.

Meanwhile on the north side of the storm track, heavy snow will be the main concern from Oklahoma all the way up toward Ohio and Pennsylvania by Tuesday night. Widespread 4 to 8″ snow amounts are expected with a few strips getting clobbered with up toward one foot of heavy wet snow. This will cause major travel disruptions in places like Tulsa, Paducah, Indianapolis, Columbus, and Erie, PA. It will continue to cause trouble by late Wednesday up into New England as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted under Severe Weather, snow, Tornadoes, Travel, Winter Weather

While planning an upcoming trip, I began to reminisce about air travel and how it has changed through my life. I first flew back in 1997 or 1998. At that time the price of a barrel of oil was around $20 and even dropped below that at times. Flights were cheap. In fact flights were cheap through the first few years of the new century as well. Does anyone remember the $99 round-trip deals to Las Vegas that flew out of Madison (and a couple other cities as well). It is rare to see anything like that nowadays except for special one way deals that pop-up once in a while.

Another hallmark of that time period was less-than-full planes. Most of the flights I was on were only 60% to maybe 80% full. There were a few times when I was on the small jet from Chicago or Minneapolis to CWA and there were 10 or less people on board. Does anyone remember those days when it wasn’t that difficult to shuffle around the plane and trade seats with other people in order to have a row by yourself? Nowadays the planes (small and large) are almost always full. The planes are so full that I almost always get asked if I would be willing to give up my seat if needed. The airlines will of course offer you a little compensation for giving up your seat, which is nice, but I usually don’t have that much flexibility in my schedule. It was also easier to book flights at the times you wanted back a few years ago. There were more planes in the sky and more flights per day.

Now, air travel is more expensive (the tickets are expensive and there are also steep baggage fees), there are less options, and you are guaranteed to be cramped in a full plane, (there is also more onerous security to pass through). What happened? The rising price of oil caused the airlines to deal with economic reality. As I mentioned yesterday in the Peak Oil update, it looks like the price of oil will remain much higher than historical norms (and maybe rise even higher) for the foreseeable future. If you are day-dreaming about the good old days of air travel, don’t get your hopes up. The reality is that there is not much to be done about the physics of flying. Airplanes require a certain amount of fuel to travel a certain distance. This amount has not changed a lot since the advent of commercial air travel and is not likely to change much in the future. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the best development in the past 20 years and it will only shave maybe 20% of the fuel costs off of a typical flight. It is supposed to have more room for seating and be a little quieter than most aircraft. These are all great things, and I can’t wait to fly in one someday in the near future, but the Dreamliner will not bring us back to the days of half empty planes and round-trip tickets for less than $200. (As an aside, Southwest has done a superb job squeezing more efficiency out of their operations and continue to offer very good rates even though the price of oil has risen. I would fly Southwest all the time if they flew out of CWA).

So I am a bit sad thinking about the old days, but the positive thing about the change is that the airline industry is more efficient. We are moving more people per gallon of jet fuel than we did 10 or 15 years ago. The vast number of flights and half-empty planes really represented a wasteful operation. That seemed fine when the price of oil was ridiculously low, but the airlines (and customers) added a lot of unnecessary pollution to the atmosphere. So get used to stuffed planes and limited options. Or, if you have the entrepreneurial mindset, figure out a way to fly fast and cheap. There is a big market to conquer.

Have a nice Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew

Posted under Technology, Travel

 

 

It’s always fun to think back to what kind of weather we’ve had on important landmark days like Thanksgiving. You can probably remember the time you had a very snow drive to Grandma’s house on Turkey Day. Or maybe you remember playing a rousing football game after a Thanksgiving meal in sunshine and 55 degrees. As it turns out, in the past 80 years, the Wausau area has had at least a trace of snowfall on Thanksgiving about 44% of the time.

Below you will see how the weather turned out over for the last 10 Thanksgiving Days in Wausau.

Year      High Temp      Precipitation

2011        51                       none

2010       33                      trace snow

2009       40                      trace snow

2008       35                       trace snow

2007        31                     trace snow

2006       55                      none

2005       16                      trace snow

2004       32                     .40” snow

2003       36                    .20” snow

 

 

 

 

 

Below are some additional weather statistics for various Wisconsin cities as put together by the National Weather Service in Green Bay.

Thanksgiving Day Weather Statistics

Green Bay

Records	Value	Year
Warmest temperature	61	1896, 1914
Coldest temperature	-6	1950
Coldest high temp	12	1930
Warmest low temp	44	1915
Wettest Thanksgiving	0.66 inches	1981
Snowiest Thanksgiving	6.4 inches	1887
Greatest snowdepth (at 6 AM)	5 inches	1978

44% of Thanksgivings in Green Bay experienced at least a trace of snowfall (since 1886).

Appleton

Records	Value	Year
Warmest temperature	58	1908, 1914
Coldest temperature	-5	1950
Coldest high temp	12	1929, 1930
Warmest low temp	41	1915
Wettest Thanksgiving	0.75 inches	1918
Snowiest Thanksgiving	3.8 inches	1978
Greatest snowdepth (at 6 AM)	4	1991

35% of Thanksgivings in Appleton experienced at least a trace of snowfall (since 1901).

Wausau

Records	Value	Year
Warmest temperature	59	1914
Coldest temperature	-10	1950
Coldest high temp	6	1929
Warmest low temp	38	1915
Wettest Thanksgiving	0.95 inches	1896
Snowiest Thanksgiving	5.6 inches	1978
Greatest snowdepth (at 6 AM)	10 inches	1991

44% of Thanksgivings in Wausau experienced at least a trace of snowfall (since 1933).

Rhinelander

Records	Value	Year
Warmest temperature	61	1914
Coldest temperature	-11	1929, 1985
Coldest high temp	12	1929
Warmest low temp	38	1914
Wettest Thanksgiving	0.65 inches	1908
Snowiest Thanksgiving	2.5 inches	1942, 1993
Greatest snowdepth (at 6 AM)	12 inches	1985

43% of Thanksgivings in Rhinelander experienced at least a trace of snowfall (since 1908).

Posted under forecast, Seasonal Items, Travel, Weather History

 

 

 

 

Do you remember the wicked little snowstorm that hit the TV-9 viewing area November 9^th, 2011?  Generally 2 to 8” of heavy wet snow blanketed much of north-central Wisconsin with as much as 11” northeast of Marathon County.  Wausau set a daily snow record for the 9^th  with 3.2” of the white stuff.  To compound problems north to northwest winds up to 25 mph caused quite a bit of blowing and drifting in open rural areas.  Heavy snow laden branches sagged onto power lines causing power outages in various spots as well.  So that was a rude blast of winter before winter to say the least.  What’s funny is that three days after the snowstorm, temperatures warmed into the mid 50s melting away the snow-cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forwarding to November 2012, a significant storm will be brewing on the 9^th as well.  However we will be on the warmer side of the storm here in Wisconsin.  The low pressure system is forecast to track up through eastern Nebraska Saturday morning into northern Minnesota by Saturday night.  Southerly winds ahead of it will push temperatures into the upper 50s and possibly the 60s if there is a few hours of sunshine in Wisconsin. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Severe thunderstorms are possible in a strip from southernMinnesota to Oklahoma Saturday into Saturday night according to theStormPredictionCenter.  This will be the area where a strong cold front will be colliding the most with the warm and moist air. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strong jet stream winds over the top of this setup coming in from the southwest will add a lot of energy to the mix as well.  It is certainly something to keep an eye on for Wisconsin Saturday night.  Usually thunderstorms weaken quickly at night this time of the year because it cools off quickly with the early sunsets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The part of the country that is under the gun for heavy snow from the November 9^th – 10^th, 2012 storm appears to be around North Dakota,Montana, and northern Wyoming.  The computer models are generating around 1.0” of liquid equivalent precipitation well north and west of the track of the surface low pressure system.  If the air is cold enough for most of that to fall as snow, they will be dealing with around 10 to 12” of snow and some pretty gusty winds to 30 mph as well.  Of course wind chills out there will be in the 10s as well.  It will be interesting to see if any similar storms develop farther east into our area over the next few weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted under Severe Weather, Storms, Travel, Winter Weather

As promised, today I will share some thoughts and pictures from my recent trip to the desert – Phoenix. I would talk a little more about hurricane Sandy, but Rob already did a great job in yesterday’s blog entry and it is dominating all media coverage already on TV, cable, radio, Internet, newspapers, so maybe this will be a little reprieve. The most interesting aspect of Sandy on our weather is that it will prevent many changes here in Wisconsin. The big storm along the east coast is clogging up the flow of weather across the U.S. and that means what we have now will linger for a few more days. High will be in the 40s, low will be in the 20s, and we will have partly or mostly sunny skies.

What about Phoenix? I have been there three times and unfortunately I am less impressed every time, because it gets bigger, hotter, more polluted, and less distinct every time. It is a classic “sprawling environmental disaster” – a term I use more frequently nowadays to describe cities in the U.S. It seems in the past there was some consideration as to the aesthetic of the cities we live in. People wanted buildings to look unique. Citizens were more involved in the planning process to make sure the city had a heart. Downtowns were dynamic,  alive, and vibrant and the neighborhoods were cleaner and quieter. During the last couple of decades and especially during the housing boom after 2001, planning took a back seat to laying as much pavement, building as many subdivisions, and erecting as many stripmalls as possible. In the sense that people end up with what they really want, then sprawling environmental disasters must have some purpose.

Maybe I am just an old stick in the mud, proposing that denser, smarter, more aesthetic cities (and conversely, a less developed countryside with more open natural space or room for farming) would be a better way to go.

Before anyone jumps in to defend Phoenix, realize that I have used the term “sprawling environmental disaster” for most of the cities I have visited. Cities in flyover country (including here in Wisconsin) have spread far out into the farmland and forestland. L.A. is probably worse than Phoenix, and they would probably admit to it, having the traffic and pollution numbers to back it up. The Chicago metropolis is bigger than Phoenix but it does have a more unique and traditional downtown area. The knock on Phoenix is that there isn’t much of a downtown. There isn’t much structure to the city.

An endless repetition of small office centers, stripmalls, gas stations, freeways, and subdivisions stretch out into the horizon, no matter what direction you are traveling. In some ways, the layout does make sense. Phoenix is a big retirement area. People move there and want to live in a quiet clean neighborhood, not a bustling downtown.

Because of the nature of the community (a lot of retirees), there are some great golf courses, some wealthy enclaves with beautiful houses, and some upscale shopping. You will find some pockets of art as well. Another positive of the city is that they do grow a lot of urban trees. There are not a lot of parks but the city and region does maintain a good number of trees, which does take some effort in the desert. I might talk negative about Phoenix from an environmental perspective, but I would definitely consider it an option for “snow-bird” type retirement.

Of course it is hot down there. Residents around Phoenix say the Summer in the valley of the sun is similar to Winter in Wisconsin – everyone just stays indoors for about 4 months. If you do not have access to air conditioning, you could die – literally. And here is where the sprawl comes into play. A smarter city with less pavement, traffic, and sprawl, would reduce the heat island effect. Instead of baking in 110 to 120 during the peak of Summer, Phoenix residents would more routinely have 105 to 110 degree high temps during the hottest time of year. It would make a big difference.

What would also make a big difference is more alternative energy and this is another positive aspect about the Phoenix area. They do have more solar installation than the rest of the nation, but it is still a very small portion of their energy picture.

I saw about one or two buildings with solar panels about  every large city block. I asked a resident of Phoenix why more people don’t have solar panels, since it is such a sunny place. He gave the same answer as most people – it is too expensive. I told him that the payback on solar powered exhaust fans and solar heated water are much quicker than for solar panel installations designed to power the house. He said he would look into it because the third floor of his house was always uncomfortably hot even with the AC running full blast.

Many thanks to all the people who left comments in the blog a while back about some of the most value-oriented options for solar power! I am looking into some of these options. Spreading the word is good!

Like many other cities, Phoenix is in an infrastructure trap. The infrastructure cost of maintaining the sprawl is getting to be a large burden. The tax base has shrunk because housing prices have gone down dramatically. I am sure they would love to redesign some things, maybe put in some more passenger rail or have more efficient dense living space downtown, but that costs a lot of money as well. Contraction or re-design might only come after bankruptcy or default. That is what is happening in Spain. Like the U.S., Spain had a housing and infrastructure boom/bust. They built some of the best highways in Europe. They intended to help pay for the highways through tolls, which is usually a very smart (and fair) move. Unfortunately, the economy in Spain has crashed so far that the “highways” are now bankrupt. No one is driving the new roads and paying tolls. Spain did build some high speed train lines during the boom, and I think they should keep those open and try to save them. The trains are new and more efficient. They should just tear up the highways when they fall into disrepair.

Many demographic and social trends are pointing away from “the car” anyway. It would be a waste of money to continue building up more expensive highways. I even wonder about the wisdom of expanding the roads here in Wausau. If the history of other cities in the U.S. is any guide, building more highways only increases traffic, congestion, and pollution. Interesting to note, our news department has an feature story coming up about how younger generations are not as enthused about getting a car as older generations were. I have written about this in the blog before (rentership society). The reasons have to do with cost and connections. Cars (and their operating expenses) get more expensive every year. Younger generations are also more connected because of the Internet. They can see each other, talk, work, earn a living, and play games, all without leaving the house.

Have a nice Monday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Environment, Pollution, Travel

 

It’s always amazing too me when I look at the weather maps and see huge weather contrasts over short distances.  For example Wednesday afternoon, it was 80 and sunny in Sioux Falls, SD but up in North Dakota is was pouring rain and cold with temperatures in the mid 30s.   This dynamic system has the potential to dump a decent very early season snow on North Dakota and northwest Minnesota through Thursday night.  As you can see from the image below there is a Winter Storm Warning in effect for a good size area around Grand Forks and Thief River Falls with a Winter Weather Advisory surrounding that all the way from Ely, MN clear out to the North Dakota border with Montana. 

 

 

 

 

 

The warning area could receive up to 6″ of wet, heavy snow with about 2 to 5″  in the advisory area.  There will also be 30 mph winds causing low visibility in blowing and drifting snow.  So it will be quite the travel hazard especially for so early in October.  This wouldn’t be quite such a shock if it were the end of the month or the start of November.

 

 Once the storm center pushes into Canada, cold northwest winds will blow over the relatively warm waters of Lake Superior.  This should generate some lake effect snow in western and northern Upper Michigan as well as parts of Bayfield, Ashland, Iron, and Vilas Counties of Wisconsin Friday afternoon into Saturday.  It is still too early too tell how much may accumulate, but a few  inches is certainly not out of the question.  It is remarkable how much the weather can change in just a few days time around our part of the country! Snow lovers, I guess this one is for you.  It should get you at least a bit  excited and prime the pump for the real snow season in a few months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted under forecast, Storms, Travel, Weather NEws, Winter Weather

I am about to embark on another short fishing trip to the backwoods of Wisconsin. During my last jaunt it dawned upon me how nearly every scenic natural area is owned by the government. This is something I knew since I was young, but I never thought about it too much in depth. I was dreaming about someday when I might have enough money to purchase my own little paradise, maybe 10 acres in the country, in the forest, or in the mountains. Like most of you, I like to day-dream big. The best place to purchase would of course be some piece of land with a view or something special about it.

In Wisconsin, there are always plenty of little parcels available but you will never be able to buy the “prime” spots because they are public property, either at the state or national level. Almost every waterfall in Wisconsin is in a state park, state forest, or national forest. I cannot think of one substantial waterfall in WI that is in private hands. No one will ever “own” land around a big waterfall. Almost all of the tallest hills with the widest views are in state parks of forests (Rib Mountain, Timms Hill, St. Peters Dome, etc…) The grander the view, the more likely it is off limits to own. This is even more true on the national stage with the national parks and monuments. Just last week Chimney Rock was named a National Monument. Don’t get me wrong, I would be happy with almost any flat land with productive soil (for a garden), but this is an experiment in day-dreaming.

So I was just wondering, is it good to put all of the most beautiful places under public control? Are we putting too many eggs in one basket? Will common people forever be confined to live in bland neighborhoods in flat land with not much view? Maybe I am over-stating the case, as there are plenty of locations with nice views in the U.S., just not the ones with the MOST grandeur. Maybe it is the best way for an oversized population to enjoy the most beautiful places. This way, people in the city can travel and see nature’s beauty. If most of it was in private hands, not all of it would be accessible. Also, I know a lot of people would not trust natural wonders in private hands, even though direct government action and indirect effects of government policies have transformed, polluted, and destroyed plenty of pristine tracts of land through the years.

Given the size of the population, and the track record of protecting National and State Parks, I think the policy has worked thus far, giving many more people (like me) access to areas they might not otherwise have or would have to maybe pay a bit more to see. I think the real key here is the population. There are too many people and too few grand scenic areas. If there were only 5 people in the country (for an extreme thought experiment), each person would easily have their choice of a little tract of paradise (like Yosemite) and there probably would not be much conflict. What do you think? Does almost every area of natural wonder/scenery have to be publicly owned? Have we protected enough areas?

Have a fine Tuesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Nature, Trails, Travel

 

 

If you plan on heading over to Green Bay Thursday for the big Bears-Packers match-up you won’t want to be wearing shorts and t-shirts.  There is definitely going to be a fall-like chill in the air.  Now if you plan to get there really early, like midday, to do some tailgating or sight-seeing you may want to have an umbrella handy.  A band of light rain will likely still be over eastern and southern Wisconsin up through the early afternoon before gradually pushing away.  In the Green Bay area it probably will mostly be done by 2 p.m. at the latest, although we can’t rule out some sprinkles or a little drizzle lingering up through 4 or 5 p.m.  Total rain amounts from the system shouldn’t be more than a few tenths of an inch.  Thus I don’t think it will have any significant impact on the turf conditions.

Otherwise the high temperature Thursday in Green Bay is only projected to be in the lower to mid 60s at best.  By kickoff it will probably be down to the upper 50s and by the 4th quarter it could be in the low 50s.  Skies may be mostly cloudy in the hours leading up to the game, but should gradually clear off during the game.  Winds won’t be a huge factor, generally from the west to northwest around 5 mph.  I would say Thursday evening will be more of what you would expect temperature wise for an early October game than mid-September.

 

For the players it should be a rather comfortable game.  Do you remember that Packers-Bears game several years ago down in Chicago.  I believe it was around Halloween?  Yeah, the one where it was about 35 degrees with a pouring icy rain and 40 mph winds?  I’ve heard comments from players and media about how that was just about the worst possible conditions to play in.   I believe it, at least if it was snowy and cold it wouldn’t instantly soak through your uniform.  And of course strong winds make the throwing and kicking game really tough.

Well, go get ‘em Packers!  Have a safe and enjoyable trip for all of you lucky enough to be going to the game as well!

Posted under forecast, Recreation & Sports, Travel

 

The sunny and mild days of September sure seem to make people want to get out and travel and see the sights, whether it be by car, bike, motorcycle, or boat.  With that in mind maybe you need to freshen up on your Wisconsin geography knowledge a bit.  Perhaps you will come across some of the items in the questions below in your trips!  By the way, don’t feel bad if you don’t get them all right.  After all Wisconsin is a fairly diverse state with many different landforms and such to consider.  The answers are on the bottom of the page.  These questions were compiled by Kristen Visser in the book “Wisconsin Trivia”.   Good luck!

1. Which of the 22 Apostle Islands is the largest?
2. Where was Wisconsin’s first nuclear power plant?
3. What canal was built to shorten the time required to travel from Milwaukee to Green Bay?
4. How long is the Wisconsin River?
5. What Wisconsin town calls itself “Home of the Hamburger”?
6. How many national forests are in Wisconsin?
7. From its source to its mouth, how far does the Wisconsin River drop in altitude?
8. Which Wisconsin County produces the most corn?
9. Which city in eastern Wisconsin is nicknamed the “Sawdust City”?
10. Where is the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame?
11. Big Manitou Falls is Wisconsin’s highest waterfall.  How far does the water plunge?
12. How many acres of land does Wisconsin contain?
13. What is the largest lake in Wisconsin?
14. What town is situated in the geographic center of Wisconsin?
15. What is the smallest Wisconsin County in terms of land area?
16. Where was the ice cream sundae invented?
17. How many counties does Wisconsin have?
18. What city in Wisconsin has the world’s largest ore docks?
19. Which county covers the largest area in Wisconsin?
20. Which county has Wisconsin’s highest sand dunes?
21. Which Wisconsin county has the most lakes?
22. What is the highest point in Wisconsin?
23. What three rivers flow through Milwaukee?
24. Which Wisconsin community is birthplace of the snowmobile?
25. How deep is the deepest point in Lake Michigan?  How about Lake Superior?
26. What is Wisconsin’s largest state Park?
27. Which Wisconsin county has the fewest lakes?
28. When and where did Wisconsin’s first stretch of interstate highway open?
29. Where was the nation’s first school forest?
30. Where is the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANSWERS:

1. Madeline.  2. Genoa (on the Mississippi River).  3. Stugeon Bay Ship Canal.  4.  430 miles.  5.  Seymour.   6.  two (Nicolet and Chequamegon).  7.  1, 071 feet.  8.  Dane.   9.  Oshkosh.   10.  UW-Stevens Point.   11.  165 feet.   12.  35.8 million.   13.  Lake Winnebago (215 square miles).   14.  Pittsville.     15.  Ozaukee.     16.  Two Rivers.    17.  seventy-two      18.  Superior.     19.  Marathon.    20.  Door      21.  Vilas.    22.  Timm’s Hill in Price County (1951.8 feet above sea level).    23.  The Kinnickinnic, The Menomonee, and The Milwaukee.    24.    Sayner.      25.  923 feet, 1, 330 feet.   26.  Devil’s Lake State Park.    27.  Crawford.     28.  1958 in Waukesha County.   29.  Laona, Forest County in 1928.    30.   Hayward

Posted under Trails, Travel, Weather History