May is a month when we can usually put the snow shovels away for good and not have to pull them out.  However, it seems like every 5 or 10 years a sneaky snow event shows up in Wisconsin.  For example on May 7th, 2010 the north half of the TV-9 viewing area was dealing with 2 to 4″ of wet, heavy snow.  It caused extensive damage to trees and especially the ginseng crop.  Many of the shades over the top of the crop were ripped down by the heavy snow.

The heaviest May snowfall on record for Wausau proper is 5.5″ which fell on May 2nd, 1935.  The latest data with at least 1″ snowfall for Wausau is May 12th.  We have had trace snowfall amounts as late as May 30th.  That occurred as recently as 1989.

The biggest May snowstorm of record for eastern Wisconsin occurred on May 10th, 1990.  As much as 8″ coated areas just northwest of Milwaukee with up to 6″ up to Green Bay and even Oconto Counties.  Many thousands lost power as the wet snow clung to trees that already had leafed out.  In fact in the city of Waukesha, about 80% of it’s 30,000 trees were damaged or destroyed.  Around 4 million dollars worth of damage occurred throughout the state.  Schools were closed and road plows were busy.  You can read more about this storm from the following link.  http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=grb&storyid=82851&source=0

Posted under Records, Seasonal Items, Spring, Storms, Weather History

Photo from the National Weather Service

Five tornadoes tore through parts of southeast Colorado yesterday, leaving several injured and causing considerable damage to farming communities. 

According to the National Weather Service two tornadoes hit Prowers County, two tore through Kiowa County,  and one went through parts of Bent County in the early morning hours of April 27th.

According to the Denver office of the National Weather Service, overnight twisters in Colorado are rare.  The last time an overnight tornado hit the state was April 30th, 1942.  Ironically it hit the same two counties of Bent and Kiowa, the same areas hit this year.

For a look at the damage from the National Weather Service Survey team, follow this link: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=pub&storyid=82413&source=0.

Posted under Environment, Natural Disasters, Nature, Seasonal Items, Severe Weather, Spring, Tornadoes, Weather History, Weather NEws, Weather Safety

I asked a couple of days ago about June snow in Wisconsin and I am surprised no one had a story to share. Ray did bring up some old winter folklore which I have heard as well – that the “snow drifts were up to the top of the telephone poles” – and “every winter it got down to 40 below”. These stories do have a basis of truth but are also a bit exaggerated. Colder winter-time temps were a reality in the latter part of the 1800s and the first half of the 1900s, but we did not have 40 below every winter. In fact, the temperature has only officially reached -40 in Wausau on 3 different occasions, once in 1899, once in 1948, and once in 1951. Now, if you were living around the area in the late 1940s through the 1950s, it probably seemed like the temperature got that cold every winter, but it didn’t. We tend to remember the most extreme and emotional things from our past and forget the less exciting stuff. So there were more occasions with bitter cold in the past, but it did not occur every year.

As far as the blizzards go, there were some doozies in the past, but again, the snow was not up to the telephone poles every winter. At least with a couple of the past snowstorms we do have some photographic evidence of the events. At the historical society of Marathon county they have some pictures of drifts as high as railroad cars. As for the telephone poles, we should remember that the poles were a bit shorter back in the day.

Overall, I am sure most people are happy with the more mild Winters we have experienced in the last 2 or 3 decades. The last time we had -30 in Wausau was in February of 1996. Most winters lately have some stretches of cold weather but in the city it seems we only get down to around -20 or so. Some of that has to do with the urban heat island effect, but some is due to the climate getting a bit warmer as well.

We might not have any stories about snow in June but we have a new story about snow in April. Just last night 1 to 3 inches of the white stuff fell in parts of the area. I measured just over an inch on my car this morning. The snowfall made it look like Granite Peak might be open for business again soon. The slopes were all white this morning – perhaps making people re-think their predictions for the 2012 Snowmelt Contest (with prizes provided by the R-stores of NorthCentral Wisconsin). Not to worry. After the inch or so of snow melts off the slopes today, the patches that remain are quite small. You still have until next Friday (the 27th) to get your entry in. Whenever you feel like entering, the easiest way is to use the entry form here: http://www.waow.com/category/236274/2012-snow-melt-contest Don’t post your prediction here in the blog. I see a couple predictions have come in to the comment section so far and I will enter them into the contest manually (no worries) but it is much better if you use our website form for the contest.

I usually do not make my prediction until the entry period has closed in order to not influence things too much, but I will make a guarantee. The snow will not last until June 24th – the latest snowmelt date we have ever had with the contest. That might not help a whole lot but it is the most you will get out of me for now.

CPC Temp Trend For May

What would help the snow stick around a while longer would be some colder weather – which I know a lot of you are NOT hoping for. The weather will stay colder than normal this weekend but should rise a little above normal (highs in the 60s) for the middle of next week. What about May? Well, the CPC has released the latest monthly outlooks and Wisconsin finds itself in the “equal chances” (or EQ) category, meaning an equal chance of having above or below normal precipitation or temperatures. No major trend is being picked up by the computer models. If you click through the other months in the outlook you will find that it stays that way for temps and precip through the Summer, then a greater chance of above normal temperatures develops for the Fall and into the Winter. So for those of you who might be worried that it is going to be a long, hot, humid, Summer because the temps started out so warm in March, at least the computer models are not picking up on anything like that so far. It doesn’t mean it won’t happen, just that we don’t have any good indications whether temps will skew warmer or cooler this Summer.

Have a nice Friday, Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under CPC Outlook, Snow Totals, Snowmelt 2012, Weather History, Winter Weather

A blog reader asked a question the other day about late snowfalls in Wisconsin – wondering if snow had ever fallen in June. Officially, in Wausau, the answer is no. The latest official snowfall in Wausau occurred on May 30th. It was a trace of snow and it fell in 1989 and way back in 1897. The heaviest well-documented snowfall in Wisconsin was on Memorial Day weekend of 1947 in the southern half of our viewing area. Up to 8.4 inches fell on that weekend in Pine River (Waushara county). You can read a lot more about that snowstorm here in this past blog post.

As far as June goes, I have heard stories about accumulating snow in early June but I have not been able to find any supporting documentation. Does anyone out there have a story about snow in June. Any pictures would be great. Maybe some old newspaper clippings? My grandparents claimed there was a year about a century ago when there was a least a trace of snow every month of the year – here in Wisconsin! I haven’t found any historical records of that , but looking at some of the cold temperature records from the late 1800s and early 1900s, one could not rule it out.

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Also, I wanted to share with you a picture of a great group of folks. These are the StormTrack9 Weather Watchers (most of them, plus some of their significant others). We got together for a party/recognition event this past weekend. These are the people who take the time out of their day to report daily high and low temperatures and precipitation from around the area. They also help out in times of severe weather, letting us know what is going on and what damage has been done in different locations. I salute their efforts and hope that they will continue weather watching many years into the future. For those that were unable to attend, I hope we are able to catch you the next time around.

On a side note, we could use a new weather watcher in the Northwoods. If there is anyone out there reading the blog today that is from Oneida, Vilas, or Forest county, who likes to keep a daily log of the weather, who will probably be at their current locations for at least a couple years into the future, please let me know. You can leave a comment here in the blog or you can email the weather department at weather@waow.com

Have a nice Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Community, Records, Weather History, Winter Weather

Photo from the Associated Press

A boat that was part of the five million tons of “stuff” thrown into the Pacific Ocean during the massive Japanese earthquake and tsunami has been spotted off the Canadian Coast. 

The Associated Press is reporting that the 65-meter long boat is moving toward land, 160 miles off the coastline of British Columbia. 

To put that in perspective, if you were driving down Interstate 39, that’s about 20 miles farther than the distance between Wausau and Madison!

The horrific earthquake and tsunami struck Japan just over one year ago on March 11, 2011.  More than 15,000 people died and it brought about one of the biggest nuclear power plant scares in years.    

According to The Toronto Star, there is no environmental concerns over the abandoned ship, but mariners in the Pacific Ocean need to take warning because “the vessel poses a potential navigational hazard.”

Photo from National Geographic

Posted under Earthquake, Environment, Flooding, Geology, Natural Disasters, Nature, Oceans, Tsunami, Uncategorized, Weather History, Weather NEws

Source: United States Geological Survey

With the source of the mysterious booming sounds and shakes from Clintonville being cited as a series of mini-quakes taking place you might be thinking about where you can learn more about earthquakes from a reliable source. 

The United States Geological Survey is the premiere organization for you to turn toward for information. 

This web link: http://www.earthquake.usgs.org provides a wealth of interesting information.  Perhaps most fascinating is that the page provides two maps that depict the locations of every detected earthquake in both the United States and around the world.  For specific data on individual earthquakes you can click on the map and zoom in toward each quakes’ epicenter. 

The largest of the series of mini-quakes in Clintonville measured 1.5 on the Richter scale.  Though that is very small compared to other earthquakes around the world, it’s the rock types found deep beneath the surface soils that play a large role here. 

Source: University of Wisconsin--Green Bay

Granite is a commonly found rock beneath Clintonville, and much of East Central Wisconsin.  It’s also one of the strongest rock types on the planet.  I asked a geologist at the Universityof Wisconsin—Marathon County yesterday about granite and he said on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the strongest, granite is a solid 10.

That’s an important part in the story.  Strong rock types like granite have little give.  Any shaking below the earth doesn’t have much lee-way when the vibrations move through it.  Softer rock types though have more of an ebb and flow approach. 

So-called earthquake-ready buildings do not try to fight the force of earthquakes, but rather are designed to in a way ride it out.  Rigid structures (strong rocks too) don’t handle this well and shake (or collapse in the case of buildings.)  Relatively flexible structures (and rock types) cope with earthquakes because they allow for more give.        

For a complete report of the 1.5 magnitude quake from the USGS, click here: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/usc0008n7t.php

Posted under Earthquake, Education, Geology, Weather History, Weather NEws

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE! 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Record warmth on Sunday

Click here to view the video!

The weekend of March 10-11 recorded 19 new record high temperature readings across Northcentral and Northeastern Wisconsin, according to data released by the National Weather Service.

Seven records were set on Sat. Mar. 10 while 12 were recorded on Sun. Mar. 11. 

The warmest reading for the weekend was in Wisconsin Rapids.  The city hit 67 degrees on Sunday breaking the old record of 62 degrees set in 2006.

Wisconsin Rapids was also the warmest community on Saturday hitting 65 degrees.  That reading beat the previous record of 61 degrees recorded in 1977.    

Wausau saw new high temperature records on both days.  On Saturday the city reached 61 degrees beating the previous record of 56 degrees from 1977.  Sunday afternoon saw temperatures reach 63 degrees, bypassing the earlier record holder of 55 degrees recorded in 1995. 

Marshfield, Oshkosh and Manitowoc were all able to reach 65 degrees on Sunday afternoon setting new records for each community. 

The oldest record broken during the weekend was from Mar. 11, 1973.  Green Bay reached a high of 63 degrees on Sunday, edging out its previous record for the date by one degree.

Three records were broken in the Northwoods.  Antigo reached 59 degrees breaking the old record of 55 degrees set in 1977.  Merrill warmed to 61 degrees eclipsing the previous record of 58 degrees also set in 1977.  Rhinelander beat its previous record high of 58 degrees recorded in both 1977 and 1995.  The city reached 59 degrees on Sunday afternoon.

To see the data straight from the NWS, follow this link: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/product.php?site=grb&product=rer&issuedby=GRB&format=CI&version=1&glossary=0

Posted under Environment, Heat, Nature, Records, Science, Seasonal Items, Spring, Weather History, Weather NEws

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

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

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

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

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

Image from NOAA.

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

Weather or the lack of real winter weather has been a major topic of conversation this winter of 2011-12 around here and much of the country.  Some friends of mine from Medford, Loretta and Hildegard Kuse were kind enough to share some newspaper clippings from the winter of 1890-91 with me.  As you can imagine, weather was a major topic of conversation back then as well.   Enjoy the news snippets below which deal with birds, warmth, cold, snow, and logging in Taylor County, WI at that time.

Taylor County Star and News. January 24, 1891, Star, Vol. XV, No. 34, News, VOL. XII, No. 50.

Barney Ackerman is our authority for the statement that last week, while at work in the lumber woods, Peter Molitor and Mike Greisch discovered a bird’s nest with two live young birds comfortable ensconced therein.  It is supposed that these birdlings are of the cross-bill variety, and it is not know that they habitually next in winter.  No case of a similar kind has ever come to the writer’s knowledge in all his life in the wooden county but it tallies exactly with all the signs and omens that have been forthcoming of late, signs and omens that promise a continuous mildness during the balance of this unparalleled mild winter.

Taylor County Star and News. February 7, 1891, Star, Vol. XV, No. 36, News, VOL. XII, No. 52.

The thermometer reached forty below, Wednesday morning.  The birds that built nests got fooled after all.

Taylor County Star and News. February 7, 1891, Star, Vol. XV, No. 36, News, VOL. XII, No. 52.

Two weeks ago we reported the finding of a bird’s next in the town of Molitor with two live young birds therein.  We are under obligations to Mr. W.F. Webster, of Oshkosh, for the information that the regular nesting time of the cross-bill is from December to March.  They are a very hardy bird, being found as far north as Hudson’s and Baffin’s Bays, and Mr. Webster believes that they feed upon pine seeds, their bills being peculiarly adapted for extracting the seeds from the tough burrs.  He also says that their eggs sometimes freeze in very cold weather, as they are careless in building their nests, frequently using for that purpose holes made by the woodpecker.  Mr. Webster’s information removes this find from the list of remarkable occurrences.

Taylor County Star and News. February 7, 1891, Star, Vol. XV, No. 36, News, VOL. XII, No. 52.

The snow storm was not an unmixed blessing, after all.  The developments in the science of logging road building during the past few years has made snow a luxury, not a necessity.  When the time came for hauling logs last fall, and the snow did not come with the time, lumbermen proceeded to make roads by digging trenches for the sleigh runners, and filling them with broken ice and water.  The result was good roads for the horses would travel on the solidly frozen ground and the runners of the sleigh would follow in the trenches of ice.  The snow came and covered the trenches to the depth of a foot or more, so that they could not be seen, and the sleigh runners would cut through the loose snow to the ground.  It took several days to get a good road-bed after the storm.  Hence we say the snow was not an unmixed blessing.

Did you notice the writing style and word choice was a fair amount different than what you would see in a newspaper today as well?

Posted under Ag Weather, Community, Seasonal Items, Weather History