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

First I want to again highlight the National Weather Service survey of the tornado that hit Clark county on Tuesday (as Rob did yesterday as well). Yesterday I provided a very rough preliminary estimate of where the tornado traveled just based on viewer reports and pictures. It turns out the tornado took a more west to east path, instead of northwest to southeast.

Tornado Path, Loyal to Chili

Instead of starting a couple miles east of Loyal, it was a couple miles south of of that community. It then traveled mostly eastward for about 7.2 miles and lifted just a little northeast of Chili.

If it had continued for another 5 miles or so, it would have likely affected the south side of Marshfield. The tornado was rated an EF2 with estimated winds of 120 to 130 mph, which makes it just a little weaker than the tornado that hit Merrill earlier this year.

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Now on to one of my other favorite subjects (besides the weather) and that is alternative energy and technological progress. We live in a fast paced world and new developments are happening every day, but sometimes we hit a few speed bumps. Not everything progresses smoothly. For those hoping for the solar power revolution to really take-off (me included), it seems things might be stalled just a bit. Many analysts of the solar power industry say there is an oversupply right now and that this will hurt profitability at many companies. It has hurt enough to cause a few companies to go out of business. It is not much surprise to me that the new companies supported primarily by government loans here in the U.S. have failed. Evergreen solar unfortunately filed for bankruptcy and Solyndra is not doing too hot either.

What is more disturbing and sad is that privately funded Spectrawatt has also gone belly up. This was a company spun off by Intel, the computer chip manufacturing giant.

The common themes for the profitability problems are oversupply, loss of government subsidies, and competition from China. The only way to beat the competition from China is to go toward more automated production (like First Solar? Although even they are manufacturing more in Malaysia). The government subsidies will probably be meager for a few years to come because most developed-nations are functionally insolvent. They won’t have much money to spare on solar subsidies in the near future. The over supply situation cuts both ways. Over supply can lead to lower prices which can eventually lead to more people buying the product. It is a dynamic relationship that might favor strongest players in the market. In any case, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a couple more solar power company bankruptcies in the near year or so. Overall, I suspect the trend toward more solar power adoption will continue because the price per watt keeps coming down every year while the price of traditional fossil fuels remains high.

Have a nice Thursday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Alternative Energy, Severe Weather, Technology, Tornadoes

Tuesday’s tornado in Clark County indirectly caused the death of an elderly man in hospice care according to the Wisconsin Emergency Operations Center. 

The National Weather Service said the EF2 twister packed wind speeds between 120 and 130 miles an hour.  That caused power outages, a contributing factor to the death in Clark County. 

Two people were injured by the tornado as eight homes and barns were destroyed.  An additional 19 were damaged.  The tornado causing the damage has been rated as an EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale.  The National Weather Service office in La Crosse says the tornado packed winds of 120 to 130 miles and hour.

A weaker EF0 tornado moved through rural areas of eastern Shawano County. 

The Clark County twister touched down at 5:05 PM seven miles northwest of Chili.  The tornado ripped up a path 7.2 miles long mowing over homes, farms and fields.  According to the National Weather Service the vortex was as wide as 200 yards.  Click HERE for a complete report including photos and radar images of the storms from the National Weather Service. 

The weaker EF0 tornado in Shawano County roared over mainly fields and forested areas near Briarton.  Several trees were reported being taken out by the tornado.  Click HERE for a complete report from the National Weather Service. 

The addition of three tornadoes in the last two weeks means Wisconsin has now seen 35 tornadoes in 2011.  That is well higher than the 30-year average of just 23, according to the National Weather Service records. 

In addition to the confirmed pair of tornadoes, large hail in excess of 1.75″ was spotted in Clark County and 1.25″ in Neilsville. 

For continuing coverage including a photo slideshow of images submitted by viewers, click HERE to be taken to Newsline 9′s exclusive storm coverage web page.

Posted under Natural Disasters, Records, Severe Weather, Tornadoes, Viewer pictures, Weather NEws, Weather Safety

There has been some big natural/weather news in the country recently with the development of the year’s first Atlantic hurricane – Irene (which is getting a bit stronger), and the strongest earthquake ever to hit the eastern U.S., but the most relevant story in our area is yet another tornado. This time it was Clark county that was under the gun yesterday afternoon.

A supercell thunderstorm developed in northern Clark county in the late afternoon and it eventually dropped a tornado between Loyal and Spencer (based on very preliminary viewer reports and pictures). The tornado then traveled a few miles southeast to the Chili area. Judging by the damage in some of the pictures we received, I would very roughly estimate that it was an EF1 tornado. The National Weather Service will be out in Clark county today to officially survey the area and will provide us with a better description of the length and strngth of the tornado. They will also be able to discern if there was one or perhaps multiple tornadoes. To view some of the pictures submitted by viewers, check out this great gallery on our home page.

Just a reminder that the graphic I have supplied here of the track of the tornado is very preliminary. We will link to the official NWS recap of the storm either later today or tomorrow.

Have a nice Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Severe Weather, Tornadoes

Just wanted to share an update on the Jackson and Clark county tornado episode from Wednesday. The NWS La Crosse survey team has gotten back from the area and added some content to their storm recap. They are rating it as high as EF1, but much of the tornado damage was intermittent and only EF0. They survey team found that much of the damage was caused by strait-line winds that sometimes emanate from the back side of a supercell thunderstorm, called the rear-flanking downdraft. This same storm hit the Pittsville area and many people I know are calling it the “Pittsville tornado”, however, we have so far not received any pictures or video from the area that shows the tornado or funnel cloud.  If you know anyone who has pictures of the Pittsville storm/clouds (not damage pictures from after the storm), tell them to email the pics to weather@waow.com.

Staying on the topic of severe weather, even though there are no major fronts or a storm system (a low pressure system) moving through the area today, there will still be a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. There is enough moisture, warmth, wind shear for thunderstorms and there is a very weak upper level disturbance that will move through the southern half of Wisconsin this afternoon. If anything develops (slight chance), it will be much more hit-or-miss than on Wednesday but the thunderstorms could still be severe. The SPC is indicating a slight risk of severe weather, basically from highway 29 on south. A much higher chance (60%) of heavy rain and high winds will come Saturday night into early Sunday morning. There is a slight chance a couple thunderstorms could develop during the late afternoon on Saturday but most of it should occur after sunset.

Have a nice weekend! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under forecast, Severe Weather

There is a lot to say about the storms yesterday because there were a lot of them. It was one of the more widespread and long-lasting thunderstorm events in recent years. I would have to search through the weather records and storm reports of past years to assist my memory in finding a similar day. Just 3 years ago on June 7th we had a big weather event with the EF3 tornado that traveled 40 miles through Shawano, Menominee, Langlade, and Oconto counties. It was dramatic but it did not last all day long. As Brian mentioned yesterday, it appears that every county in the viewing area experienced some sort-of wind damage, power outages, or flash flooding. Again, I can’t remember a day in the past where every county in the area was under a warning at some point.

And how about that rainfall. It came down so fast and furious that it caused travel trouble in many areas. Here in Wausau there were many roads underwater both times when the storms rumbled through during the day. Not sure about the rain that came through during the night.

Flooding in Wausau

Typically, city streets not near streams or rivers, are not going to be as dangerous when flooded, however it is still a big pain-in-the-you-know-what when cars are driven into deep water and stall. Not only does this cause traffic delays and jams, it also takes emergency/safety personnel away from other more important tasks during a severe weather event. Several cars stalled in deep water in the metro area on Wednesday afternoon. One was up to its Windows in water! The official rain total at the downtown airport in Wausau was 2.70 inches, a record for July 14th (the old record was a paltry 1.21 inches). Including yesterday’s record rainfall, our yearly precipitation total in Wausau is now up to 16.25 inches – which believe it or not – is STILL 0.08 inches below normal. Many of our viewers and weather watchers reported 2 to 4 inches of rain with one report from Marshfield of 5 inches. What made this event unique is that the entire area had heavy rain. It wasn’t localized in one city or one county.

Lightning Blows Up a Tree Root

We have received a lot of pictures of flooding and trees down in the area, but one picture was unique and shows how dangerous one of the other weather threats can be. To the right you see a picture of a tree root that was “blown-up” by lightning. The picture was sent in by Debi in Park Falls. This should serve as a reminder to go inside whenever you hear thunder because that means you are close enough to the thunderstorm to be struck. If you are stuck outside, be sure to stay away from lone tall trees. Tall trees are lightning magnets. The electricity that travels through the roots can electrocute and kill a human being. It has happened many times in the past. It is better to stand out in the rain than stand under a big tall tree during a thunder/lightning storm.

As Brian mentioned yesterday, one thing that stands out is what didn’t happen – tornadoes. Most of the weather parameters that we look at to indicate whether torndaoes would form were…..OFF…..THE….CHARTS… yesterday. Yet, instead of several distinct supercell/tornadic storms, we had 3 different squall lines of severe thunderstorms. If tornadoes had formed, we might be dealing with more human tragedy today.

Sunset After the Storm - Bob Whetstone

As is, we have yet to hear of any injuries or fatalities in NorthCentral Wisconsin. People around here seem to be pretty savvy when it comes to staying safe during severe weather. During the June 7th tornado and severe hail event in 2007, we didn’t report any injuries or fatalities either. Great job everyone! The only significant tornadic storm that formed yesterday, started in northern Trempealeau county. Several witnesses reported a tornado on the ground near Osseo and once again crossing I-94 in northern Jackson county. This storm then moved through southern Clark county and might have been responsible for the damage reported around the Pittsville area – although by that time it might have transitioned into more of a straight-line wind storm. It might be hard for the NWS to determine if a tornado did in fact travel across most of southern Clark county because the area is very sparsely populated with few paved roads. It is mostly county forest and swamp land. If any one reading the blog today lives around that area, knows someone who might have seen the storm, or has pictures, please comment in the blog here, or email pictures to weather@waow.com.

For more in depth info, here is brief round-up of some of the damage reports in the area, provided by the NWS Green Bay, and one from NWS La Croose too!

Most importantly, please let us know if our coverage of the storm on TV and on the web was sufficient and helpful in helping you stay safe and plan your day. We always like to hear suggestions for improvement.

Thankfully it looks like we will have a nearly 3-day break from the rain and thunderstorms. Right now I am calling for a 50% chance of thunderstorms Saturday night into Sunday morning. During this time frame we could again end up with some heavy rain and gusty wind in parts of the area.

Since it is Thursday, I will finish up with the US Drought Monitor report. In Wisconsin the amount of the state that is drought-free increased from 51.0 percent last week to 53.6 percent this week. A small improvement, but great none-the-less! Remember that the Drought Monitor does not include the rain we had just yesterday. That will be factored into next week’s Monitor and I suspect we will see continued improvement.

Have a nice Thursday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Drought, Records, Severe Weather, Viewer pictures, Weather Safety