I will now take a bow. Thank you for the warm round of applause. I am sure I single-handedly brought the copious amounts of rainfall to the area last night and this morning. You see, I spent 3 hours in the warmth and humidity on Saturday afternoon watering my garden. Ergo, it was bound to rain less than 36 hours later. Doesn’t it always happen that way? I knew there was a potential for heavy rainfall due to the high humidity, but I couldn’t be sure it would hit my house/gardens.

Even though I watered many of my plants, I am still happy to see the rainfall, most certainly for all of the other gardeners and farmers out there. Unfortunately, heavy rain usually comes with severe weather during the middle of Summer. Last night there were several reports of flooding rains, high wind, trees down, and power outages in Iron, Ashland, Vilas, Oneida, and Lincoln counties. There were even a couple of trees and large branches down in Wausau. I encountered one nearly blocking the road on my bike ride to work today. The same scene was reported across the southern part of the area this morning. A few trees were reported down in Wisconsin Rapids, Plover, and parts of Waupaca county. An trained weather spotter noted a 70mph wind gust in Plover. A few more thunderstorms could form again this afternoon so keep a close eye on the sky.

The other weather story is of course the heat. I am already sick of the media talking about how “brutal”, “terrible”, and “devastating” the heat is, and it has only been happening for one day so far. I completely understand that some people have medical conditions or age-related problems with the heat, but they aren’t the ones I hear complaining about it. The people I hear complaining about the heat are those who spend about 2 minutes outside of air conditioning on any particular day. Save it up. Use your gripes on Wednesday when high temps could hit 95-100 and the heat index will be 105-115. Wednesday should be the peak of the heat wave. High temps on Thursday will be in the low 90s and if we are lucky, we could be talking mid to upper 80s from Friday through Sunday. It will still be quite warm this weekend but not as hot as during the work week. The HEAT ADVISORIES and EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNINGS will remain in effect for the entire area through Wednesday and for a few spots through Thursday.

One thing that last night’s storms provided us with was a beautiful sunset – at least in the northwoods. Several people in Price county snapped beautiful pictures of the colorful sunlight illuminating the departing thunderclouds. Unfortunately, due to some weird software bug I cannot upload pictures to the blog today. Maybe I’ll be able to upload them to our StormTrak9 Facebook page and then post them in the blog tomorrow.

This is one thing that I forgot to mention when I came back from my trip to Florida (where everyone also complained about the heat). We were in the keys and a popular thing to do is watch the sunset at Mallory Square in Key West. Ocean sunsets are often attractive and there is a special feeling of looking out over the vast ocean. However, when it comes to color, when it comes to striking contrasts, when it comes to variety, you cannot hold a candle to sunsets (and sunrises) here in the upper Midwest. Spectacular sunsets/sunrises happen all year long.

Have a fine Monday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Flooding, Heat, Severe Weather, Storms, Viewer pictures

The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat watch effective on Sunday for Iron, Ashland, Price, Taylor, Clark, Jackson, Juneau, and Adams counties in our area. Heat advisories and warnings will likely be issued each day from Sunday through all of next week as high temps will be in the 90s for several days in a row and with the high humidity, the heat index will be a few degrees above 100. It will be the longest heat wave we have endured since June of 1995, when we had 9 days in a row with highs in the 90s. 1995 was the last time we had 100 degrees in Wausau as well. I just hope the weather does not repeat itself this upcoming winter. During the winter that followed the hot Summer of 1995 we had the coldest daytime temperature ever recorded in Wausau, 20 degrees below zero!

It is hard to believe that it has been so long since the last extended heat wave, but here in Wisconsin the heat waves are usually only 2 or 3 days. We had some very hot weather back in 2005 and 2006 but the 90 degree days were broken up by 80 degree days. The only way we will have any relief from the heat Sunday or into next week is if we end up with a few thunderstorms. The chances of wet weather are fairly low but each day there is at least a slight chance of storms. The highest chance of storms will actually be late tonight into Saturday morning. I am hoping for a good soaking because my garden could use some rain before the hot weather develops. I am sure many farmers are hoping for the same thing.

Have a good Friday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under forecast, Heat

Something very interesting and unusual happened during the month of June. We started out the month with three different days (the 3rd, 7th, and 8th) with record high temps in the 90s. Temps were also in the 80s from the 4th through 6th. You would think that this very warm start to the month would’ve guaranteed that the average temps for the month would end up above normal. This was not the case. Because of a persistent colder trend from the 9th through the 24th which included one day when the high temperature was only 54 (the 10th), the average temps for the month ended up slightly below normal. This makes June of 2011 the 7th month in a row with below normal temperatures. The last month with above normal temps was November of 2010. The reason for the persistent cool weather? I am pinning it on La Nina. During past decades, La Nina has not always meant colder than normal temps for our area, but the last 3 La Nina episodes, since 2006, have been closely linked with colder than normal temps.

Besides three record high temperatures, what other interesting things happened during the month of June? Good question. Temps were up and down quite a bit and precipitation was near normal. Not much severe weather happened. There was some frost in the Northwoods on the morning of the 12th – pretty late even for Northwoods standards. There were no real interesting trends in the numbers – the most common high temperatures were 73 and 79 which we hit 3 different times. The most “popular” low temperature was 59 which was also marked 3 different times. Without further ado, here are the stats for Wausau:

Average High: 75.6  (normal: 76.7)

Average Low: 54.1  (normal: 54.2)

Precipitation: 4.17″  (normal 4.18″)

Highest Temperature: 94 on the 7th

Lowest Temperature: 40 on the 12th

It looks like we are heading into July the same way we began June, with some heat. A HEAT ADVISORY goes into effect for most of the area (except Oneida, Vilas, Forest, and Florence counties) from noon until 9pm today. High temps will reach the mid 90s in many areas and could touch 100 in the south. The record high in Wausau today is 98 and we will be close to breaking it as more sunshine will develop during the afternoon. The heat index will be in the 105 to 110 range for most of the area which can be a bit dangerous. Just be sure to not over-exert yourself in the heat and find some shade or air conditioning to keep cool. After today the weather will still be warm, but it will be less humid and high temps will only reach the 80s. It will be a nice Summer holiday weekend. There is only a slight chance of thunderstorms tonight and a slight chance of storms late Monday. The next significant chance of more widespread rain will be Tuesday of next week.

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Earlier this week and year I have blogged about some of the drawbacks and difficulties of using alternative energy sources. Grain ethanol uses up some of the food supply and has a very poor EROI. Wind turbines have non-trivial environmental effects on the weather and wildlife. Current nuclear fission reactors are not scalable enough to produce a more significant portion of our energy needs.

What about solar power? I am on the solar and electric vehicle bandwagon lately, and while it does hold a lot of promise without as many drawbacks, it is not perfect either. One thing that does not get discussed too often is all of the land that big solar farms take up. This fact was brought to the forefront in my mind once again when I saw these pictures of recently finished solar farms in Europe. Covering many square miles of landscape – even the desert – with solar panels is certainly going to have an impact on the ecology of the area. It will also remove some natural areas from human recreation. The solution? Rooftops. We have already covered an ungodly amount of the planet with buildings. This space if perfectly suited for solar panel deployment. What else about solar power makes it seem not quite so perfect for the future? It costs money to clean the mirrors. Solar panels in the desert gather dust and need to be cleaned to operate efficiently. This cost was not included in past studies of the viability of large solar farms.

While on the subject, here is an article you might enjoy about all of the new start-up alternative energy/tech companies, which ones are doing well, which one’s are not, and the reasons why.

Have a fine Friday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Alternative Energy, Heat, Monthly Recap

The heat is on! Well, not quite yet, but soon. It looks like temps will rise into the 90s on Friday and with the dewpoint hitting 70 degrees, the heat index will be between 100 and 110. Because of this, the National Weather Service has issued a HEAT ADVISORY for noon to 8pm Friday, for the entire viewing area except Iron, Ashland, Oneida, Vilas, Forest, and Florence counties. It will still be quite hot in the far north but the heat index should remain below 100. The good news is that the heat and humidity will go down for the weekend. It will still be a warm Holiday weekend, just not oppressive.

Remember how to stay safe in the heat. Don’t over-exert yourself. Drink plenty of water. Stay in the shade or in an air conditioned building.

Will it be warm enough to break record high temps in the area on Friday? I doubt it. I am forecasting a high temperature of 94 in Wausau and the record is 98 which was set back in 1910. With enough sunshine we might be able to tie the record but getting any higher looks unlikely. One reason why higher temperatures are not too likely is that we recently had some significant rainfall (last week counts as recent). The soil might be getting slightly dry after 6 days of very little precipitation but there is enough moisture in the soil to fuel quite a bit of evapotranspiration. Evapotranspiration is the process by which plants take water from the earth and evaporate it into the air. Evaporating water creates cooler temps. Crops, trees, and vegetation is now growing vigorously in the Midwest and the cooling trend from evapotranspiration will likely keep us from record high territory. If we hadn’t received 3 inches of rain last week, high temps would most likely rise up to around 100 (on Friday).

Besides cooling the air down, recent research has once again confirmed that evapotranspiration enhances precipitation frequency in much of the U.S. Previous research had shown that precipitation amounts were enhanced in eastern Colorado due to evapotranspiration. Some of our most humid days during mid and late Summer are not due solely to moisture arriving all the way from the Gulf of Mexico, but rather from all of the crops growing in the Midwest. It is an interesting process that a lot of people are not aware of, yet it exerts a powerful effect on our weather during the growing season. 

More importantly, if we hadn’t received the soaking rain last week, the US Drought Monitor might be showing some abnormally dry conditions over Wisconsin. As is, Wisconsin is still 100% drought free. If we don’t see much rain over the weekend (which will likely be the case), then we might see some drought creep into the Wisconsin Drought Monitor next week.

Have a good Thursday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Ag Weather, Drought, Heat, Records, Summer

Before getting into other discussions in the weather blog, how about some weather? The most important thing to know is that there is a heat advisory in effect for the far southern part of the viewing area from noon to 8pm. The counties included in the advisory are Juneau, Monroe, Adams, and Jackson. It is in these areas that the heat index could rise above 100. Highs will be in the 90s across the area so be careful to not over-exert yourself outside. Drink plenty of water and find some shade or air conditioning. It will be quite warm again tomorrow – in the upper 80s but then big changes are on the way later this week. If you don’t like the heat, then just wait until Thursday. From Thursday through Saturday, high temps will likely only reach the mid to upper 60s. An additional note: the record high in Wausau today is 91 set back in the drought year of 1988. I am forecasting a high of 93.

The heat over the weekend, yesterday, today, and tomorrow is putting a dent in the remaining snow on Rib Mountain. We are getting closer to the end of the snwomelt contest. I will be heading up there today to get a new picture of the snow that remains. Stay tuned to the blog or the snowmelt update story for pictures and details in the next 24 hours.

The heat has also brought talk of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) to the forefront. In particular, a recent Stanford study suggests that we should get used to hot Summers for years to come. If current AGW is substantially correct and if nothing changes in our fossil fuel usage over the next few decades (unlikely) then between 20 and 60 years from now, our Summers will routinely be warmer than the average over the last 50 years. For our area, this would likely mean many more 90 degree days each Summer. During a dry year, 100 would be more common. We have had some very hot Summers in years past in Northcentral Wisconsin, some with multiple 100 degree days, but they are not too common. If they become more common in the near future then it adds weight to the AGW theory.  The Stanford study also makes the claim that the changes would be irreversible, which is a very bold claim, considering that according to AGW theory we have engineered a warmer climate. We can certainly engineer a cooler climate if we put our minds to it. I am not saying it would be easy, but we will have much more advanced technology to help modulate our effect on the environment within 20 to 60 years. As you know, many are predicting the end of the “human age”by 2030. If so, then it would also be likely that we can significantly reduce our impact on the environment and/or engineer a favorable climate.

A few other recent articles highlighting potential trouble from AGW:

Record world-wide carbon emissions were recorded last year. Thankfully, here in the U.S. we have been good at reducing our emissions, and are not the main contributing factor for setting the new record. Keep up the good work everyone. Less fossil fuel usage means a cleaner environment.

AGW could make it harder to grow fruits and nuts in many parts of the world.

Warmer oceans release carbon faster than thought.

The warmer Pacific is leading to faster melting of the west Antarctic ice sheet.

Ocean acidification (due to fossil fuel usage) could destroy the Great Barrier Reef in 10 years.

More droughts are possible in the Amazon region.

Sounds like a lot of doom and gloom. I could add many of these to the “Big List of Bad Things” (things blamed on AGW) if I was still officially tracking the various predictions. Thankfully there are a lot of good things going on as well. I will list some of those developments in the blog later this week.

Have a good Tuesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under AGW, Climate Change, Heat, Records

With record high temperatures expected Tuesday in Wisconsin and the Midwest coupled with muggy air, it will be downright dangerous to your health if you are not careful.  In fact danger from heat is nothing new the U.S.  It is one of the main weather killers.  Annually about 162 people die in the U.S. from hot weather.  Some years it is much worst than that.  Do your remember in the summer of 1995 when over 600 people died in Milwaukee and Chicago?  Most were elderly folks in poorer neighborhoods and apartment complexes.  The buildings in the middle of the cities just didn’t cool off.  Even at night temperature stayed around 85 degrees in the buildings and it was too much for many to handle.

The National Weather Service has issued a Heat Advisory for western and southern Wisconsin for Tuesday afternoon.  This means the Heat Index could top 100 degrees.  The heat index is how it “feels” to your body when the temperature and humidity is combined.  It is harder for you to cool off when it is humid because your sweat doesn’t evaporate well.  The evaporation of sweat helps to cool your body otherwise because the heat from your body is used to convert the liquid perspiration into water vapor.

HEAT WAVE SAFETY TIPS

• Drink extra fluids, especially water.
• Slow down, avoid heavy or prolonged physical exertion.
• Go in air conditioned places as much as possible.
• Go in the shade as much as possible.
• Wear light colored, light weight clothing.
• Avoid sunburn.  Your body has a hard time regulating its temperature if you are sunburned.  Besides it hurts!
• Check on the elderly.
• Make sure your pets have good ventilation and ample water.
• Don’t leave your kids or pets unattended in a parked car.  Even with the windows open it can get excessively hot.
• Eat more frequent small meals, rather than one big one.
• Try to do chores and work in the early morning and evening when it is somewhat cooler.

To learn more about the various types of Heat Advisories and Warnings the National Weather Service issues, and to learn about signs of heat illness, visit this website.   http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/heat/index.shtml

Posted under Heat, Records, Summer, Weather Safety

I have to admit even though we have only been in the 80′s it still feels very hot with the humidity that we have! I am a fan of the heat but I do not think I would be a fan if I lived in the Mid Atlantic or the Northeast recently! They are break records across the board!! Check out these records from New York, every single site hit their record or tied!

…HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORDS FOR JULY 6TH BROKEN OR TIED AT ALL SIX
WFO NEW YORK NY CLIMATE SITES.

               …..TEMPERATURE…..TIME (LDT)…..PREVIOUS RECORD
CENTRAL PARK NY……..103…………311 PM………..101 1999…
LA GUARDIA NY……….103…………342 PM………..101 1999…
JFK ARPT NY…………101………..1240 PM…………99 1999…
ISLIP NY……………101…………255 PM…………99 1999…
BRIDGEPORT CT………..98………..1252 PM…………98 1999…
NEWARK NJ…………..103*……….1234 PM………..102 1999…

Most areas have been under a “heat wave” which means three or more consecutive days with plus 90 temperature accoring the NWS office in Massachutes.   They will continue to be in the 90′s tomorrow for most places but will gradually drop down to the low 80′s by the begining of next week.  The last time it was this warm for the Big Apple was August 9th 2001!

Not only is the heat uncomfortable but it also can have serious health effects. 13 firefighters were hospitalized from exhaustion from fighting a fire in Queens.  Deaths can also be caused from heat exhaustion.  Right now a 92 year old Philedpelphia women death is being blamed from the heat. 

The heat is also causing people to ramp up their energy usage but electric companies are asking residents to be conservative in order to avoid  blackouts.  They were expecting the usage to be today at 6,900 megawatts where normal is 5500 megawats.  Peak usage was 7198 in August of 2006. 

Here is a photo gallery of the heat

This is a neat picture showing the mean from the 6th through the 14th and how much above average the area is.  The mean is in the 90′s with above average from 8 to 12.

I think I will take the 80′s….

Have a great night! Meteorologist Kristen

Posted under Heat, Records, Summer, Uncategorized

We have blogged about alot of interesting items over the past couple days.

Today we saw strong to severe weather move through Clark, Taylor, Price, Ashland and Iron counties.  The largest hail reported was an inch with wind gusts knocking down trees and power lines. 

Snowmelt is getting close to the end and Justin Loew has been making sure that we are keeping on top of snow piles that are left.  It should only be a few more days until we will have a winner! 

Speaking of melting I am sure some people are feeling like they are melting after the hot days we have been having! Brain did a great blog about heat index and advisories.  Even if we are not in the criteria range for most people it feels like we are!   For those who aren’t accustomed to warm weather it will make it harder to do anything strenuous such as outdoor work or exercising.  So even if there are NOT advisories posted it is still important to take precautions during hot and humid days most importantly drinks LOTS of water!  If you don’t believe me that it is hot, just check out all the records we broke on Monday. 

Since it is so hot out one thing people enjoy doing is Boating! So speaking of  boating it is Boaters Safety Week here are the links to the different subjects the National Weather service is covering each day.   There is some great tips and information under each link.  Sometimes they are subjects you wouldn’t even think about like CO poisoning. 

One fact that really stand out, 90% of people who drown in boating accidents are not wearing life jackets.  Make sure to wear a life jacket when you are out on the water!  

Looks like it will stay warm through the Memorial Day holiday with temps in the upper 70′s to low 80′s.  Tomorrow we will keep in showers and storms but after the front it should be nothing but sunshine from Thursday through most of Sunday.

Have a great night! Meteorologist Kristen Connolly

Posted under Severe Weather, Snowmelt 2010, Spring, Storms, Uncategorized

Well today sure was a cooker.  I had a tough time reminding myself that it’s still May after all.  As Kristen mentioned in her previous blog…several records were smashed across the area. 

Two people happened to ask me the same question today…. When does the N.W.S. issue a Heat Advisory?  And why wasn’t one issued?  Well a Heat Advisory is based on forecasted heat index values.  This heat index value is your “feels like” number…pretty much the opposite of the “feels like” wind chill value.  Except the number is based on temperature and moisture and not temperature and wind.  Now this tends to vary a bit, but in generally a heat index of105 or greater has to be forecasted in order for a Heat Advisory to be issued.  The big brother Excessive Heat Warning would be issued for heat indexes above 110.

Here is a great heat breakdown from the NWS office in Milwaukee, including the criteria and other Hot Facts.

Heat index can be calculated using the formula…

HI = -42.379 + 2.04901523T + 10.14333127R – 0.22475541TR – 6.83783×10 ^-3 T ²
- 5.481717×10 ^-2 R ² + 1.22874×10 ^-3 T ²R + 8.5282×10 ^-4 TR ² – 1.99×10 ^-6 T ² R ²

^{hahah so for our purposes I also found a sweet heat index calculator and chart.}

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/jkl/?n=heat_index_calculator

…just plug in needed temperature, dew point, and relative humidity values

Oh there goes that dewpoint thing again… dewpoint is simply a measurement of moisture. 

 For our humidity purposes…

A dew point temperature in the 50′s is comfortable.  A dew point temperature in the 60′s feels humid.  And a dew point in the 70′s feel extremely humid and uncomfortable.

Oh and let’s be safe during the heat.  If you’re working outside…water water and more water.  For more safety tips check out Newline 9′s Heather Sawaski’s heat story today.

One last thing….remember this 2 and a half weeks ago????

Meteorologist Brian Niznansky

Posted under Heat