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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average High for 2011: 53.03  (normal: 53.06)

Average Low for 2011: 35.07  (normal: 33.7)

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

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

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

Have a Happy New Year! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under AGW, Climate Change, Top 10 List

When the weather gets rough MARG goes into the field to send storm spotter reports to StormTrak 9 and the National Weather Service

Watch the Video: Wandering Wisconsin: Merrill’s Storm Spotters

When 15 tornadoes struck Wisconsin during the April 10th outbreak most people were running away from them. 

But a brave group of volunteers was doing just the opposite to help keep us safe.  They were running towards the storms, relaying vital information to our weather team at StormTrak 9 and the National Weather Service office in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

These volunteers make up what’s known as MARG–the Merrill Amateur Radio Group. 

Using a technology-laced trailer, MARG’s group of volunteers use their interest in ham radios and weather for good use.  Sending information that weather radar systems can’t always pick up, it was a MARG volunteer who was able to confirm to the NWS (National Weather Service) that the EF3 tornado in Merrill had in fact touched down.

When communication lines are down, MARG shines.  By using their radios they’re able to work around the crisis and get the information to where it needs to go so people can be warned of what’s coming. 

Interested in helping or getting involved with the group (or the local amateur radio storm spotter group in your home county?)  Visit their website for more information: http://www.margdx.org/

And don’t forget to watch our exclusive feature on Saturday July 16th produced by Newsline 9′s Anna Carerra: “Merrill: A Community Rebuilds“.  It airs Saturday at 1:00 pm.

Posted under Natural Disasters, Nature, new media, Records, Severe Weather, Storms, Tornadoes

The focus of the blog continues to be on the storms from this past Sunday because such a large number of tornadoes as well a their strength is uncommon here in Wisconsin during the month of April.

It now appears that there might have been as many as two EF3 tornadoes in the state. As Tony pointed out yesterday, because the NWS of Green Bay was so busy in the Fox Valley they did not have time to visit Forest county so the NWS of Marquette Michigan helped out. They found evidence of two tornadoes in Forest county. One started 3 miles southeast of Argonne and ended in the far southwestern corner of Florence county. That tornado ended up being rated as an EF2. It had a damage path 600 yards wide at times. Another weaker tornado touched down near Armstrong Creek and was on the ground for a couple miles. Thankfully these areas are quite sparsely populated, otherwise we could have had similar scenes to what happened in Merrill.

Although the NWS of Green Bay has not finished the survey of damage in Marathon and Lincoln counties, they are estimating that it will be rated EF3. We will link to their final assessment when it  becomes available. Here is the preliminary report.

More dramatic video of the damage in Merrill shot from the air.

The NWS of Milwaukee has compared this April tornado outbreak to those of the past. Sunday’s tornadoes might end up being the largest April tornado outbreak in Wisconsin history.

Adams County Tornado Path

The NWS of La Crosse has finished their assessment of the Adams county tornado and have determined the tornado was on the ground for 17miles – almost completely crossing the county from west to east. It strengthened to an EF2 as it approached Cottonville and winds are estimated to have reached 125 mph. For a couple of miles the damage path was up to a half mile wide. For the complete analysis with pictures, check here.

Lastly, I want to remind everyone that an NWS Storm Spotter training course is coming up in Medford tomorrow. It will be hosted at the Medford fire station at 6:30 in the evening. It is free and open to the public. You sit back, relax, and learn about severe weather and how to spot it. There is no obligation to become an official weather spotter. If you enjoy learning about weather and watching videos of thunderstorms and tornadoes, then head on over to the Medford Fire Station tomorrow. There is also a course coming up in Clintonville on the 18th.

Have a pleasant Tuesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Severe Weather, Storms, Tornadoes, Weather Safety

As you might have expected, today’s blog entry will deal with the severe weather that moved through Northcentral  Wisconsin on Sunday. First a couple of quick thoughts before getting into more detail:

• Despite several tornado touchdowns and a lot of structural damage, so far we have not heard of any injuries or deaths.
• The storms moved fast – it only took a bitover 2 hours for the supercells thunderstorms to move from west to east.
• Several counties in the area were affected by tornadoes, yet all of the bad weather missed the 4 biggest cities (Marshfield, Stevens Point, Wisconsin Rapids, Wausau)

The most difficult part of the post storm analysis is trying to determine how many tornadoes affected the area. It does not appear that the tornadoes touched down and then remained on the ground for over 2 hours as they crossed the area. It is more likely that the supercell thunderstorms periodically dropped tornadoes to the ground. If each touchdown ends up being counted as a tornado, then the final tally could be more than the 5 Tony and I figured late last night. The National Weather Service will be out conducting storm surveys over the next couple of days and we will pass their official report on to you later the week. As of now (if you are reading this today – April 11th) you can go to this link for the SPC’s preliminary accounting of tornado reports.

There were essentially two strong supercell-type thunderstorms that moved through our area. One traveled along highway 29 in northern Clark county and then eventually turned northeast through Merrill and eventually on up into northern Langlade and southern Forest counties. The first report of a tornado touchdown with this storm cell was just north of Augusta in Eau Claire county. There were a couple reports of funnel clouds in northern Clark county and eastern Taylor county but no official touchdowns as of this writing. The next time we had a report (at least an unconfirmed report) wind damage from a possible tornado was in the Hamburg area of Marathon county. The third touchdown was in the Little Chicago area. As many of you know, these two small communities are only 3 to 4 miles apart so these two reports of a tornado touchdowns were probably the same tornado (based on preliminary information). That tornado might have then stayed on the ground as it move northeastward toward Merrill. We have several reports, pictures, and video of the tornado as it struck the north side of Merrill and continued on up toward the Gleason area. It is unknown at this time whether that tornado stayed on the ground all the way up northern Langlade county or whether the tornado lifted and came down again. In any case, we received at least one report of a large tornado on the ground in northern Langlade county by have yet to receive any pictures or video of the twister or damage caused by it. If anyone has pictures or video from northern Langlade or southern Forest county, please send them to weather@waow.com. The supercell storm moved into Forest county and produced large hail, but as of yet there are no reports of tornado touchdowns in Forest county.

The second strong supercell storm started near the La Crosse area and a funnel cloud was eventually spotted in central Monroe county. When the storm moved into the Necedah area there were many reports of trees down and at least one garage roof blown off. That same storm crossed into Adams county and continued to produce wind damage around Arkdale and further east toward Cottonville. Based on reports from our weather watchers, there were miles of trees blown down and reports of several structures demolished. This storm remained strong as it trekked through Waushara county and caused more wind damage in the Fremont area of southern Waupaca county. As for tornado reports, there was one possible touchdown near Arkdale and Strongs Prairie, and another near Fremont. So far, we have not seen any pictures or video of a funnel clouds or tornado with this southern storm (update, here is a video of the tornado that traveled through Adams county). Again, if anyone has documentation (pictures or video), please send them to weather@waow.com

Tornado near Merril, Picture by Samuel L. Hall

Lastly here is one of the more “close-up” pictures of the tornado in Lincoln county taken by Samuel L. Hall of Wausau. If you look closely you can see the flying debris.

We will continue to post pictures later today and tomorrow here in the blog and on our StormTrak9 facebook page.

Have a good Monday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Severe Weather, Storms, Tornadoes