“White Gold” fell in the northwoods this week. It was the biggest snow (other than lake effect snow) I can remember in the last 15 years for not only the northwoods but for the entire viewing area. In fact, it was in March of 1997 (15 years ago) that we had over 20 inches of snow in parts of Juneau, Adams, and Waushara counties. Earlier this week there were a handful of reports of 20 to 24 inches of snow and now the snowmobilers can have some fun – at least in the northern half of the area – at least for this weekend. As it looks right now, this weekend could be the last true Winter-like weekend with good snow conditions on the ground. The snowmobile trails will likely be able to remain open in the north for the following weekend as well (because it takes a long time to melt 20 inches of snow) but the overall weather trend is looking much more Spring-like for next week and toward the middle of the month.

Sure we could have a big snowstorm yet at some point later this month or even in April, but I think this will be the last weekend of real Winter where you can enjoy all of the Winter activities. For all the people who can’t wait for warmer weather, here is the latest 8 to 14 day temperature outlook from the Climate Prediction Center. There is a high chance that the eastern three-quarters of the country – including Wisconsin – will have above normal temperatures.

Be safe on the snowmobile trails – they will likely be crowded this weekend.

Have a great weekend!  Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Recreation & Sports, Snow Totals, Winter Weather

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

I have been awake since around 1:30 this am and the big story overnight has been related to the weather.  We are seeing a massive storm across the Nation’s midsection.  This storm is producing severe storms across the Central Plains and blizzard conditions in the Dakotas and mountains. 

This storm overnight produced deadly tornadoes, so far up to 6 people are dead in Oklahoma and Arkansas, including kids and an infant.  Two in Tushka, Ok and four in western Arkansas. 

The Oklahoma tornado was 7 miles long and in addition to the two deaths caused 25 injuries.  There were numerous reports of other tornadoes nearby and storms producing 4 inch hail ( softball size).  Here is all the info about the severe weather in the Heartland.

Here is also a multi-vortex tornado video. You can see two or even three drop from the cloud.  Pretty impressive and scary at the same time!

The destruction and deaths are just a reminder how Mother Nature can strike at anytime.  Although just five days ago we saw major destruction we are so blessed to be spared lives.   

I saw this headline today “Winter just won’t leave the Midwest”.  I agree! We have Winter Weather Advisories in effect for Ashland, Iron, Vilas, Onieda and Price counties until tomorrow morning.  In this area we could see up to 3″ of a slushy wet mix by tomorrow morning.  It will cause slick roads and hazardous travel.  Hopefully the snow will melt thanks to temps making it into the mid 40′s. 

After watching several tornado videos and aftermath I needed a little pick me up.  This video is awesome!It is a time lapse from San Francisco to Paris from the window of an airplane.  I guess they didn’t obey the “all electronics off” rule! I have to say it is really neat to watch, especially the Northern Lights around :30 into the video. 

Have a great Friday! Meteorologist Kristen Connolly

Posted under forecast, Natural Disasters, Science, Seasonal Items, Severe Weather, Storms, Summer, Tornadoes, Weather History, Weather NEws, Weather Safety, Winter Weather, World Weather

Just a quick post before I head out! I wanted to share these couple pictures I showed this morning,

This one is from Adam Eberle taken in Tomahawk.  Look how the snow rolls! He also shared a video you can check that out here. IMG_4366

This is another picture I shared this morning:

This one is from Amy Wilhelmi in Colby.  If you look you can see fog or steam radiating off of the snow pack.  This happens alot when we see melting in the spring can usually causes fog and reduced visibilities.  We have seen alot of melting across the area recently.

I hope you weren’t thinking winter is over just yet! We have a Winter Storm Watch in effect for the majority of our area except for folks to the south of Highway 29.  This means we will see a major winter storm on our hands from Tuesday into Wednesday.  Snow accumulations will vary from around 4-8″ in the watch area.  Places in the far north where only snow will fall could see from 8-12″ or more.  To the south of 29 where it should stay as a mix for a longer period we will see slick conditions thanks to sleet, snow and even freezing rain.  Needless to say it will be a messy couple days.   It is likely everyone will a see a change over to all snow by Wednesday but totals should be less than 4 inches in our far Southern viewing area.

Hello Spring…. or is it Winter still?

Meteorologist Kristen Connolly

Posted under Seasonal Items, Snow Totals, Spring, Storms, Viewer pictures, Weather History, Weather NEws, Winter Weather

Hey everyone ! It has been a while since I posted because I was on a vacation out east.  One side of my family lives in the Boston area so I went out to visit.  I had a great trip and really enjoyed spending time with the fam.  It was really interesting watching the weather out there and especially how it compares and affects the local.  They saw a significant winter storm on Tuesday and this one was extremely different then the storm last week and the winter storm they saw just after Christmas.  Those storms produced from a foot or two of snow.  The storm on Tuesday produced snow totals from 3 to 6″ but they saw a change over to sleet and freezing rain then eventually just rain.  This caused more issues because of the ice. 

One thing I noticed most was the lack of space to put the snow.  There banks are so terribly high it was extremely difficult to see around them at some points.  Most of the main roads are clear but side roads and especially side walks are snow and ice covered.  In some towns and for the Pats game they actually melted the snow to remove it.  Unlike us, where we can go an entire month without hitting freezing, they usually get a thaw which helps with the ice.  It was very common to hear, “all we need is a thaw”.   Another difference is that they get massive snow storms then stay dry for days.  During the previous storm they were already mentioning tomorrows storm.  They could see another half a foot of snow!  Several town are close if not over their snow removal budget, unfortunately they still have a few more months of winter.   

Tonight the cold will be our story.  Wind Chills will dip to 25 to 35 below zero.  This means if you are outside from 15 to 30 minutes you could be exposed to frostbite.  Here are a few tips:

~Wear warm loose fitting layers, no tight fitted clothing.  Have extra clothes in case any piece gets wet.

~Cover ALL extremities: hat, gloves, scarf.  Make sure to cover even your face.

~Keep your body moving, even if it means simply wiggling your toes.

So how do we calculate the wind chill? Here is the formula

Wind chill temperature = 35.74 + 0.6215T – 35.75V (**0.16) + 0.4275TV(**0.16)

If that seems complicated how about we just use the wind chill chart :  As you can see even the slightest wind makes it feel 10 to 20 degrees cooler. First find the temp on the top row and then the wind from the left hand side.

Meteorologist Kristen Connolly

Posted under Community, forecast, Freeze, Seasonal Items, Snow Totals, Weather NEws, Winter Weather

Hello everyone! It has been a few days since I last wrote.  I was on vacation for Christmas and have been playing catch up the past few days.  When you go a few days it is always fun getting back into the swing of the routine.  I actually went home to Florida for a almost a week and guess what, it was cold! We broke record low temps while I was there.  I packed for the completely wrong weather because I forgot that even 45 still feels cold!  I learned my lesson.  My family kept making fun of me for packing wrong the said I should have payed more attention to the weather. :)  

 The end of 2010 was a very mild one across the area.  Temps were very mild and unusual, we saw 40′s across the area yesterday! This caused alot of the snow that we had to melt.   On Thursday that meant for fog around the area.  It amazing that we can see the grass in some areas! 

Although we ended 2010 on the mild note, we started 2011 on a very cold note.  Temps across the area are in the single digits with wind chills near 20 below!  In 24 hours we have seen temperature drop of 20 to even 30 degrees.  As they say what a difference a year makes and by year I mean 24 hours!  The cold air will stick around through tomorrow but we will rise to near normal on Monday with our next chance of snow.  Overall this week will be quiet even if we do have a chance of snow on a few days.  The first comes Monday and the second will be the end of the week.  I think the snow will be minor and will add an inch or so. 

It was a crazy end to 2010 weather wise.  We saw the massive snow storm in Europe just before Christmas,  the east coast dealt with another snow storm just after Christmas.  The storm that brought the cold to us also brought severe weather in Arkansas, and Alabama.  For more info on the storm yesterday, check out this site.

Something I enjoy on New Years, besides football of course, is to look at pictures of celebrations around the world.  Here is a good slide show off how everyone rang 2011.  I really like number 5! I rang in 2009 at that same spot!

Don’t forget to check out Justin’s posts of the top 10 weather events of 2010!

Happy New Year! Meteorologist Kristen Connolly

Posted under Travel, Weather History, Weather NEws, Winter Weather

Just another quick update…

The storms timing has seemed to slow down just a bit.  Right now thinking it will begin to move in by late afternoon although most of us won’t see snow until the evening.  It will still spread from southwest to northeast with everyone seeing snow by Midnight.  As mentioned, totals will be fairly uniform with this event, everyone should pick up three to six inches but counties under the Winter Storm Warning will be in the higher end thinking mainly 5 to 7 inches.  This will be from north of I 90 and mainly west of Hwy 13.

The roads will become snow covered overnight and early on Tuesday morning leading to poor driving conditions.  Please plan ahead and be careful.  Since the storm has slowed down a bit, it is likely the snow will continue through early evening tomorrow.   The advisories and warnings as of 9 am this morning are forecasted to expire at noon, with the exception of Forest and Florence counties.   Even though the heavy snow should end in the late morning light snow will still be likely tomorrow afternoon. 

It is a bummer we won’t be able to see the lunar eclipse tonight. Refer to my Saturday blog for the details.

Please be careful and have a good Monday!

Posted under Snow Totals, Weather NEws, Weather Safety, Winter Weather

Our next winter storm will move in by tomorrow!  Across the area we have Winter Storm Warnings in effect along with Winter Weather Advisories.  It is almost as if we cut the  state in half;the western counties are under the warning on the contrast ,the eastern counties are under the advisory.  For the latest up to date on the warnings or advisories you can head over to this link. 

The snow will likely spread across our area from west to east tomorrow.  We could see snow as early as noon in are far southwestern counties.  Through the day, the snow will push to the east.  By evening, the snow should be affecting everyone with heavier bands Monday night into the overnight.  The snow should taper off by Tuesday afternoon although some freezing drizzle could be in the mix by late morning or early afternoon. 

In general, we should see from three to six inches across North Central Wisconsin.  Isolated spots, or where the isolated heavy band hits, will see more.  Right now the area most likely to see the isolated higher amounts of five inches or greater is  west of 29 or the northwest part of the Badger state.   By tomorrow morning we should have a better grasp on exactly where that will be. 

This storm will not top what we saw last weekend, but will still cause poor road conditions Monday night and especially Tuesday morning.  If you are heading to your holiday destination it will be imperative that you stay tuned to the forecast and to the Winter Resource Center where you can stay up to date on road conditions.  I will make sure to wrap this up in greater detail tomorrow morning. 

Meteorologist Kristen Connolly

Posted under Snow Totals, Weather NEws, Weather Safety, Winter Weather

Blizzard Warning in effect for Adams, Juneau, and Monroe counties until noon tomorrow.  Everyone else is under a Winter Storm Warning through the same time period.  Totals today have already reach 12 inches plus!   

Just to clarify a blizzard is 35 mph winds or greater reducing visibilities of 1/4 mile for 3 hours or more. 

So far around the area totals are from 6 inches to 12 inches.  Light snow is still falling across the Northwoods with moderate to heavy snow still to the south of highway 29.  An additional 2-6” will be possible through the overnight and early on Sunday.  The totals will be lighter in the north woods which avoided the heaviest bands.  Where we saw the heaviest bands, in Central Wisconsin, totals will be greater than a foot.  To add on to the snow, we will see blowing and drifting snow because winds will kick up to 35 mph.  Please stay off the roadways if at all possible.  We are already see whiteout conditions as the winds continue to kick up.  For all the latest closings head over to our homepage. 

This storm is continuing to move almost due east.  As it does we will see the heavier bands sag to the south.  This will mean it should exist our area overnight.  We should still see light snow or flurries through around noon tomorrow with blowing and drifting in the afternoon.  Looking at the radar this scenario is already beginning as we are actually seeing dry air working its way in and ending the snow in Ashland and Iron. 

On the other side of this storm the BITTERLY cold air will arrive.  We are talking about cold temperatures, highs will only be in the single digits! Lows will be double digits below zero with wind chills another 10 to 20 degrees colder.  Frost bite could easily be an issue this upcoming week.  Needless to say the cold will be another weather story we will be eyeing. 

Here are some snow totals:

Eau Pleine River 11.5″

Necedah 11.3″

Marathon City 11.0″

Medford 10.0″

Rothschild 9.0″

Warrens 9.0″

Medford 10.0″

Wausau 11.5″

Feel free to add your total!

Be careful and have a good night! Meteorologist Kristen Connolly

Posted under Snow Totals, Weather NEws, Weather Safety, Winter Weather

Since it is on my mind because I just got off a live radio… don’t forget you can always get our weather forecast through your favorite radio stations.  We do an updated forecast for 96.7, 103.3, 106.5, and 107.9!  It is alot of fun doing the live morning hits with 96.7 and 107.9.  They all seem to really enjoy working for the radio stations and always have cleaver ideas. 

Alright so today I just wanted to share a few updates on the arctic blast across the US.  Now it is cold here, but check out compared to normal how cold it is across the entire US! It is pretty interesting that some peoples temp is actually colder then the departure from normal.  We have already broken records across Florida, and the Carolinas which is only the beginning.

Now we know it is going to stay cold for the next week just by looking at the seven day forecast.  But many times we look at the Climate Prediction Centers forecast for weeks or months beyong the general forecast.  Yesterday the CPC came out with their 8 to 14 day outlook which would predict the chance of below or above temps from the 14th through the 21st.  The same area that is seeing the cold spell this week will likely continue to see cold weather until right before Christmas.  We are sitting near the border of below normal to normal.   This being said we shouldn’t be the coldest ones relative to normal for the middle of December. 

On a slightly different but related topic….winter storms!  The NWS office came out with a write up of winter storms and what we are expecting for the 2010-2011 year.  If you look a the article a “winter storm” most consist of one of the following criteria for one or more counties in Wisconsin:

1. Snow accumulations of 6 inches or more,

2. Blizzard conditions for 3 hours or more – visibility below 1/4 mile due to falling and/or blowing snow with frequent wind gusts 35 mph or higher,

3. Ice accumulations of 1/4 inch or more in 12 hours or less due to freezing rain

4. Sleet accumulations of 2 inches or more in 12 hours or less,

5. Snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches with sustained winds or frequent gusts of 25-34 mph and intermittent reductions in visibility to less than 1/2 mile resulting in closed roads, etc.

On average we see 12 winter storms, with 19 being the highest we have seen in a year, 4 the fewest.  When the earliest occurs is all over the board- from October, November or December.

Have a great night! Meteorologist Kristen Connolly

Posted under First Snowfall 2010, Freeze, Records, Weather History, Weather NEws, Winter Weather