If you live in the central Wisconsin area, be sure to pick up a copy of the “Best Of” City Pages this week. Our very own Brian Niznansky won “Favorite Weather Forecaster”. Three cheers! He does a great job for StormTrak9.

We receive a lot of viewer pictures here at the weather center. I like to display them on TV and sometimes we post a few in the weather blog. I just had to post this one because it is such a perfect scene. It was sent in by Pete & Karen in the Pickerel area, and no the picture is not from Pickerel Lake (although it would be interesting to see such a big sailing ship on an inland lake). They were apparently out on Green Bay fishing when the big ship passed by. Now I wish I could see something like that when I am out fishing. It looks like a perfect day with the calm water perfectly reflecting the light blue sky.

From the calm waters of Green Bay to the sky, here is another bit of eye candy for you: cool time lapse videos from the International Space Station. It is so interesting to see the northern lights from space. If you would like to see some images from a bit farther out in the “unseen” galaxy and universe, check out this expert series from Newscientist.

Of course I cover space topics from time-to-time in the blog because it interests me and a few years ago a couple people mentioned that they liked to hear about the latest exploration news. I balance this with the fact that many blog experts suggest that a blog should stick to a few well-defined subjects. Since there are so many other things going on in the world of science, weather, technology, alternative energy, and AGW (all things that interest me and I write about often), I was thinking about dropping the space news. That is, unless we get a handful of comments telling us to keep posting about it. So let your opinion be known – add a comment.

In recent space news, the most interesting development is a political one. NASA’s budget is shrinking and human space exploration is getting the business side of the axe. Before more programs are dropped many of what I would call the “old guard” are lobbying congress to bolster funding. Which again makes me wonder why there is such a fuss about retiring the space shuttle when the X-37B is performing quite nicely in space right now. Meanwhile, NASA keeps reaching out to private space firms for ideas and products – which is a good thing in my view. If the federal government cannot afford to build their own space capsules and rockets then let the private sector get it done. In this recent article we find out how many commercial space businesses ARE getting things done. Someone has to get it done because remaining on this planet is getting dangerous – as explained by Stephen Hawking.

Lastly, here is an fascinating  story about some “living” cells that might have arrived from a distant galaxy. I think the odds are that they came from the earth, but I won’t rule out something extraterrestrial.

Have a fine weekend! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Space, Viewer pictures

Great News! The chances of rain on Saturday have increased. Through much of the week I have been forecasting a 40% chance of rain, then yesterday I bumped it up to 50%, and today I am “shooting for the stars” with a 60% chance of rain. Some computer models indicate a much higher chance but I am not prepared to go above 60%. This Spring, a lot of storms that once looked promising, fizzled out before dumping any significant rain over northcentral Wisconsin. Also, there is still a lot of dry air over the state. This might evaporate a lot of the rain before it gets here. So at this point – only a 60% chance. The chances in the northwoods are less but better than what it appeared yesterday. I am forecasting a 40% chance of rain north of Marathon county on Saturday. If the rain does develop, it could be fairly substantial. South of Marathon county, rain amounts could be over a half inch. In the north, maybe a couple tenths of an inch, better than nothing.

Now, many of you who have outdoor activities planned are probably groaning, and I completely understand. Last Summer I had my entire family (siblings and nephews) over for a weekend at a lake in the northwoods. It was in July when you would think it would be warm, but it wasn’t. The temperature didn’t hit 70 the entire weekend. Not only that. It rained on 2 out of 3 days. I wasn’t happy, but I would rather have a lake full of water, a healthy green countryside, and food on the table, than 1 sunny weekend for my leisure activities. I would make that trade any day. So for any outdoor activities on Saturday, make sure you have raincoats and/or umbrellas in case we do get rain.

Space News:

A couple of follow-ups here. The Air Force’s orbital test vehicle 1 (OTV1) was lifted into space yesterday and will remain in space for 270 days conducting secretive tests. The OTV1 looks and functions like a miniature space shuttle. Given that this “spaceplane” is operational, I am unsure why there is so much grief about retiring the Space Shuttle. The space shuttle fleet is old and rickety. We have something new. Even if it is used for military purposes at first, it will no doubt give us continued access to space.

Secondly, the JAXA spacecraft Hayabusa is likely to arrive back at earth in June and unload a canister potentially containing a sample from an asteroid. You might remember me blogging about this error prone spacecraft a few years ago. The true miracle of the mission is that Hayabusa even made it to the target asteroid, much less getting a sample and returning to earth. The sample collection apparatus did not operate properly so there is no guarantee that there will be an actual sample, but again, it was a world first for a spacecraft to land on an asteroid. Congratulations JAXA.

Have a fine weekend! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Drought, Space

The first thing I want to mention is that this week is Flood Safety Awareness week in the U.S. Seeing that much of the Midwest and the Southeast have a high risk of flooding this Spring, it is a good time to review flood safety tips. Check this NOAA website for in depth safety information. The main thing to remember is “turn around, don’t drown”. Most people in the present day lose their lives in floods because they drive through flooded roadways. If you encounter water over the roadway, find a different safer route. It is better to be late than dead.

I mentioned yesterday that a record high temperature is possible on Thursday. The record on Thursday is 61 and I am now forecasting 62. It might be even more interesting if the high temperature reaches 63. Why? Because the high temperature on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday was 63. The high temperature might reach 63 today and if it does again on Thursday that would be 5 consecutive days with the same high temperature. It would be the first time I have ever seen 5 days in a row with the same high temperature in Wausau. Last September I blogged about the uniqueness of having 4 days in a row with the same high temperature. The high was 79 on the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th. Earlier in 2009 we almost had 5 days in a row as well. In April the high temperature was 52 on the 9th, 10th, and 11th. On the 12th the high temp was 56 and then it went back down to 52 on the 13th so we ended up with 4 out of 5. These consecutive days with the same high temp are very odd because the Midwest is known for how dramatically the weather can change from day to day. AGW theorists have said that the weather will become more extreme in the future. Instead it seems to be more tranquil and unchanging. Of course, knowing Murphy’s Law, those will probably be “famous last words”. Perhaps I have jinxed us and 2010 will end up with some wild weather.

Space News:

Yesterday I was blogging abouthow it is good to challenge conventional wisdom from time-to-time. Even those most obvious things in life could have explanations that were not considered in the past. One traditional theory that most astronomers bitterly cling to as if their life depended on it is the Big Bang Theory. I admit to its plausibility based on the data that was collected during the 20th century, however, I have always left open the possibility of other explanations. Over the course of the last few years, more and more data has come in that puts a few question marks on the big bang theory. The latest is the possibility that super massive supernovas exist- more massive than the expected limit based on our current physical model of stars. If it is confirmed that some supernovas are “super massive” then it will force a re-evaluation of the expansion of the Universe and many things that have been derived from the big bang theory. Another peculiar thing is the strange motion of a large group of galaxies. They are moving in a direction that is not predicted by the current “expansion model” of the universe. It is as if these galaxies are being pulled by something outside of the observable universe, such as a sister universe to our own.

In other space news, it looks like the Air Force will be testing a new “Orbital Test Vehicle” on April 19th. Actually, it isn’t all that new. It was previously named the X-37B. It will launch on top of an Atlas 5 rocket and land by its own (autonomous controls) very similar to the space shuttle (except for the autonomous part). With this “space plane” in existence, it makes me wonder why some people are so concerned about retiring the space shuttles. I don’t see why the government should be building and maintaining 2 separate fleets of “shuttles”. One is expensive enough.

Have a good Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Records, Space

I ought to update the AGW list one of these days. I am procrastinating because it is quite a chore. It is getting so long that it takes a while to cross reference any new headlines with the past ones to make sure there is no duplication. Well… one of these days, but not today.

Also, in case you haven’t checked it out lately, I have been recording a longer weather show for our webchannel. Check it out here: Let me know what you think.

How about a little space news to start out. The Cassini spacecraft is still orbiting Saturn and still returning interesting scientific information. Yesterday it made another dive through the plumes of ice (and water?) emanating from the south pole of Enceladus (a moon of Saturn). Here is a JPL blog post about it and an article from Newscientist. So why did mission planners send Cassini through the geysers once again? They are trying to get closer to see if they can detect any organic molecules. Some scientists think there could be liquid water in the interior and where there is water there is at least a slim chance of life – anyway, the carbon based life we are familiar with. If you polled astrobiologists or any astronomer 10 years ago, Enceladus would be one of the last places anyone would have suggested that life exists outside of earth. Now it is the object of intense study and gives a little hope that there might be liquid water present on other moons and planets as well.

In private space news SpaceX has set a launch date for the debut of its Falcon 9 rocket. It is scheduled to launch on February 2nd of next year- not written in stone though because you know how schedules can change depending on the weather or other launches occurring near that date. SpaceX hopes to get new contracts from NASA to launch payloads including future crew capsules. If you remember, SpaceX had quite a bit of trouble in prior years getting their Falcon1 off the ground. It seems they have worked out the kinks and I am happy to see them moving forward with the Falcon9. If regular folks are ever going to have a chance of exploring space, we will need to see continued success with private space companies.

The Leonid meteor shower coming up this month might be particularly strong on November 17th. The bad news is that Asia will be in night/dark during the expected peak of the meteor shower. Here in North America we will get the tail end of the peak but you might still be able to see some of the falling stars early in the morning if the skies are clear. Sometimes you can see a few meteors the night before or the night after as well – you just have to be a bit more patient.

When you are looking at the sky for meteors, you might also notice the milky way. If the view with your naked eye is not so great then you might want to take a look at the latest detailed panorama view stitched together by Axel Mellinger. You can click on the image and pan and zoom to see millions of stars that were not visible in past panoramic views of the Milky Way, check it out.

Lastly, the future of spaceflight could involve wings. Here are a couple of stories about secretive recent tests of supposed space vehicles. One occurred back on October 15th at Spaceport America in New Mexico and the craft was built by Lockheed Martin. They aren’t saying who or what it is for, but I wonder if it is related to the secret Air Force project, the X-37B. The “military space plane” will supposedly make it first trip to space on April 10th of next year.

Have a good Tuesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Space