Bart_Adrian's Blog

Let's hope the forecast for clear skies tomorrow night (Wednesday, February 20th) holds true!That would allow us to see the last total lunar eclipse for nearly three years. The Earth’s shadow will begin to overtake the moon, creating a partial eclipse, at about 7:45 p.m., then upgrade to total eclipse at about 9 p.m., an effect which will cause the moon to glow a copper-red color. The planet Saturn will be visible just to the left and below the moon in the eastern sky. Here's a summary of the event timing:    

          Partial Eclipse starts:       7:43 p.m. 
          Total Eclipse starts:          9:00 p.m. 
       Total Eclipse ends:           9:51 p.m. 
         Partial Eclipse ends:        11:09 p.m.

Top 5 Snowiest Decembers

...SNOW CONTINUES TO PILE UP...

SO FAR...DECEMBER 2007 IN MILWAUKEE IS THE SECOND SNOWIEST ON RECORD
WITH 30.2 INCHES. THE SNOWIEST DECEMBER ON RECORD WAS IN 2000 WHEN
49.5 INCHES PILED UP. THE NORMAL DECEMBER SNOWFALL TOTAL IS 11.7
INCHES.

HERE IS A LISTING OF THE TOP 10 SNOWIEST DECEMBERS IN MILWAUKEE...

RANK YEAR AMOUNT /INCHES/

1 2000 49.5
2 2007 30.2
3 1978 27.9
4 1951 26.5
5 1887 24.9
6 1885 23.3
7 1950 22.6
8 1909 21.3
9 1977..1904 20.8
10 1987 19.9

THE TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THIS DECEMBER IN MADISON IS 32.8 INCHES SO
FAR. THAT MAKES DECEMBER 2007 TIED WITH DECEMBER 1987 FOR SECOND
SNOWIEST. THE SNOWIEST DECEMBER WAS IN 2000 WHEN 35.0 INCHES PILED
UP. THE NORMAL DECEMBER SNOWFALL TOTAL IS 12.6 INCHES.

HERE IS A LISTING OF THE TOP 9 SNOWIEST DECEMBERS IN MADISON...

RANK YEAR AMOUNT /INCHES/

1 2000 35.0
2 2007...1987 32.8
3 1977 24.6
4 1985 24.0
5 1887 23.9
6 1909 23.1
7 1990..1978 23.0
8 1983 22.6
9 1950 21.2

If you're down about our Saturday snowstorm, here's one from the "It could be worse" department...

On December 15, 1987, the entire Milwaukee metro area was practicaly shut down by a huge blizzard. The snow began around 1am and became heaviest from 6am to 10am. During that time period there were bursts of snow at 2 to 3 inches per hour with thundersnow. Winds gusted to 66 mph here at our studio. When all was said and done, the official total at Mitchell was 13.1 inches. Vince Condella and I were up practically all night for that one, and we still talk about it today!

Here are some snowfall totals from today's storm:

Milwaukee (Mitchell International)    3.0 inches

Madison (Dane County Regional)    5.1 inches

Sullivan (Jefferson County--National Weather Service Office)   5.0 inches

Brown Deer (FOX 6 Weather Deck)    4.2 inches

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
303 PM CST WED DEC 05 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0300 PM     HEAVY SNOW       MILWAUKEE INTL ARPT(KMK 42.96N 87.90W
12/05/2007  M7.8 INCH        MILWAUKEE          WI   OFFICIAL NWS OBS

            4.2 INCHES OF SNOW ON TUESDAY AND 3.6 INCHES OF SNOW
            TODAY. STORM TOTAL 7.8 INCHES.

0300 PM     HEAVY SNOW       MADISON TRUAX AIRPORT   43.14N 89.33W
12/05/2007  M6.8 INCH        DANE               WI   OFFICIAL NWS OBS

            5.6 INCHES OF SNOW FELL TUESDAY AND 1.2 INCHES TODAY.
            STORM TOTAL 6.8 INCHES.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
814 AM CST WED DEC 05 2007

THE TOTALS BELOW ARE SEPARATED INTO SNOW...AND ICE AND SLEET
CATEGORIES...THEN BY AMOUNT...AND ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE FINAL
AMOUNT FOR EACH LOCATION.

SNOW REPORTS LISTED BY AMOUNT

INCHES  LOCATION                 ST  COUNTY           TIME
------  -----------------------  --  --------------   -------
  9.00   MOUNT HOREB              WI  DANE             0730 AM
  6.00   UNION GROVE              WI  RACINE           0753 AM
  6.00   FORT ATKINSON            WI  JEFFERSON        0752 AM
  6.00   SUN PRAIRIE              WI  DANE             0752 AM
  6.00   WEST ALLIS               WI  MILWAUKEE        0751 AM
  6.00   LODI                     WI  COLUMBIA         0741 AM
  6.00   POYNETTE                 WI  COLUMBIA         0726 AM
  6.00   10 NW MILWAUKEE          WI  MILWAUKEE        0718 AM
  6.00   REEDSBURG                WI  SAUK             0718 AM
  6.00   WATERFORD                WI  RACINE           0718 AM
  6.00   BURLINGTON               WI  RACINE           0718 AM
  5.70   MIDDLETON                WI  DANE             0718 AM
  5.60   CEDARBURG                WI  OZAUKEE          0718 AM
  5.50   MONROE                   WI  GREEN            0734 AM
  5.50   LAKE MILLS               WI  JEFFERSON        0725 AM
  5.50   ARGYLE                   WI  LAFAYETTE        0718 AM
  5.00   1 NE GLENDALE            WI  MILWAUKEE        0730 AM
  5.00   AFTON                    WI  ROCK             0718 AM
  5.00   4 NW MUKWONAGO           WI  WAUKESHA         0718 AM
  5.00   PADDOCK LAKE             WI  KENOSHA          0718 AM
  4.90   WATERLOO                 WI  JEFFERSON        0752 AM
  4.80   HALES CORNERS            WI  MILWAUKEE        0746 AM
  4.60   BRODHEAD                 WI  GREEN            0722 AM
  4.50   MARKESAN                 WI  GREEN LAKE       0718 AM
  4.50   JACKSON                  WI  WASHINGTON       0718 AM
  4.50   WATERTOWN                WI  JEFFERSON        0718 AM
  4.30   COLGATE                  WI  WAUKESHA         0718 AM
  4.20   1 S SHEBOYGAN            WI  SHEBOYGAN        0718 AM
  4.00   WAUKESHA                 WI  WAUKESHA         0718 AM
  3.40   KEWASKUM                 WI  WASHINGTON       0739 AM
  3.00   DODGEVILLE               WI  IOWA             0722 AM
  3.00   ALLENTON                 WI  WASHINGTON       0718 AM
  2.00   2 S SHEBOYGAN            WI  SHEBOYGAN        0718 AM
  1.80   TAYCHEEDAH               WI  FOND DU LAC      0718 AM
  1.00   HOWARDS GROVE            WI  SHEBOYGAN        0718 AM

You’ve been hearing a lot in the past couple of weeks about the Santa Ana winds driving the wildfires in southern California. The wind coming down the mountain slopes is very warm and dry, because the air is heated by compression as it descends. The rate of heating is 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit per 1,000 feet of descent. In other words, air that is at 60 degrees at the top of a 5,000 foot slope will warm to 87.5 degrees when it descends to the bottom. This warm, dry downslope wind occurs in other parts of the world, but goes by different names. For example, on the east side of the Rocky Mountains it is referred to as the chinook wind. In the European Alps, it is called the foehn wind. And in Argentina, the same wind goes by the name zonda.

Here's a link to some amazing images of the southern California wildfires from NASA's polar orbiting satellites...

http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2007296
-1023/California.A2007296.1825.1km.jpg

     During August 2007, the National Weather Service unofficial observer in Viroqua, Wisconsin (Vernon County) recorded 21.74 inches of rainfall! This exceeded not only the August monthly rainfall record (16.61 inches in Phelps in August 1966) for Wisconsin, but also the wettest month ever recorded in Wisconsin (18.33 inches in Port Washington in June 1996).
     A member of the State Climate Extremes Committee visited the Viroqua site recently.  He was satisfied with the location of the rain gage, that proper measuring techniques were followed, and that the data looked feasible.  The committee is in agreement that the Viroqua value of 21.74 inches should be accepted as a preliminary record monthly rainfall for any month and for August in the state of Wisconsin. Wow!

Fall begins with the Autumnal Equinox tomorrow morning at 4:51am, and here are few benchmarks to note on the calendar...

Daylight Saving Time Ends....2:00am Sunday, November 4th

*Due to changes in the law, this is a week later than we've been accustomed to changing the clocks back!

 

Average First Freeze...October 20th

*We typically regard this as the official end of the growing season.

 

Average First Snowflakes...October 28th

*We typically start to worry about shovelling at this point. (No, I'm just kidding!)

 

A viewer recently asked why it seems we don't always hear about named tropical storms in alphabetical order. Last month, for example, residents of the continental U.S. heard much more about Tropical Storm Erin before they ever heard about Hurricane Dean.

The explanation is that tropical storms are named alphabetically as they develop. Dean developed into a named storm off the west coast of Africa on the morning of Tuesday, August 14th. Erin became a named storm nearly 24 hours later. Because Erin developed in the Gulf of Mexico and grew into an immediate threat to Texas, it received instant publicity in the continental U.S. Dean didn't receive much attention in the news until a few days later, when it began to threaten the eastern Caribbean.

Smoke from forest fires in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming could turnour blue skies milky white this week. Check out this link for more, including a satellite image:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crnews/display_story.php?wf
o=mkx&storyid=9628&source=0

The phrase "Dog Days" loosely refers to the hottest days of summer. According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the traditional Dog Days are the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11. This time period coincides with the rising of Sirius (the Dog Star) at sunrise each morning. The rising of Sirius does not actually have anything to do with the weather. (As you know, we can have some very hot and humid days before July 3rd and after August 11.) The ancient Egyptians believed that Sirius appeared just before the flodd season of the Nile River, so they considered the star to be a "watchdog" for that event. Since the rising of Sirius also coincided with a time of extreme heat, the connection with hot, sultry weather was made for all time.

The annual Perseid Meteor Shower will reach its zenith this weekend, creating a meteor-a-minute spectacle in our northeastern night skies from about 10 p.m. Saturday, August 11 to daybreak on Monday, August 13. 

This year’s show could be exceptionally brilliant due to the current “new moon” phase, which means there will be no moonlight to spoil viewing.

Bob Bonadurer, Director of the Daniel M. Soref Planetarium, says the meteors will be easy to spot, even without the aid of a telescope. “Sky watchers can expect about one meteor every minute or two during peak times. All you have to do is get away from city lights, lay down and look up," he says.  

The Perseid meteors, sometimes called “shooting stars,” are actually dust grains in an ancient belt of comet debris that the Earth crosses in its annual trek around the sun. These particles hurtle into the Earth’s atmosphere at upwards of 132,000 m.p.h., heating to more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, causing them to glow incandescently for a second or two before they vaporize.

"Spotting shooting stars is great fun, but a little frustrating,” Bonadurer says. “A friend or family member will go, 'look, there's one' and you'll go ‘What? Where?’ Meteors happen in a split second."

While the Perseids are already starting to ramp up in number, Bonadurer says the optimum time for viewing will be Monday, August 13 between 4 and 5 a.m. After this point the frequency of meteors will wane until about August 22, when an observer might see a Perseid once in an hour.

A couple of days ago (Thursday) the temperature topped out at 91 degrees with dewpoints between 65 and 70. That’s the uncomfortably humid range for most of us, but it can be much worse. A viewer recently asked about the highest dewpoints ever recorded in Milwaukee, so here they are:

 82     July 30, 1999; July 4, 1977

 81       August 6, 1968

 80       August 14, 1995;  July 13, 1995; July 14, 1995; September 7, 1985

 Bear in mind that dewpoint records have only been kept since the 1960’s, so it is possible that some folks will recall days that flirted with the above records. Needless to say, days with dewpoints in the 80-degree range are memorably uncomfortable!

   Contrary to popular belief, the Milwaukee weather-phone recording (414-936-1212) was not provided by the National Weather Service. Historically, the service was always provided by your local phone company...by Wisconsin Bell followed by Ameritech followed by SBC followed by AT&T...The local phone company would hire out private consulting meteorologists to actually make the recordings and provide the weather information. The meteorologost who made the recording each hour would usually name the company at the end of the recording, so you might be familiar over the years with Weather Central (out of Madison, WI), Murray & Trettel (out of Chicago), and WeatherCommand (also out of Chicago).
   Now here's the bottom line...A few weeks ago AT&T decided that the volume of callers to the weather-phone had shrunk to the point that it was no longer reasonable for them to provide the service. Thus the Milwaukee weather-phone has been disconnected. Can it be resurrected? I suppose if AT&T heard from enough customers requesting it. Clearly the demise of the weather-phone is a sign of the times. More than ever people are accessing weather information from other sources. Are you a user of the weather-phone?