Hi everyone;

We are about to break 40 degrees for the first time since December 1, 2009. That streak will have reached 92 days making it the 3rd longest streak on record. As in my previous posting this only confirms how chilly this winter has been. The unusual stats are not confined to this area either. We all know of the rough winter the East Coast has withstood, and the Deep South has had wetter conditions than normal. It has also experienced a chilly winter season which has led to a slow start to severe weather season. Folks along the Gulf Coast normally get severe weather in January and February, but this year it has been pretty quiet. For the first time since 1947, there have been no reported tornadoes anywhere in the United States. Hopefully that trend will continue for awhile.

I visited the National Climate Data Center to check up on a few facts regarding the last couple of years and found this link to some interesting statistics on 2009: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/?report=national&year=2009&month=13&submitted=Get+Report

Check it out and you can find out other similar products for other years.

Dan Breeden

News 19 Chief Meteorologist

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Hi everyone;

Meteorological Spring is upon us. As far as meteorologists are concerned, March 1st through May 31st is the spring season. Astronomical Spring starts March 20th, the Vernal Equinox, and it ends June 20th, the Summer Solstice. Since the weather seasons are variable, it makes sense that we use whole months instead of the astronomical designations for the season for keeping track of the statistics. It’s just easier that way. Here are the climate normals for the upcoming Spring months.

March: Average High on the 1st…30 degrees

Average Low on the 1st…18 degrees

Average High on the 31st…52 degrees

Average Low on the 31st…31 degrees

Average Precip: 2.00″   Average Snowfall: 7.2″ (4th snowiest month)

April:  Average High on the 1st…52 degrees

Average Low on the 1st…31 degrees

Average High on the 30th…66 degrees

Average Low on the 30th…43 degrees

Average Precip: 3.38″   Average Snowfall: 2.0″

May:   Average High on the 1st…67 degrees

Average Low on the 1st…43 degrees

Average High on the 31st…78 degrees

Average Low on the 31st…54 degrees

Average Precip: 3.38″   Average Snowfall: Trace”

Time will tell how this spring plays out, but you can be sure there will be at least a few more opportunities for snow and significant rainfall. Since the snowpack is pretty deep, the hydrology unit at the La Crosse National Weather Service is giving a slightly higher risk of flooding for area rivers. Now is the time to review your flooding and severe weather safety rules.

Dan Breeden

News 19 Chief Meteorologist

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Hi Folks;

The colder than normal trend we’ve been stuck in has continued for a very long time. Since December our temperatures have averaged below normal.

- December:  Average Temperature: 20.1°   1.7° below normal

- January      Average Temperature: 14.8°     1.1° below normal

- February    Average Temperature: 19.4°     2.7° below normal

In a normal or average winter we will have warm spells and cold snaps. In the winter of 2009-2010, the warm spells haven’t been very impressive nor long-lived. We are now in the midst of the fourth longest streak of sub-40° high temperatures. December 1, 2009 was the last time we were 40° or above. (See graphic below.) That’s pretty amazing to me.

I’m almost rooting for the streak to continue another 2 weeks so we can reach the streak in the winter of 2000-2001. OK, I said almost, but I don’t really mean it. I am anxious, as are most people in the area are, to get some warmth back into the collective counties of the Seven Rivers Region. I’m only guessing that most people are wanting warmer weather because I haven’t actually done a scientific survey of the people around here, but from the comments I get, people want to see green outdoor plants again.

It could be worse. Just look at the weather in the Deep South and up into the East Coast. Major population centers have, time after time, storm after major storm suffered through one of the worst winters on record. As an example, snowfall has topped 80 inches for this season in Baltimore, Maryland. That’s about twice the average snowfall(42 inches) that we experience here, and there is still part of February and March to get through. El Nino conditions in the equatorial pacific have generated a strong subtropical jet stream over the southern United States that has played the major role in spinning up and guiding these major storms to the affected areas. There is no sign that that pattern will break soon. Another winter storm is expected to affect part of the East Coast by Wednesday of next week.

Unfortunately, El Nino has not given us the warmer weather it usually produces here in the Upper Midwest. The local National Weather Service forecasters pointed out before December that abnormally cool ocean waters in the North Pacific near Alaska could make the winter colder than expected. That certainly has panned out in this case. In turn the colder weather has contributed to a snowier than normal season, so far. As of February 25, we have had 39.8″, about 5.1″ above average to this date. Again, more winter weather is likely, so we shall see. As an aside, last year we had 54.5″ by this time.

To summarize:

Yes, it has been a cold winter, but we have not had the worst weather in the country. Of course, the complete story has not been written yet and there will be more opportunities for winter conditions before the grass grows and the trees sprout leaves.

Dan Breeden

News 19 Chief Meteorologist Dan Breeden

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Hi Everyone;

News 19 Weather Academy makes it’s first appearance of 2010 Thursday at Black River Falls Elementary School. Our program includes an afternoon one hour weather presentation entitled “Be Safe Not Scared” for the elementary school students and their teachers, plus we hold a two hour open house in the gym at Black River Falls 3rd Street Elementary School.

Everyone is invited to attend the open house, which will include live weather remotes on News 19 Live at Five and our 6 PM Report. We will also feature experiments from the afternoon presentation, various informational stations, a weather quiz, and even a weather set for kids. They can see what it’s like to be an on-air weather person.

You can also check out www.wxow.com and see all the on-line weather tools available for you to keep track of the forecast and breaking weather alerts. We will have folks there who can answer any questions you may have.

Once again, everyone is welcome to attend the open house at Black River Falls Elementary School on Third Street.

News 19 Chief Meteorologist Dan Breeden

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Hello Everyone;

The weather patterns have shifted favorably for those of us who like warmer weather. The earlier forecasts for the winter haven’t exactly panned out to this point in the cold season, but perhaps this is the beginning of the warm trend we expected. Only time will tell, but for now the jet stream has shifted to the north. The current trends are favoring at least a 7 day period of above normal readings with highs generally in the 30s and lows in the upper teens to lower 20s.

Here’s a look at the general pattern that lead to the very cold weather we’ve had: It features a trough over the central and eastern United States and a ridge over the western United States.  Upper level troughs coincide with cold air and ridges with warmer weather.

Cold Weather Pattern

Here’s a look at a milder weather pattern for the Upper Midwest: It features more ridging over the central and eastern United States and generally a stormier western United States.

Mild Weather Pattern

Happy January Thaw everyone!

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As not only the start of a new year, but a new decade, approaches many will think back on the past year and come up with all kinds of lists. In doing so, I thought of all the weather events that I remember talking about or watching throughout the year. I’ve made my list of the top 9 Most Memorable Weather Events from 2009. This is not what anyone else has officially documented, just my personal reflection on the year. Browse through and I’m sure you’ll find some you remember, too.

9. August 14 MCV – A MCV (Mesoscale Convective Vortex) is a small rotating (or vortex like) complex of thunderstorms usually known for bringing heavy rains and looks like a “mini-hurricane” on radar. This storm did not directly affect La Crosse or most of the News 19 area, so I didn’t think it deserved top recognition, but it was a memorable event to see on radar. Northern parts of Buffalo, Trempealeau, and Jackson counties did see some rain from this storm, but the central part of the state got hit the hardest. Wausau, WI got almost 2” of rain in just a couple hours from this storm along with localized flooding throughout the streets of the city.

8. April 24 Warmth and Thunderstorms - For anyone who loves the heat, there’s nothing like that first 90 degree day of the year. In 2009, La Crosse’s first 90 occurred on April 24^th when the high was right at 90 degrees – setting a record for the day. The warm weather didn’t last for long. A passing cold front brought on our first round of thunderstorms for the season and the next day the high was only 52. It was sure wet after that… La Crosse received 0.56” of rain on the 24^th, 0.82” on the 25th, and 0.91” on the 26^th.

7. July 24 Thunderstorms – The News 19 viewing area did not get a lot of severe weather during summer 2009, but strong thunderstorms did spark up around us throughout the summer. One of those days was on July 24 when thunderstorms produced large hail (up to softball size in a few locations) and wind gusts up to 78 mph in parts of northeast Iowa and southeast Minnesota. La Crosse never saw any of the severe activity… but we did have some daytime thunder and lightning and finished the day with 0.38” of rain.

6. Dry and Foggy September - Some of the calmest weather of the summer came in September. La Crosse went 22 days without any rain, the 2^nd longest stretch on record. Due to the cloudless skies and light winds overnight almost every morning during this stretch featured fog in the river valleys.

5. Christmas Winter Storm - When looking at the big picture of this storm, La Crosse didn’t have it too bad. We barely received 3” of snow, followed by freezing rain and eventually rain. But the timing of this storm is what made it such a big headline. There’s nothing like a blizzard on Christmas, and although we never saw anything close to a blizzard in the Coulee Region, many locations across western Minnesota and eastern North and South Dakota did. Since Christmas is one of the busiest travel times of the year, so many were affected by this storm no matter which direction Grandma’s house was in.

4. January 13-16 Cold – This event was almost a year ago now, but I still remember the bitterly cold air that settled over the region mid-January of 2009. January 15^th and 16^th both saw lows at -25, and we didn’t make it above zero for over 24 hours. Wind chill values during this time were also very cold with wind chills in Wisconsin bottoming out at -30 to -45.

3. Cold October – After a quiet September, October came back in full force. It was the 4^th coldest October on record in La Crosse, and the cold wasn’t all the month brought. It was wet, wet, wet! We received over 5.5” of precipitation with almost half an inch of snow on October 12^th. Coincidently, November warmed up and was the 4^th warmest November on record.

2. Cold July – La Crosse finished the month of July as the 3^rd coldest on record with every day being at or below average. Wisconsin wasn’t the only state affect by this cold spell. Almost the entire Upper Midwest had one of their coldest July’s ever. The reason a cold July beat out a cold October in my mind… it was July. A summer without being able to go to the pool or beach is no summer at all.

1. December 8-9 Winter Storm – I’m sure this storm is still ringing fresh in everyone’s mind. When a winter storm causes not only public schools, but colleges and universities across the state to be closed, it’s a day no one will be forgetting anytime soon. Topping off with over 17” of snow in the La Crosse area, this was the 6^th highest snowfall in La Crosse history. With that said, it’s hard for this December snow-maker not to make my 2009 #1 most memorable weather event.

Have a Happy New Year! I’m looking forward to see what kind of weather 2010 will bring!

Meteorologist Kira Lynne

klynne@wxow.com

Posted under Science, Weather

Hi Everyone;

As you might have suspected, the statistics on our 12th month have been extreme in at least one category-snowfall. 23.7″ has fallen at the official reporting site; the La Crosse Airport. That makes it the 7th snowiest on record so far. If the current forecast for up to 3″ on Wednesday and into Wednesday night works out we could climb to 4th, perhaps even 3rd on the list. Most of the snow fell on the 8th and 9th days of the month, but the month as a whole is still impressive.

A look at the climate results for snowfall since such records were kept also reveals another amazing fact. 4 of  top 10 snowiest Decembers on record are from this decade. 2008 is number 1; 2000 is tied for number 4; 2007 is number 6; and 2009 is number 7 on the list.

I don’t have an opinion on why this might be the case, but it would be an interesting research subject. The natural question would be: Is this related to climate change? or some other climate factor? That’s a question for another time. In the meantime, anyone for a trip to the local ski resort?

News 19 Chief Meteorologist Dan Breeden

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With a foot or more of snow falling across the region, followed by wind and very cold air, winter arrived in full force beginning Tuesday, December 8th.  Winter Storm and Blizzard Warnings were posted through Wednesday afternoon for much of the area.

The official total for La Crosse will go down  in the record books as 17.0 inches.  9.0″ fell Tuesday before midnight, while the other 8.0″ fell Wednesday.  Both of which were daily snowfall records.

This storm will also go down as the 4th Top Snow Storm on record for La Crosse, narrowly plowing past the storm of January 3-4, 1971 which received 16.8″.

The top 3 snow storms on record for La Crosse are:

1. March 5-6, 1959 - 18.5″

2. December 6-7, 1927 - 18.3″

3. January 25-26, 1996 - 17.8″

For a recap of the storm and all snow totals check out the National Weather Service summary by clicking here.

Stay warm the next few days and bundle up!

Meteorologist Kira Lynne

klynne@wxow.com

Posted under Science, Weather

Hi Everyone;

No question about it; We have had an unusual year, full of streaks of all kinds. Just over the last couple of months strange stretches of weather have occurred. September was memorable in all the dry days we had. Then October turns around and reverses the trend. Wet and chilly weather took over until the last week or so when above normal temperatures took over. Here we sit with warm weather for the first three weeks of November, but changes are expected to arrive with Wednesday and Thanksgiving Day itself. Rain showers should arrive and mix with or even change over to snow Wednesday PM through Wednesday night. An inch or so of snow is possible so it isn’t the kind of snowstorm that will stall holiday travelers. The big story will be the drop in temperatures as highs in the upper 30s to near 40 degrees take over. Thanksgiving Day will be partly cloudy and chilly, but dry. “Black Friday” will be sunny and just a bit warmer.

News 19 Chief Meteorologist Dan Breeden

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Hi Everyone;

This is a followup to my last post regarding the upcoming winter weather forecast. The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center is charged with running computer simulations of medium and long-range weather patterns, and disseminating the results and interpretations of those predictions. There new winter outlook has just been issued with, perhaps, a big surprise for this area. Let me explain: First, there are many complicated factors that determine the weather patterns that develop for extended seasonal time-frames.

1. The tilt of the earth’s axis: It is simple enough to understand. During the winter the earth tilts away from the sun and the lower sun angle combined with shorter daytime hours mean that the hemisphere cools down.

2. The polar ice caps expand during the winter: That sends even more of the weak solar radiation back into space. The distribution of the ice influences the weather patterns that develop.

3. The distribution of land versus water in the hemisphere: That factor doesn’t change from year to year.

4. Sea surface temperatures in the various oceans, especially in the equatorial Pacific: In a semicyclical manner the distribution of the SST’s will change and that will lead to more or less convection(thunderstorms) which leads to different positions of the jet stream. Those changes will mean different patterns, especially in the winter, and not only in the Pacific. The patterns shift around the entire globe.

There are other various less important factors that also play a part in determining the severity of our winter weather, but the biggest key to understanding our upcoming winter season is the presence of an El Nino, the abnormal warming of SST’s in the Eastern and Central Pacific Ocean. Those waters have warmed and are expected to warm even more. On that basis, expect warmer than normal temperatures in this area, but the forecast is not so definite on the chances of more or less precipitation than normal.

Here are the outlooks from the NWS Climate Prediction Center:

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