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Monthly Archives: October 2011
What is typical Halloween weather?
We tend to remember those Halloweens with bad weather. Slogging through rain or snow in costumes with trick-or-treat bags is tough. But according to Dr. Ed Hopkins of the Wisconsin State Climatology Office, in the last 30 years (1981-2010), Madison has had only 10 Halloween days when measurable precipitation (0.01 inches or greater) fell, which translates to a probability of 33 percent that rain falls on that date. Halloween 1985 was memorable in Madison for its 1.05 inches of rain. The most precipitation for Oct. 31 was 1.21 inches in 1960. Continue reading
Why was it so windy last week?
The wind is air in motion. Moving anything requires a force. Violent destructive winds, as well as gentle summer breezes, result from a complex interplay of different forces. One of these forces results from a pressure gradient, or how fast pressure changes over distance. Strong winds almost always result from large pressure gradients. Recently, southern Wisconsin has been under the influence of a weather pattern that has strong pressure gradients, and thus strong winds. Continue reading
Category: Phenomena
Tags Meteorology, Phenomena, Wind
Comments Off on Why was it so windy last week?
Tags Meteorology, Phenomena, Wind
Comments Off on Why was it so windy last week?
What is the status of the ozone hole?
The winter atmosphere above Antarctica is very cold. The cold temperatures result in a temperature gradient between the South Pole and the Southern Hemisphere middle latitudes. Continue reading
How common is beautiful, sunny October?
After a fairly dreary end of September, October has dawned with some gorgeous fall weather in our area. In fact, it appears as though we will rack up 11 straight days of not even a trace of precipitation in Madison to begin October 2011. One might wonder how common such a long string of rain-free, sunny days is in a Madison October. A very limited look back into the recent past suggests it is not at all common. Continue reading
