Monthly Archives: April 2017

Why is the grass wet in the morning, when it didn’t rain?

Recent spring mornings have produced wet lawns. To explain this, we start with the fact that air contains water in the gas phase, called water vapor. Dew is made of liquid water that has condensed from some of the water vapor in the air.

Dew occurs when objects cool. A common example of dew formation is when drops of liquid form on the glass of an ice-cold drink. Dew forms when the object, such as the glass, cools down to the dew point temperature. Continue reading

Category: Meteorology, Phenomena

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What are the plant hardy zones and how do they relate to climate?

If you are involved with gardening, you probably are aware of the hardy zones listed on seed packets.

Southern Wisconsin is largely in zones 5a and 4b, while northern Wisconsin lies in zones 3a to 4a. Continue reading

Category: Climate, Meteorology, Seasons

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When does tornado season start?

Wisconsin has had tornadoes in every month of the year except February.

We can have tornadoes almost anytime, although the chances of having one in winter are pretty small. Continue reading

Category: Meteorology, Seasons, Severe Weather

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Do Major League games get canceled due to snow?

In this country, Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season is more likely to be considered the start of spring than the vernal equinox that precedes it by two weeks each year.

However, as committed baseball fans surely know, the start of the season does not mandate the start of the warm season. In fact, though no definitive record of the total number of Major League games postponed by snow exists, quite a number of opening weeks have experienced widespread disruption as a result of early season snow. Most recently, opening weeks in 2007 and 2013 were plagued by numerous cancellations across both leagues. Continue reading

Category: Seasons, Severe Weather

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