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Is this hot start to summer unusual?
Beginning on Saturday, Madison has experienced two straight days in May at or above 90 degrees for the first time since 1991 and for only the third time in nearly the last half-century (the others were in 1975 and 1978).
What’s more, the forecast is for temperatures to soar into the mid-90s again today and Tuesday which, if it happens, would be the first time since at least 1971 (and perhaps in its history) that Madison has had four consecutive May days at or above 90. Continue reading
Will the recent volcanic eruptions in Hawaii lead to a change in global weather patterns?
While the recent Hawaiian eruptions are impacting the weather and air quality of the immediate area, they are not likely to have a global impact nor to affect Wisconsin’s weather.
The reason is that the ash cloud debris, while reaching 30,000 feet, has remained in the troposphere, the layer where local weather occurs. To have a global impact, the volcano must eject debris into the stratosphere. There it can last for a couple of years and spread over the entire globe. By the ash reaching only into the troposphere, it can stay airborne for no more than a week due to precipitation processes, wind and gravity. Continue reading
Category: Meteorology, Phenomena
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What was the ring around the sun last week?
Last week there was a ring around the sun for much of the day. This ring is called a halo and is caused by ice crystals interacting with sunlight.
A halo is a whitish ring that encircles but does not touch the sun. It can also have some color; the most discernible is a faint red tint around the inside of the halo. It is an optical phenomenon that owes its existence to the bending of light by ice crystals, much like the “rainbow crystals” you may hang in your sunlit windows. Continue reading
Has the cold weather this month caused any positive effects?
As a very unusual month of April comes to a close, it may be of interest to note some of its ramifications across the country, both good and bad.
Among the headaches that have resulted from the unrelenting wintry nature of the month was the cancellation of 28 Major League Baseball games through the late part of the month — an all-time record.
To put this number in perspective, 2016 suffered only 25 cancellations through the entire season! Continue reading
Category: Meteorology, Seasons, Severe Weather
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Has this April set any records?
A fitting climax to a remarkable first two-thirds of April occurred last Wednesday as we received 7.2 inches of snow in Madison, more than doubling the previous daily record for snowfall (3.4 inches in 1912) on April 18.
There have only been two years with heavier snow events later than Wednesday’s. The most was 7.8 inches on April 30, 1994, and the second was a 7.3-inch event on April 23, 1910. Continue reading
