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Category Archives: Climate
Where does water exist?
Evidence of the presence of water in our atmosphere is ubiquitous.
Water occurs in the Earth’s atmosphere in all three of its phases — solid (snow and ice), liquid (rain and dew) and gas (invisible water vapor). As we begin to emerge from the recent cool spell and really enter spring/summer, we may begin to see more dew on the ground and on the windshields of cars in the morning. Continue reading
Why do we have a new normal in weather?
The National Ocean and Atmosphere Administration’s National Climatic Data Center (or NCDC) calculates the average weather conditions over a 30-year period for more than 7,500 locations in the United States.
A reliable estimate of an average requires at least 30 years. These 30-year averages are referred to as the U.S. Climate Normal. They provide a baseline that allows everyone to compare a location’s current weather to the average weather that location would expect to see — whether a particular day’s temperature is cooler or warmer than normal, or if a particular month is wetter than normal. Continue reading
Has March been a bit unusual so far?
It has been a fairly benign first two weeks of March for those of us in southern Wisconsin.
Through the first 11 days of the month, we have averaged 6.2 degrees above normal. In fact, in the nearly three weeks since Feb. 22 — when we had this season’s maximum snow depth of 16 inches in Madison — we have averaged the same 6.2 degrees above normal. Continue reading
What is special about March weather?
March 1 marks the beginning of spring and kicks off an active and variable weather season. Flooding, temperature swings, tornados and snowstorms are all common springtime weather events.
A flood occurs when water flows into a region faster than it can be absorbed into the soil, stored in a lake or reservoir, or removed in runoff or a waterway into a drainage basin. In early spring, the ground can still be frozen and so cannot absorb the precipitation. Rain and melting snow will instead flow into rivers causing springtime flooding. Continue reading
How severe was the Northern Hemisphere winter this year?
Today is March 1 so the meteorological winter (December-January-February) is over.
The areal extent of air colder than minus 23 degrees at about 1 mile above the ground throughout December through February is one way of comparing the severity of the Northern Hemisphere winter from one year to the next. Continue reading
Category: Climate, Meteorology, Seasons
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