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Category Archives: Climate
Is our growing season getting longer?
Yes. There are several studies that demonstrate shifts in the timing and length of the growing season.
One way to measure the length of the growing season is to count the number of days between the last frost in spring and the first frost in fall. By this measure, Wisconsin’s growing season lengthened by about 12 days between 1950 and 2006. Continue reading
When can it get really hot in southern Wisconsin?
Our cold early April seems to have finally given way to a surging spring. Now that we have seemingly emerged from winter, with reasonable confidence that we will not go back, it is interesting to consider when truly summerlike weather might first appear in southern Wisconsin.
One measure of summer here is a daytime high temperature at or above 90 degrees. In Madison, there have been only three April days when the high temperature was that warm. Continue reading
Category: Climate, Meteorology, Seasons
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Did we have a normal winter this year?
As far as our winter time mean temperature, southern Wisconsin was above normal by about 5 degrees.
Being warmer than normal is typical during an El Nino year, and that is what we experienced this winter. Continue reading
What is Groundhog Day and do the forecasts work?
Long before computers, the Weather Channel and the Internet, humans needed weather forecasts. Farmers and sailors particularly needed to know if storms were approaching.
Over time, various folklore forecasts, often in the form of short rhymes, were devised and passed down through the generations. Although memorable, the folklore forecasts are of uneven quality—some good, others bad. Continue reading
Category: Climate, Meteorology, Seasons
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What is a 100-year flood?
A flood occurs when water flows into a region faster than it can be stored in a lake or reservoir, absorbed into the soil, or removed by runoff into a drainage basin.
There are several conditions that can result in flooding: a long-lasting rainfall over a watershed, intense thunderstorms, or rainfall that causes rapid snow melt. Continue reading
