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Category Archives: History
What were the weather highlights of 2023?
As we begin a new year, let’s look back on the weather of 2023. The most recent, and odd, weather event of the year was the warm temperature on Christmas Day, with a high of 54 degrees in Madison. That was only the seventh time since 1869 that the maximum temperature exceeded 50 degrees on Christmas.
The state received less than one-third of its usual precipitation in November. The statewide average temperature for the meteorological autumn (September, October and November) was 2.5 degrees above normal, which made it the eighth-warmest autumn on record. In October, the 4.14 inches of statewide average precipitation was 1.13 inches above the 1991-2020 normal. This helped to alleviate our drought conditions. Continue reading
What is the probability of a white Christmas in Madison?
Believe it or not, the National Weather Service has criteria for declaring a Christmas white: If there is at least 1 inch of snow on the ground at 6 a.m. on Christmas Day, the year has registered a white Christmas.
As might be expected, the probability of this condition being met varies widely across the state of Wisconsin. In the far north, the probability exceeds 90% and approaches a certainty in some locations, while in the south the historic probability runs at about 40%, which might strike Madisonians as unexpectedly low. Continue reading
What is the National Climate Assessment?
The U.S. National Climate Assessment is mandated by the Global Change Research Act of 1990. The assessment is conducted about every four years and is an authoritative scientific analysis of climate change risks, impacts and responses in the U.S.
The nation this month completed the Fifth National Climate Assessment, or NCA5. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is the administrative agency for NCA5 and certifies that the report meets Information Quality Act and Evidence Act standards. The assessment is an extensive process that includes internal and external review from federal agencies, the general public and external peer review by a panel of experts. Continue reading
Category: Climate, History, Seasons, Severe Weather
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What is the status of sea ice this year?
The surface waters of our polar oceans freeze seasonally, forming a layer of sea ice that varies in thickness from centimeters to meters. The era of polar orbiting satellites has enabled the monitoring of sea ice distribution for more than four decades.
Seasons are reversed between the Northern and Southern hemispheres, so the sea ice maximum and minimum occur at different times of the year. Generally speaking, around mid-September the extent of the sea ice at the south pole is reaching a maximum, while in the Arctic it is approaching a minimum in September as our Northern Hemisphere summer comes to an end. Continue reading
Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences turns 75
On Friday, the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison celebrated its 75th anniversary.
When the department was founded in June 1948, the modern science of meteorology was arguably just a few years old, and even basic understanding of the nature of the mid-latitude cyclones that batter us from October to May was truly in its infant stages. Continue reading
