July 2025 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Archives
Categories
WeatherGuys Links
Category Archives: Meteorology
Is the California drought over?
Drought in the United States has been assessed by a number of different measures over the last several decades. One of the older such measures is the Palmer Drought Index introduced in 1965. The Palmer Index is based on a … Continue reading
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
Comments Off on Why is the grass wet in the morning, when it didn’t rain?
Comments Off on Why is the grass wet in the morning, when it didn’t rain?
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
Comments Off on What are the plant hardy zones and how do they relate to climate?
Comments Off on What are the plant hardy zones and how do they relate to climate?
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
Is there a “State Tournament Snowstorm” legacy?
A persistent anecdotal piece of weather lore around Madison is that the WIAA’s boys state basketball tournament is always accompanied by a snowstorm.
With the help of Edward Hopkins at the State Climatologist’s Office, we looked into this perception with cold, hard data. Continue reading