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Category Archives: Seasons
Will there be a White Christmas in Madison this year?
In testimony to the infectious appeal of the famous scenes memorialized by Nathaniel Currier and James Ives, prolific lithographers of the middle 19th century, there is an enduring obsession with snow at Christmastime.
A so-called White Christmas is officially observed anytime there is 1 inch of snow on the ground on Christmas morning, whether or not it is snowing at the time. Continue reading
Category: Climate, Meteorology, Seasons
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What does the recent cold and snow say about climate change?
It has been quite a week for discussion of global warming.
November has been remarkably cold this year for most of the eastern United States.
In Madison, as just one example, the monthly temperature through Friday has been 6.2 degrees Fahrenheit below normal for the month and, with the prospect of more cold to come, it appears the month will end well below normal. Continue reading
What is El Niño and does it affect Wisconsin?
El Niño is a combined atmosphere/ocean circulation anomaly in the tropical Pacific Ocean in which unusually warm surface water extends westward from the coast of Peru into the mid-Pacific. One is predicted to develop this winter, which may impact our winter weather.
The warmer than normal waters support persistent tropical thunderstorms in that same region — where such storms are ordinarily rare. Continue reading
Category: Meteorology, Phenomena, Seasons
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Ask the Weather Guys: What causes cold air outbreaks?
Almost no one in the Midwest will be unaffected by the remarkable cold air outbreak that occurred over the past weekend. And if you think that we were paid a rather early visit by such air this year, you are … Continue reading
Category: Meteorology, Seasons
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Is the Earth’s spin axis drifting?
The Earth revolves around an imaginary line that passes through the North and South Poles, known as the spin axis. As it spins the Earth drifts and wobbles. And now scientists have identified three reasons.
The Earth wobbles on its axis once every 27,000 years, similar to a spinning top. This alters the relationship between the solstices and the distance from the Earth to the Sun. For example, 11,000 years ago the Northern Hemisphere summer solstice occurred at perihelion, when the Earth is closest to the Sun. That is almost the exact opposite of the case today, Continue reading