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Category Archives: Seasons
Does Memorial Day or Labor Day have better weather?
A Memorial Day traditionally marks the beginning of the summer while Labor Day marks the end. People are bound to have their own recollections and opinions about which weekend more reliably delivers agreeable weather here in southern Wisconsin and those opinions can be colored by many non-meteorological influences.
If forced to opine on this question while sticking to strictly meteorological factors, we would suggest that Labor Day weekend’s weather is more reliably summerlike. The reason for this comes directly from the fact that Memorial Day comes as winter is ending and Labor Day as winter approaches. Continue reading
Why are there April showers?
As we head into the second half of April, recent weather has reminded us all of the old saying, “April showers bring May flowers.” The question, of course, is why does April bring the showers? First of all, is it … Continue reading
What is permafrost?
Permafrost is ground that is frozen for at least two years. It remains frozen all year and contains plant material that has not yet completely decomposed.
Permafrost is mostly located in polar regions, though it also occurs in some high mountain tops where it is called alpine permafrost. There is no permafrost in Madison, though our ground does freeze in most winters. Continue reading
Is water always present in the atmosphere?
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 winter and enter spring, we may begin to see more dew on the ground and on the windshields of cars in the morning. The air nearly always holds some amount of water vapor. Dew is liquid water that condenses overnight onto objects when the air that contains the water vapor cools to a sufficiently low temperature. Continue reading
When does spring begin?
Spring marks the transition from winter to summer. Meteorologists often define the three months of spring as March through May. By that definition, spring would begin on March 1.
We might also define spring as the day on which, if there is precipitation, it is more likely to be in the form of rain than snow. Continue reading
