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Category Archives: Seasons
When is the last frost?
The growing season is often defined as the number of days between the last time the temperature was 32 degrees in spring and the first time the temperature falls to 32 in fall.
The latest frost in spring is important to gardeners as they seek to plant after a long winter, and for most plants it is wise to do so when the temperatures are likely to remain warmer than 32 degrees.
Continue reading
Are the jet stream and tornadoes related?
Wintertime weather is driven largely by the parade of upper-level weather systems carried rapidly eastward by the high level winds known as the jet stream.
The jet stream is a ribbon of high-speed wind (located at nearly 6 miles above the surface) that is related to the strength, and location, of the pole-to-equator temperature contrast. Continue reading
How long were Madison lakes frozen this year?
Lakes Mendota, Monona and Wingra opened during the second week of April.
Lake Mendota officially froze Dec. 16 and opened April 12, for an ice season of 117 days, which is 12 days longer than the median duration. Continue reading
How do potholes form?
Potholes result from a combination of traffic and water.
Roadways are constructed in layers. The top layer is water resistant and curved to drain water off the road and onto the shoulder. Continue reading
Is this an unusual winter?
There is no doubt that this winter’s prolonged and sometimes desperate cold has been unusual.
Interestingly, for all the talk of the “polar vortex” and our unusually prolonged cold in central North America, it has been a remarkably “warm” winter when considered from the hemispheric perspective. Unusually warm weather in the West has offset the frigid winter across the East and much of the Midwest. Continue reading
