Category Archives: Seasons

How remarkable was the recent winter storm?

The recent winter storm that affected large portions of the United States just days before the Christmas holiday was remarkable in a number of dimensions.

It was an example of a “bomb cyclone” which simply means that the rate at which its central pressure dropped — about 2.5% in a single day — was extremely unusual. Even though a 2.5% change in central pressure does not sound like very much, it was responsible for revving up the extreme winds that brought wind chills into the minus 30s and ground blizzard conditions to a large portion of the Great Lakes states on Dec. 23. Continue reading

Category: Meteorology, Phenomena, Seasons, Severe Weather

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Was our recent snowfall typical for a Madison winter?

Our first substantial snowfall of the season visited Madison on Friday morning as a period of moderate to heavy snow fell from around 7 to 9:45 a.m.

In the end, we accumulated 4.4 inches of heavy wet snow timed perfectly to snarl the morning commute. Continue reading

Category: Climate, Meteorology, Seasons

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What does a warm fall portend about winter?

Most of the weather experts we know have rated this fall’s weather as reasonably benign in our region. The past month’s average temperature here in Madison was 1.9 degrees above normal, which rounded out a fall season (September through November) … Continue reading

Category: Climate, Seasons

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How is the 2022 hurricane season going?

The hurricane season is a distinct time of year when tropical cyclones — tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes — usually develop.

Here in the U.S., we usually refer to the Atlantic hurricane season, as it’s those storms that most commonly affect the U.S., which extends from June 1 to Nov. 30. Continue reading

Category: Seasons, Tropical

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What’s behind November’s 70-degree days?

As the spectacular fall weather continued into November last week we saw temperatures soar into the 70s on the first three days of the month before plummeting back to more normal levels with the passage of a cold front on Saturday afternoon.

The three consecutive days — Nov. 1, 2, and 3 — represented only the fourth time in Madison’s weather history that at least three consecutive days in November registered high temperatures at or above 70 degrees. All of the other instances have occurred since 2008 — Nov. 3-5, 2008; Nov. 2-4, 2015, and the all-time longest such streak, which occurred Nov. 5-9, 2020. In addition, the latest-ever 70-degree day in a Madison November occurred on Nov. 17, 2016. Continue reading

Category: Climate, Seasons

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