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Tag Archives: Winter
What are those rolls of snow in a farm field?
Those cylinder-shaped masses of rolled-up snow are called “snow rollers.” Some appeared after the pre-Christmas storm, but they are uncommon in the Midwest. (The last time someone told us they saw snow rollers was in February 2003.) While they may look like someone was rolling snow to make a snowman, you won’t see any footprints in the snow as these rolls form naturally. Continue reading
How did you like that winter storm?
We loved it!
It’s not often that all-time records for high temperature and 24 hour snowfall are set in the same winter month but we made a run at it this past week. Madison’s all-time record for greatest 24 hour snowfall was on Dec. 2-3, 1990, when 17.3 inches of snow fell. The official amount of snowfall on Thursday was 15.2 inches of snow, although weather enthusiasts in the area measured more than a foot and a half of snowfall. Continue reading
What is a nor’easter?
A nor’easter is an extratropical cyclone that affects the northeastern United States and extreme eastern Canada. An extratropical cyclone is a low-pressure system that forms outside of the tropics and is usually associated with fronts, unlike a tropical cyclone. A nor’easter is named for the strong northeasterly winds that blow across this region as the path of the low pressure moves northeastward, slightly to the east of the North American coastline. Continue reading
Category: Severe Weather
Tags Dangers, precipitation, Severe Weather, Snow, Winter
Comments Off on What is a nor’easter?
Tags Dangers, precipitation, Severe Weather, Snow, Winter
Comments Off on What is a nor’easter?
How did this recent warm March impact maple sap harvesting?
Tapping maple trees usually occurs in late winter and early spring. In Wisconsin, March is a prime month for tapping sugar maple trees and this is when the sap is sweetest. But, only about 2 percent of the sap is sugar, so it has to be boiled down to remove the water and increase the sugar concentration. Continue reading
How do large snowflakes form?
There are four basic shapes of ice crystals: the hexagonal plate, the needle, the column and the dendrite. The dendrites are hexagonal with elongated branches, or fingers, of ice; they most closely resemble what we think of as snowflakes. The temperature at which the crystal grows determines the particular shape. A snowflake is an individual ice crystal or an aggregate of ice crystals. Large snowflakes are aggregates of ice crystals. Continue reading
