Have you looked at your roof lately?  Or maybe it’s the puddle of water on your bathroom floor that has caught your attention…and it didn’t come from the kids leaving the shower curtain open.

This time of year ice dams become a major problem for homeowners.  Snow builds up on the roof, melts and then re-freezes, causing the melted snow to leak back into the house.

If you would like some ideas on how to avoid what could be a very expensive fix, click on the link below:

Ice Dam Solutions

Also, don’t forget to check your furnace exhaust (the pipe or vent on the outside of your house).  The warm air creates condensation, and in frigid temperatures, the moisture will freeze and could cause deadly carbon monoxide to build up in your house.  You should also test your carbon monoxide detector once a week to make sure it’s in proper working order.

The cold air works its way back into the upper Midwest this week.  It won’t be quite as brutal, nor will it last quite as long as last weeks, but a single digit high for at least one day is not out of the question.

Our morning producer, Trent saw a robin in his yard last week.  Either it’s just crazy, or it knows something we don’t!

Have a great week!

Meteorologist LeAnn Lombardo

Posted under Hometown Weather

You have probably heard a TV meteorologist at some point make a comment like: "if that half inch of rain had been all snow, we would’ve seen 5" of snow"!  Something to that affect anyway.  It’s obvious that since snow is just frozen precipitation, it translates to some measurement of liquid after you melt it down.  We go through the melting process here at News 18 everytime it snows to determine the liquid equivalent.  The tough part, however, is trying to determine the snow:liquid ratio in order to make a good snow totals prediction before the event even happens.  In fact, I think it’s one of the most challenging aspects of forecasting.

So what are the factors that determine the snow:liquid ratio, or in other words, how fluffy or heavy will the snow be?  Two words come to mind, and I’ll talk a bit more about why they are so important.  The words are:  temperature and wind!

• Temperature —  I’m not just talking about surface temperatures, although that is pretty important.  How cold it is from the surface to the clouds producing the snow (roughly 15,000 feet) will largely determine the size of the flakes, as well as how light or heavy the snow will be.  The closer to freezing that layer of air is, the more moisture it contains and thus the snow will have a bit more weight to it.  Conversely . . . the colder that air is, less moisture will be present and the flakes will be very light and fluffy. 
• Moisture — Clouds contain moisture of course, but during the winter clouds around 15,000 contain ice crystals.  The more saturated a cloud is (it contains the maximum amount of ice crystals) the better snow producer it is.  A "normal" snow:liquid ratio is around 12:1, which means for every inch of liquid we would see around 12" of snowfall.  A typical March ratio would be 8:1 because the air is usually warmer and a lot more moisture is being pulled north from the Gulf of Mexico.  In January, however, ratios are typically 15:1 or higher because of how cold and dry the air is over the upper Midwest.
• Wind — While temperature and moisture are important during the growth and development of the snow flake, wind will play a role as the flakes fall to the ground.  Light winds will allow the flakes to remain in tact, which means they’ll be larger and accumulate faster when they finally hit the surface.  Stronger winds will tear apart the flakes, meaning a slower accumulation due to smaller flakes at the ground.  Generally, however, strong winter storms that generate a lot of wind will also generate a lot of snow, so in the end it’s a wash – we still see a lot of snow!

Monday’s storm dumped a lot of snow across the Coulee region, as well as northeastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota largely because of the very high snow:liquid ratios, at time around 30:1!  Below is a graphical depiction of the snow totals from that region:

In the same manner that December was a snowy month for the Chippewa Valley, January has been that way for other areas of Wisconsin.  Here is a list of the major cities across the state and the subsequent snow totals for the month through the 21st:

1. Green Bay:  20.0"
2. Madison:  17.5"
3. La Crosse:  14.9"
4. Milwaukee:  10.4
5. Eau Claire:  5.0"

Chief Meteorologist Doug Michaels

Posted under Hometown Weather

While out and about over the cold weekend, I noticed how loud the snow was as I walked across it.  Of course my first thought was…I sure couldn’t sneak up on my kids in this kind of weather, and then the meteorologist came out in me and my second thought was…why does the snow "creak" when you walk on it?  And sometimes much louder than other times.

I did some research and ended up at a website for the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Here’s what they had to say:

A layer of snow is simply composed of ice grains with air in between the ice grains.  Because the snow layer is mostly empty air space, when you step on a layer of snow you compress that layer – a little or a lot, depending on how old the snow is.  As the snow compresses, the ice grains rub against each other.  This creates friction or resistance; the colder the temperature, the greater the friction between the grains of ice.  the sudden squashing of the snow at lower temperatures produces the familiar creaking or crunching sound.  At warmer temperatures, closer to melting, this friction is reduced to the point where the sliding of the grains against each other produces little or no noise.  It’s difficult to say at what temperature the snow starts to crunch, but the colder the snow, the louder the crunch.

Sounds logical to me…now if I could just figure out why my shower screams when I turn the hot water on!

Weather wise, we will SLOWLY climb out of the deep freeze as we go through the week with highs by the weekend right around our average of 21 degrees.  Some accumulating snow is possible today with a little more light snow Tuesday night and again Friday night.

Yours in weather,

Meteorologist LeAnn Lombardo

Posted under Hometown Weather

I’ve been poked fun at on the radio for saying the phrase "fresh snow"!  But seriously, it has been three weeks since we’ve had anything more than an inch and frankly I’m getting tired of seeing brown, crusty, and nasty snow!  Considering how snowy December was, I was starting to get concerned that the old pattern of recent winters was beginning to rear its head.  Alas, my concern was for naught, with over three inches of powder in Eau Claire and now the coldest air of the season about to visit this weekend, I feel much better.  Actually, I wouldn’t mind postponing the cold, but hey, it’ll make us appreciate April all that much more.

On Thursday, an area of low pressure moved along a stalled out cold front that stretched from just north of Green Bay to the Quad Cities, IA.  The low brought Gulf moisture northward, interacted with the colder air which has reestablished itself over the area and the stage was set for accumulating snow.  It snowed for nearly 20 hours straight here in Eau Claire, but since we were on the northern fringes of the precipitation it remained a very light snow.  Since the moisture content of the snow was very low, even a fluffy snow was able to add up a little.  Listed below are some snow totals from the area, as well as a few from other portions of the state:

• Patch Grove:  8"
• Prairie Du Chien:  7"
• La Crosse:  6.5"
• Wausau:  5.7"
• Merrillan:  5"
• Green Bay:  4.5"
• Medford:  4"
• Arcadia:  3.5"
• Loyal:  3.5"
• Black River Falls:  3.5"
• Madison:  3.2"
• Eau Claire:  3.2"
• Gilmanton:  3"
• Mondovi:  3"
• Neillsville:  2.8"
• Stanley (Robert Richards):  2.7"
• Colfax (Len Larson):  2.1"
• Independence:  2"      

  Chief Meteorologist Doug Michaels

Posted under Hometown Weather

You knew it was coming . . . nearly two weeks of milder and relatively snowless weather couldn’t last forever.  The interesting thing is that, despite several days in the 30s and even a brief flirtation with 40 degrees, we still managed to maintain a 4-5" snow depth in the illustrious News 18 backyard!  Pretty remarkable given the trend in years past of quickly melting snow.  Granted that isn’t enough for the snowmobile trails to remain open, but it certainly looks prettier than a brown ground.

What you may not realize is that a snow covered ground is actually very beneficial for the ground itself.  You see, there are certain agricultural crops (such as alfalfa) whose seeds remain in the ground throughout winter, and they need the snow cover to protect them from the bitter sting of Arctic air when it does invade.  Here in Eau Claire, we have managed to maintain a snow depth of at least 4" since December 2, when we had our first winter storm of the season.  It looked as though the January thaw might erode away most of the lovely snow cover that we had, but lo and behold, another storm system looms for Thursday that just might get snowmobilers excited again. 

This is the latest graphical representation from the National Weather Service of potential snowfall beginning late Wednesday night and continuing through Thursday evening.  As you can see, much of western Wisconsin will benefit from several more inches of snow.  You may even hear the hum of the snowmobiles on trails in the near future if we can accumulate enough snow.  Part two of the winter punch will come this weekend, when some of the coldest air of the season so far plunges south from the Arctic into the upper Midwest.   

Chief Meteorologist Doug Michaels

Posted under Hometown Weather

Yes, it’s coming, Canada’s most famous export…arctic air.  We’re going to look back on last week as the good ol’ days, when a light southerly breeze brought temperatures in the 40′s.  Considering the second and third week in January is historically the coldest time of year, we’re probably due for a shivery showdown.

Here’s a look at what the computer models are hinting at for the morning of Saturday, January 19th. Click on the map for a larger view.

The area in white indicates temperatures 20 to 30 degrees BELOW zero…and it’s knockin’ right at our back door, quite loudly as a matter of fact!  Remember, this is the air temperature, if we factor in a 5-10 mph wind, it’ll feel like it’s 34 to 53 degrees below zero! Dangerous indeed!

I’ve included a link below from the American Red Cross regarding cold weather safety.

Cold Weather Safety

Older adults, children and pets are the most vulnerable, however, in
these conditions it won’t take long for anyone to feel the effects.

Stay warm!

Meteorologist LeAnn Lombardo

Posted under Hometown Weather

I was sitting at my desk yesterday, finishing up my forecast, when a note was dropped in front of me off of the news wires.  It read:  Tornado Warning for Kenosha County.  At first I thought it was a joke, but after reading the entire warning I practically sprinted to our internet computer to see what was going on.  It turns out that January tornadoes in Wisconsin are extremely rare, but not impossible.  In fact, twisters have touched down at some point in the Badger state during every month except February. 

The setup for the severe thunderstorm outbreak was ideal, almost something you would see during early/mid spring.  A strong frontal boundary moved into far southeastern Wisconsin, separating temperatures in the 30s and 40s from 60 degree temps south of the front.  In addition to the warmth, very high atmospheric moisture streamed into far southeastern Wisconsin, setting the stage for mid-afternoon severe storms.  Wind shear throughout the atmosphere also made tornadoes very possible.  Below are pictures that were taken by the survey team from the National Weather Service sent to assess the damage:

There were two different areas that sustained damage, meaning there were at least two separate tornadoes.  One directly affected Wheatland and was given a preliminary EF-3 rating, with estimated top winds of 150-165 mph.  The second tornado moved just north of downtown Kenosha, and was rated an EF-1, with estimated winds of 86-110 mph. 

This is the damage path of the Wheatland tornado, along with doppler radar displaying a distinct "hook echo" (a radar signature that indicates the presence of strong rotation and possible tornado)

For more information on these rare winter tornadoes, along with additional pictures you can visit the National Weather Service website:  http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/?n=010708_tor

Chief Meteorologist Doug Michaels

Posted under Hometown Weather

Just when we think it’s safe to bring out the skis and the snowmobiles, temps soar into the 40’s and our snow pack quickly dwindles away.  Is this global warming?  Well, you can’t chalk up any one event to global warming.  As a matter of fact, a January thaw occurs almost each and every year.  According to Minnesota State Climatologist Mark Seeley (the Chippewa Valley is considered part of the National Weather Service of Chanhassen, MN due to it’s proximity), a January thaw is defined as 2 days at or above 32 degrees Fahrenheit.  It doesn’t even have to be 2 days in a row.  In approximately 92% of our winters, a January thaw occurs.

We’ll see a downward trend in those temperatures starting today.  Cold air will work its way in and we could even pick up a few inches of snow on Thursday! So for you snow lovers…don’t lose hope yet!

Have a great week.

Meteorologist LeAnn Lombardo

Posted under Hometown Weather

The confetti has been cleaned up, the champagne bottles emptied, and the big ball in Times Square has been taken down for another year!  Yes, the holiday season has come and gone, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s.  One thing that I enjoy about the finale of a given year is a chance to look back and reflect on what has gone on during the previous 12 months.  In particular, Top Ten lists are particularly popular:  top songs, movies, events, cookies, clothing items, quotes, celebs, etc.  If it exists, you can come up with a top ten list.  Soooo . . . why can’t I do the same thing with weather? 

Well, I can and I have.  Only instead of a top ten list, I’ve condensed it down to a top six list.  The title of my countdown:  The Top Six Weather Events of 2007.  I know it’s not too creative, but the events that comprise the list were all significant.  A couple of things about this list – I tried to choose events that affected a large portion of the area but not every event directly touched the Chippewa Valley.  Also, everyone has their own opinion about what was the biggest weather situation, but I attempted to make the list based on impact to the region as a whole.  So here we go . . .

   6)  Bitterly cold February temperatures.  This one may not seem all that spectacular but given the fact that 9 out of the first 10 days featured double digit below zero morning lows, this one deserves to make the list.  The worst came on February 5, with a morning temp of -22!

   5)  "Twin" snowstorms.  What in the world do I mean by twin storms?  Basically, back-to-back winter storms (both of which evolved in the same area and took the same track across the region) brought heavy snow and strong winds to the Chippewa Valley.  23.8" of snow fell in EIGHT days here in Eau Claire!

   4)  Snowy December.  I really wanted to move this one higher but when you see the top three then you can understand why it’s down the list.  Snowfall during the first month of winter totalled 22" in Eau Claire, making this the snowiest December since 2000 and ensuring the earliest opening of snowmobile trails since that year.

   3)  August severe weather.  It just wouldn’t be a list of significant weather events without severe weather somewhere!  Several rounds of severe storms plowed through the Chippewa Valley, causing damage to trees and buildings in many communities.  Strong winds were the primary cause, with Menomonie being a direct target of severe storms twice.

   2)  Late spring/early summer drought.  Lately, it seems that this is making the list every year, and you know, every year it’s a BIG problem.  The obvious impacts are on agriculture and recreation, but it’s just disappointing to drive around town and see brown grass.  Once again, rainfall was very miniscule during the late spring and early summer, leading to deficits of 4-6" all across western Wisconsin.  The hardest hit areas were the northern portions of the Chippewa Valley, where severe drought was observed for several weeks.

   1)  Flash flooding and historic rainfall in August.  You may scratch your head a little bit at this one because the hardest hit areas were actually south of the Chippewa Valley.  The economic impacts cuased by the torrential rainfall, however, could be felt all across the region.  The worst came on the 18th-19th, when a swath of 12-17" of rain fell from southeastern Minnesota through southwestern Wisconsin.  La Crosse was directly impacted.  In addition, there were other bouts of heavy rainfall which, combined with the flash flooding of the 18th-19th, helped to shatter all time monthly precipitation records in places like La Crosse and Rochester, MN.  If you’d like more information on the flash flooding just click on the following link:   http://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/?n=aug1907 .  For a map of August rainfall in Wisconsin: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/Image/mkx/WIAug2007Rainfall.jpg .

2007, like every year, featured a wide variety of wild weather across western Wisconsin.  For those weather enthusiasts out there, I’m sure that the year ahead will not disappoint.  Cheers, and have a wonderful 2008!

Chief Meteorologist Doug Michaels

Posted under Hometown Weather

As we end 2007 we say goodbye to a year of weather extremes across the Badger State.  The National Weather service in LaCrosse has once again published a list of the top weather events in Wisconsin, and there were some doozies.  Click here to take a look:

Top Weather Stories for Wisconsin in 2007

On a national level we can’t forget the raging California wildfires in October that destroyed 1500 homes, burning 500,000 acres of land and killing nine people.  Then we had the Greensburg, KS tornado.  An EF5 tornado that destroyed 95% of the city, killing at least 12 people and injuring 60. And last but not least, the Ham Lake wildfires near the Gunflint Trail in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota that consumed 76,000 acres and 140 buildings.  The blaze was made worse by drought and wind.

The Climate Prediction Center has issued their climate outlook for 2008.  Here’s a sneak peak:

Climate Prediction Center

Closer to home we have a nice little warm up that will reward us after a chilly start to the new year.  Temperatures will likely hit that 40 degree mark by the end of the week and will do a number on our snow depth.  We may even see some rain and will surely have to deal with fog. 

Keep your fingers crossed for an uneventful 2008!

Happy New Year!

Meteorologist LeAnn Lombardo

Posted under Hometown Weather