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Well folks, happy end of July. We had as pretty close to normal of a month as you can get – and a whopper of a difference from our LAST July. I’ll get the specifics up here tomorrow.
Enjoy a toasty, muggy August 1st. We’ll have partly sunny skies with a very small chance of a spotty shower. More rain and storms, at least a better chance, looks to be instore for Monday and Tuesday….
Posted under climate
This post was written by Steph on July 31, 2010
The timing wasn’t great, but it was nice to get that light, soaking rain today and the totals were fairly decent. Some spots in the southern portion of our local area had some heavy downpours and registered close to an inch of rainfall. We’ll have another chance for some scattered showers and even a few thunderstorms (there should be just enough instability for rumbles of thunder) tomorrow with just a few glimpses at the sun.
Our official deficit for the year now stands at almost three and a half inches. Look for a tenth to a quarter of an inch in those showers Sunday.
Here’s a look at local rainfall totals from Saturday:
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
727 PM CDT SAT JUN 05 2010
…PRELIMINARY 24 HOUR RAINFALL TOTALS THROUGH 7 PM…
LOCATION RAINFALL TIME LAT/LON
IOWA
…ALLAMAKEE COUNTY…
DORCHESTER HIGHWAY 76 0.69 1900 PM 43.42N 91.51W
ION 0.50 1900 PM 43.11N 91.27W
HARPERS FERRY 0.45 1900 PM 43.17N 91.24W
…CHICKASAW COUNTY…
IONIA 0.08 1900 PM 43.03N 92.50W
…CLAYTON COUNTY…
LITTLEPORT 1.01 1900 PM 42.75N 91.37W
ELKADER 0.87 1900 PM 42.84N 91.40W
GARBER 0.70 1900 PM 42.74N 91.26W
MARQUETTE 0.59 1900 PM 43.04N 91.21W
MCGREGOR 0.44 1900 PM 43.02N 91.17W
…FAYETTE COUNTY…
OELWEIN AWOS 1.11 1900 PM 42.68N 91.97W
ELDORADO 0.02 1900 PM 43.05N 91.81W
…FLOYD COUNTY…
CHARLES CITY AWOS 0.12 1900 PM 43.07N 92.61W
…WINNESHIEK COUNTY…
BLUFFTON 0.96 1900 PM 43.41N 91.90W
DECORAH AWOS 0.79 1900 PM 43.28N 91.74W
MINNESOTA
…DODGE COUNTY…
DODGE CENTER AWOS 0.22 1900 PM 44.03N 92.83W
…FILLMORE COUNTY…
LANESBORO 0.45 1900 PM 43.72N 91.97W
CARIMONA 0.42 1900 PM 43.66N 92.15W
PRESTON AWOS 0.34 1900 PM 43.68N 92.18W
…HOUSTON COUNTY…
MOUND PRAIRIE 0.34 1900 PM 43.78N 91.45W
…MOWER COUNTY…
AUSTIN-DOBBINS CREEK 0.41 1900 PM 43.67N 92.95W
AUSTIN AWOS 0.39 1900 PM 43.67N 92.93W
AUSTIN-TURTLE CREEK 0.36 1900 PM 43.67N 92.95W
AUSTIN 3S 0.32 1900 PM 43.62N 93.00W
LANSING 0.27 1900 PM 43.75N 92.95W
…OLMSTED COUNTY…
ROCHESTER – CASCADE CREEK 0.35 1900 PM 44.03N 92.48W
ROCHESTER – SILVER CREEK 0.33 1900 PM 44.03N 92.42W
ROCHESTER – BEAR CREEK 0.30 1900 PM 43.92N 92.48W
ROCHESTER BELTLINE 0.29 1900 PM 43.91N 92.50W
ROCHESTER INTL AP 0.27 1900 PM 43.91N 92.50W
ELBA 0.18 1900 PM 44.05N 92.05W
…WABASHA COUNTY…
KELLOGG 0.34 1900 PM 44.32N 92.00W
LAKE CITY 0.16 1900 PM 44.45N 92.26W
…WINONA COUNTY…
DAKOTA 0.40 1900 PM 43.92N 91.37W
ALTURA 0.28 1900 PM 44.15N 92.01W
MINNESOTA CITY 0.01 1900 PM 44.16N 91.81W
WINONA AWOS 0.00 1900 PM 44.08N 91.70W
WISCONSIN
…BUFFALO COUNTY…
MONDOVI 0.18 1900 PM 44.56N 91.67W
…CRAWFORD COUNTY…
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN AWOS 0.48 1900 PM 43.30N 89.76W
STEUBEN 0.33 1900 PM 43.18N 90.87W
…GRANT COUNTY…
BOSCOBEL ASOS 0.32 1900 PM 43.16N 90.68W
BOSCOBEL RAWS 0.26 1900 PM 43.15N 90.68W
…JACKSON COUNTY…
BLACK RIVER FALLS 0.50 1900 PM 44.38N 90.84W
…JUNEAU COUNTY…
NECEDAH 5WNW 0.44 1900 PM 44.06N 90.17W
NECEDAH 1W 0.41 1900 PM 44.02N 90.08W
CAMP DOUGLAS 0.35 1900 PM 43.94N 90.26W
…LA CROSSE COUNTY…
HOLMEN 1NW 0.52 1900 PM 43.97N 91.27W
LA CROSSE-MISSISSIPPI RVR 0.47 1900 PM 43.80N 91.37W
LA CROSSE WEATHER OFFICE 0.42 1900 PM 43.82N 91.19W
LA CROSSE ASOS 0.26 1900 PM 43.88N 91.26W
…MONROE COUNTY…
SPARTA AWOS 0.27 1900 PM 43.96N 90.74W
…TAYLOR COUNTY…
LUBLIN DIAMOND LAKE 0.27 1900 PM 45.11N 90.69W
…VERNON COUNTY…
COON VALLEY 6S 0.35 1900 PM 43.61N 91.01W
VIROQUA 4WSW 0.35 1900 PM 43.54N 90.96W
WESTBY 2NNE 0.31 1900 PM 43.70N 90.85W
VIROQUA 3ESE 0.31 1900 PM 43.55N 90.82W
VIROQUA 4NE 0.31 1900 PM 43.61N 90.82W
WESTBY 3SE 0.24 1900 PM 43.62N 90.82W
Posted under Uncategorized, climate, rainfall amounts
This post was written by tschmidt on June 5, 2010
Well, the verdict is in and we now can officially say that 2010’s version of meteorological spring was the second warmest in history. The culprit: our friend El Nino. Here’s a summary from our local National Weather Service office in La Crosse and an explanation of the hows and whys of our incredible spring.
*One thing to note is that another record has become official as of the end of spring on Monday. That’s the record for the earliest ever last measurable snowfall in Rochester. February 23 was the last snowfall measured in Rochester this year and the previous record was March 6th in the winter of 1947-48.
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
1057 AM CDT TUE JUN 1 2010
…A VERY WARM AND DRY METEOROLOGICAL SPRING IN ROCHESTER MN…
DURING METEOROLOGICAL SPRING /MARCH 1 THROUGH MAY 31/…ROCHESTER
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WAS VERY WARM /SECOND WARMEST – WARMEST SINCE
1977/ AND VERY DRY /SIXTH DRIEST – DRIEST SINCE 1987/. THE
WEAKENING EL NINO LIKELY HAD A LARGE INFLUENCE ON BOTH OF THESE.
FINALLY…THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT ROCHESTER JUST HAD A TRACE OF
SNOW DURING A SPRING. SNOW RECORDS DATE BACK TO 1893. MORE DETAILS
ON THESE STATISTICS CAN BE FOUND BELOW.
TEMPERATURES – 2ND WARMEST SPRING
FROM MARCH 1ST THROUGH MAY 31ST…ROCHESTER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HAD
AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 50.2 DEGREES. THIS WAS 6.1 DEGREES ABOVE
THE NORMAL OF 44.1 DEGREES. THIS WAS THE SECOND WARMEST SPRING. THE
ONLY OTHER SPRING WHICH WAS WARMER WAS 1977 WHEN THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE WAS 52.1 DEGREES.
THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE WARMEST METEOROLOGICAL SPRINGS IN
ROCHESTER MN…
WARMEST METEOROLOGICAL SPRINGS
IN ROCHESTER MN
1886-2010
AVERAGE
RANK TEMPERATURE YEAR
—- ———– —-
1 52.1 DEGREES 1977
2 50.2 DEGREES 2010
3 49.3 DEGREES 1987
4 48.8 DEGREES 1985
5 48.7 DEGREES 1946
6 47.9 DEGREES 2000
47.9 DEGREES 1910
8 47.8 DEGREES 2006
9 47.7 DEGREES 2007
47.7 DEGREES 1991
WHY SO WARM THIS SPRING?
THE TEMPERATURES THIS SPRING WERE LIKELY INFLUENCED BY THE 2009-2010
EL NINO WHICH WAS THE FOURTH STRONGEST SINCE 1950 /ONLY 1972-73…
1982-83…AND 1997-98 WERE STRONGER – BASED ON THE OCEANIC NINO
INDEX/. AS TYPICAL…EL NINOS WEAKEN DURING SPRING AND THIS WAS ONE
WAS NO DIFFERENT. EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE WEAKENING…THEY STILL CAN
HAVE A LARGE INFLUENCE UPON THE LOCATIONS OF JET STREAMS GLOBALLY.
IN OUR AREA OF THE WORLD…THESE JET STREAMS TYPICALLY PREVENT THE
ARCTIC INTRUSIONS FROM INVADING THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY
DURING THE EARLY AND MID SPRING. THIS WAS VERY MUCH THE CASE THIS
SPRING. MARCH OF 2010 WAS THE SEVENTH WARMEST /7.7 DEGREES
ABOVE-NORMAL/. SINCE 1950…TEN OUT OF THE ELEVEN EL NINOS
/90.9 PERCENT/ HAD THEIR MARCH TEMPERATURES AVERAGE ABOVE-NORMAL.
APRIL OF 2010 WAS THE THIRD WARMEST /8.3 DEGREES ABOVE-NORMAL/.
SINCE 1950…SIX OUT NINE EL NINOS /66.7 PERCENT/ HAD THEIR APRIL
TEMPERATURES AVERAGE ABOVE-NORMAL. THERE ARE TWO LESS EL NINOS IN
APRIL THAN MARCH…BECAUSE THEY HAD ALREADY TRANSITIONED TO BACK TO
NEUTRAL CONDITIONS BY APRIL.
IN ADDITION TO THIS…THE SPRING WAS ALSO AFFECTED BY THE
BELOW-NORMAL PRECIPITATION. THIS IN TURN HELPS THE MAXIMUM
TEMPERATURES TO AVERAGE ABOVE NORMAL…BECAUSE THE HEATING OF THE
GROUND DOES NOT GO TOWARD EVAPORATION AND INSTEAD GOES TO HEATING
THE AIR NEAR THE GROUND.
MORE TEMPERATURE STATISTICS…
THE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS 60.7 DEGREES. THIS WAS 7.0 DEGREES
ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 53.7 DEGREES. THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE WAS
39.6 DEGREES. THIS WAS 5.2 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 34.4 DEGREES.
THERE WAS TWO 90-DEGREE DAYS THIS SPRING. ONLY FIVE OTHER YEARS
SINCE 1886 HAVE HAD MORE /1934 WITH 10 DAYS…1980 WITH 4 DAYS…AND
1911…1998…AND 2009 WITH 3 DAYS/.
THE TABLE BELOW CONTAINS THE MONTHLY TEMPERATURES AND THEIR
DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL FOR THE SPRING OF 2010.
SPRING 2010 TEMPERATURES
IN ROCHESTER MN
AVERAGE DEPARTURE
MONTH TEMPERATURE FROM NORMAL
—– ———– ———–
MARCH 38.3 DEGREES +7.7 DEGREES – 7TH WARMEST
APRIL 53.0 DEGREES +8.3 DEGREES – 3RD WARMEST
MAY 59.1 DEGREES +2.2 DEGREES
SPRING 50.1 DEGREES +6.0 DEGREES
PRECIPITATION – 6TH DRIEST SPRING
FROM MARCH 1ST THROUGH MAY 31ST…ROCHESTER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
RECEIVED 4.71 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION. THIS WAS 3.71 INCHES BELOW
THE SPRING NORMAL OF 8.42 INCHES. THIS WAS THE SIXTH DRIEST SPRING
AND THE DRIEST SINCE 1987 WHEN 4.43 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FELL.
THE DRIEST SPRING EVER RECORDED WAS 3.17 INCHES IN 1910.
THE TABLE BELOW LISTS THE TEN DRIEST SPRINGS IN ROCHESTER MN.
DRIEST SPRINGS
IN ROCHESTER MN
1886-2010
PRECIPITATION
RANK TOTAL YEAR
—- ———– —-
1 3.17 INCHES 1910
2 3.59 INCHES 1934
3 4.14 INCHES 1972
4 4.37 INCHES 1948
5 4.43 INCHES 1987
6 4.71 INCHES 2010
7 4.85 INCHES 1943
8 4.89 INCHES 1939
9 5.06 INCHES 1958
10 5.18 INCHES 1932
THERE IS ACTUALLY A STRONG STATISTICAL SIGNAL FOR BELOW NORMAL
PRECIPITATION DURING EL NINO SPRINGS. DURING THE NINE EL NINO
SPRINGS SINCE 1950…SEVEN OF THEM /77.8 PERCENT/ SAW BELOW NORMAL
PRECIPITATION.
THE TABLE BELOW CONTAINS THE MONTHLY PRECIPITATION TOTALS AND THEIR
DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL FOR THE SPRING OF 2010.
SPRING 2010 PRECIPITATION
IN ROCHESTER MN
PRECIPITATION DEPARTURE
MONTH TOTAL FROM NORMAL
—– ———— ———–
MARCH 1.05 INCHES -1.88 INCHES
APRIL 1.62 INCHES -1.39 INCHES
MAY 2.04 INCHES -1.49 INCHES
SPRING 4.71 INCHES -3.71 INCHES
SNOWFALL – LEAST EVER RECORDED DURING A SPRING
FROM MARCH 1ST THROUGH MAY 31ST…THE SNOW OBSERVER NEAR ROCHESTER
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECORDED JUST A TRACE OF SNOW. THE PREVIOUS
RECORD WAS JUST 0.2 INCHES OF SNOW BACK IN 1981. NORMALLY
13.3 INCHES OF SNOW FALLS DURING THE SPRING.
……………………………..
…THE ROCHESTER CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SEASON, FROM
3/1/2010 TO 5/31/2010…
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1971 TO 2000
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1886 TO 2010
WEATHER OBSERVED
VALUE DATE(S)
…………………………..
TEMPERATURE (F)
HIGHEST 94 05/24
LOWEST 11 03/05
AVG. MAXIMUM 60.7
AVG. MINIMUM 39.6
MEAN 50.2
DAYS MAX >= 90 2
DAYS MAX <= 32 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 18
DAYS MIN <= 0 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
TOTALS 4.71
DAYS >= .01 26
DAYS >= .10 14
DAYS >= .50 3
DAYS >= 1.00 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 0.67 MM
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
TOTALS T
SNOWDEPTH AVG. 1
DAYS >= TRACE 1
DAYS >= 1.0 0
GREATEST
SNOW DEPTH 15
24 HR TOTAL 0.0 MM
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 1418
COOLING TOTAL 72
……………………………
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 11.2
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 59/240 DATE 05/04
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
$$
BOYNE
This post was written by tschmidt on June 1, 2010
It's been a dry year so far, especially since the beginning of spring in March.
The good news is we’re looking at more of an active weather pattern in the next week with rain chances coming up every other day or so.
Posted under climate
This post was written by tschmidt on May 31, 2010
The final numbers are in for April in Rochester!
Overall: at about 8° above normal, April 2010 sits as the 2nd warmest April on record in Rochester; this is now the 4th warmest meteorological spring on record. A pretty dry month, there was also zippo snow in April…fyi: not a flake has flown since February 23rd.
As far as what’s in store for May? I forsee cooler temperatures this upcoming weekend, but models are still out to lunch on that. I don’t like to get into forecasts past that, but it looks to stay seasonable or seasonably cool headed into the middle of the month…maybe a little wet.
This post was written by Steph on May 1, 2010
I’m just going to call it – there’s no way we’ll have snow in the next two days. 
So, March 2010 will now officially go in the books as the first without any snow…at least since records have been kept in 1887. Not just for Rochester, either – La Crosse and the Twin Cities will also claim it. Des Moines actually picked up snow this March!
For the details, visit this page from the NWS in La Crosse. You can also read some about how rare it is from the MN Climatology Working Group’s page.
Close to 70° for Tuesday, and in the 70s for Wednesday and Thursday. There could easily be the possibility for some 80° readings popping up on Thursday. We haven’t seen the 70s since September 27th!
Posted under climate
This post was written by Steph on March 29, 2010
Nothing really new to report on - we all know about the warm-up by now!! I’ve nudged highs up a bit on Thursday, and do expect it to be fairly windy this week. Monday will be the “coolest” day of the week, it appears – many of us pushing the upper 50s. The real mild air starts arriving Tuesday and stays around for the mid to late week.
On the topic of our recent good-luck streak, and it being Palm Sunday, here’s a look at where we’ve stood over the past Palm Sundays – be thankful after you see some of the readings and precipitation. Thanks to the NWS La Crosse for the data!
Posted under climate
This post was written by Steph on March 28, 2010
Prompted by a good question Thursday on our KTTC Precision Forecast Facebook Page, Jaime asked when our earliest last snowfall was. Thanks to Jeff Boyne at the La Crosse NWS for digging up the facts – so, here’s the scoop:
Earliest last measurable snow: March 6th, 1948
Earliest last trace of snow: March 20th, 1958
So far in 2010….
Last measurable snow: Feb 23rd (0.2″…but that’s measly)
Last trace of snow: Aside from snow on Feb 23rd, we had a trace on Feb 22nd.
Last year in March we didn’t get a whole lot of snow – only a little over an inch, and we were talking about traces of snow into the first week of April. That being said, my confidence is increasing that we’ll escape March without a trace of snow, zippo, nada, 0.0″ will go in the books.
As far as “earliest last measurable/trace of snow”s go…we still have April to get through.
Posted under KTTC, Rochester, climate
This post was written by Steph on March 26, 2010
Congrats on making it through one of the weirdest Octobers in Rochester’s recent history. 2nd wettest on record, snow-y, cold, and generally not feeling very fall-ish. Infact, as of today, I see most of the leaves are off the trees and in my yard.
That being said, enjoy some October climate history from the NWS La Crosse. Included is the line-up of soggy Octobers.
A warm front today brought us our fantastically mild Sunday; a cold front sweeping through overnight will give way to slightly cooler, but still seasonably mild, temps for Monday. Look for a breezy afternoon as well, with winds out of the northwest about 10-20mph. Not too shabby of a start to November.
This post was written by Steph on November 1, 2009
Wondering what the hottest temperature has been on Labor Day? How about rainfall amounts? Chilly overnight lows? The NWS La Crosse has it all in their Labor Day Climate.
Looks like one more day (Tuesday) of our recent streak of dry, sunny days…rain chances are back on Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday, and…into the weekend. Infact, this weekend is appearing to want to shape up feeling way more fall-ish.
Have a safe and very much enjoyable Labor Day!
Posted under KTTC
This post was written by Steph on September 7, 2009
