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Showing posts from October, 2010

The Great Lakes Cyclone

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**Update** Follow this link to view a satelitte loop of the storm. Epic, Apocalyptic, and Historical are a few adjectives I've read describing the low pressure system that has engulfed the region. Much hype preceded reality and it is living up to that hype. We here at OSNW3 have recorded over an inch of rainfall with the loudest of winds creaking our 90 year old home. From friends via the Internet I am able to report a few damaging effects such as pieces of roofing scratching cars, garbage cans gone missing, fences and outdoor restrooms falling over. I personally witnessed some beach erosion and roof damage. Which leads me to some videos and photos I'd like to share of the ongoing event. The morning of October 26th I took a detour on my way to Neenah to see the clouds and waves. The winds were from the south early which provided some worthy results. First stop was at Menominee Park in Oshkosh, second at Grundman Park Boat Landing in Vinland, and third at Rainbow Beach

Historical October Weather & Post Storm Survey

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As we were sitting down at the dinner table on the evening of October 20th a bright flash of light entered the house followed by a loud thunderous boom. A thunderstorm in October? October hasn't produced a thunderstorm since 2007, also a La Nina year, when there were three in the first nineteen days. The rain from the thunderstorm and the persistent light rain throughout the day on the 20th brought our 17 day dry spell to an end. The dry spell ranks third all-time at OSNW3 with 19 and 21 being the top two (click here for graph). Looking ahead, things are forecast to be wetter with temps slightly above average. ( OSNW3 Weather Brief ) ( OSNW3 October Observations ) (OSNW3 October 2010 Summary) (click on graph for the month summary data - it will open a new tab/window) ---- Historical Climate Musings Karl Bohnak 's recent blog entries have stirred my curiosity. On two separate occasions this past week his insight on historical weather patterns in our region brought down the p

A Dry Start To October & More La Nina Trends

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A fantastic Indian Summer is what the first half of October 2010 was. Endless warm temperatures coupled with bright sun shining days. Hard to beat in my opinion. However with all the wonderful weather conditions came a lack of precipitation. Only 0.14" of rain has fallen this month to date at my location. Currently we are in the top 10 for longest dry spells since Nov 1, 2006, coming in at 12 days and looking to climb in the coming days ( Days With 0.00", graph ). Long range forecasts show a slight warm up, 8 days from now, with continued dry conditions. A typical La Nina scenario for this time of year. ( OSNW3 Weather Brief ) ( OSNW3 October Observations ) (OSNW3 October 2010 Summary) (click on graph for the month summary data - it will open a new tab/window) ---- Another La Nina Comparison For this entry I compared the meteorlogical winter, Dec-Jan-Feb, eliminating the transition months of Oct, Nov, Mar, and Apr. I found that the strongest seasons of the ONI index w

An Indian Summer Looms

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Back on Sep 24th we had a surge of moist tropical air work in from the south. Daytime highs topped 80° as the atmosphere rung out an inch plus of precipitation. Even a few rumbles of thunder were heard as the weather worked it's way across the area. On the backside, cooler more seasonal air enveloped the region opening the door for a real autumn bite. Our first frost at OSNW3 wasn't far behind. On Sep 27 the temperature dropped to 39.3° for an overnight low and a light frost developed on rooftops around the property. The Last time the low temperature dipped below 40 was on May 11, 2010 (39.9°). 140 days prior. Since then, frost has become more frequent bringing our tally of frosts to 3. We are still waiting for our first freeze and with all this frost talk it's no wonder we are nearing a forecast that calls for Indian Summer conditions to last throughout the upcoming weekend. A summary for the month of September can be found here . ( OSNW3 Weather Brief ) ( OSNW3 O