News 19 Forecast Team Blog

Let's talk crops...

We're going to take a look at some crop reports from around the region to see how things are going in the farm fields.  We've had a really wet winter and spring this year which has resulted in crops being planted late in the season.  There is good news though.  We've had several dry days which has allowed the grounds to dry out enough to get some crops planted.  (All information listed in this blog is courtesy of the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service)

Corn in Wisconsin has moved at a rapid pace in the last week to 56% planted.  Even though some fields are still very wet, there have been several reports about the growth of the corn.  Some corn has already seen a 7% emergence.

In Minnesota, land preparation for corn has increased to 80% compared to 97% prepared at this time last year.  67% of the corn has been planted and 3% has already emerged.

In Iowa, all of the districts have planted over 50% of their corn acreage.  Statewide, 78% of the corn has been planted and 18% has emerged already.


The soil has also begun to dry out acrosse the tri-states.  All three states haven't fallen into any of the short or very short categories.  If any of the first two numbers in the graphic below were high, that would be very dry ground conditions.  The higher those numbers go, more of a drought scenario begins to set in.  If the surplus number was really high, that would mean the ground was way too wet to even begin planting.  Even though our adequate number is high, it's been coming down the last couple of weeks.  That's why we've seen such a rapid increase in crop planting and emergence.

I mentioned corn planting earlier, but even soybeans and oats have had a huge jump in numbers.  In Wisconsin, soybeans are 22% planted and oats are 83% planted with 42% emergence.  In Minnesota, soybeans are 25% planted and oats are 84% planted with 40% emergence.  In Iowa, soybeans are 34% planted and oats are 93% planted with 58% emergence.

We'll see how these numbers from last week compare to this week's numbers.  The report for this week will be out next Monday, and we'll discuss it next Tuesday right here on the blog.

Thanks for checking in...

Zach Brown, Daybreak Meteorologist

 

Frosty Night Ahead...

Jackson and Monroe Counties are under a Frost Advisory tonight which means that frost is possible. If you live in these counties it wouldn't be a bad idea to cover outdoor plants as frost has the potential to kill them off. Frost forms when the temperature of the surface is at or below the dewpoint of the adjacent air and the dew point is below freezing. It might be hard for you to believe that frost is in the forecast tonight but believe it or not it isn't too far-fetched.As the image below shows, Jackson County typically observes its last frost after the 20th of May. Right here in La Crosse our last frost is generally around May 1st. Areas along the river will typically stay a little bit warmer overnight and this is why these areas see the earliest last frost date.  For the same reason frost is unlikely in La Crosse tonight. In fact our overnight low is 40 degrees. Over the next 7 days La Crosse's coolest temperature will likely be in the lower 40s, so frost isn't something that we should be to worried about.

Until Next Time,

Andrew Thut
News 19 Forecast Team

Saturday Severe Weather

It turned out to be a nice day on Saturday for the Mississippi River Clean Up. La Crosse topped off at 72 degrees. As we turned toward the evening a few scattered showers and thunderstorm passed through the area. Believe it or not, shortly before 6 there was a severe thunderstorm warning in effect for Eau Claire, Chippewa and Dunn Counties. Quarter sized hail was witnessed in Eau Claire County . The same storm that passed through these counties eventually brought rain and a few rumbles of thunder to parts of Jackson and Trempealeau Counties.  The storm slowly lost steam and later in the evening another cell moved through Winona and into La Crosse. No storm reports were released from this cell, but it did help produce a nice rainbow just outside the station in La Crescent.  In the event of severe weather always remember to take precaustions. Tune into News 19 or check out WXOW.com for the latest severe weather information.

Until Next Time,

Andrew Thut
News 19 Forecast Team

NOAA Weather Radio & Tornadoes...

We're going to talk about a couple of different things today.  First, it's NOAA Weather Radio Day in Wisconsin.  This campaign from Governor Jim Doyle is to encourage people to ahead of severe weather with a weather radio.  A weather radio is a smoke detector for severe weather.  When the "smoke detector" goes off with its ear piecing alarm, that means a severe weather alert has been issued for your area.

Most weather radios can be programmed to go off for only your county or any county you choose.  It's a technology called Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME).  The weather radio network started in 1972.  There are now 33 stations that broadcast weather information in Wisconsin and 970 stations nationwide.

This is an important piece of equipment to have in your home or even with you when you're outdoors (example: camping).  Most can be picked up at any electronic store from $25 to $70.


The next topic I wanted to mention is that 40 years ago tomorrow (May 15) there was a major tornado outbreak in northeast Iowa.  Five tornadoes occurred during the late afternoon and evening on May 15, 1968.  These were part of a major outbreak of severe weather that affected 10 states from May 15 to May 16.  There were two F1 (???mph) tornadoes, one F2 (???mph), and two F5 (???mph) tornadoes.  There were 18 fatalities and 619 injuries in Iowa.  Since then, no other tornado has produced this many deaths or injuries in Iowa.  According to the National Weather Service, there has only been one other F5 tornado in Iowa.  That was in Jordan on June 13, 1976.  The towns of Charlest City, Oelwein, and Maynard were all devasted by these storms.

Check out this link (http://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/?n=may151968) for more information about the tornado outbreak including photos and personal stories.


Thanks for checking in...

Zach Brown, Daybreak Meteorologist

Another wet day for some...

Hi All;

A round of thunderstorms developed Tuesday afternoon and evening, but the significant rain was restricted to areas northeast of La Crosse up into Jackson County and then int0 Central Wisconsin. Even then amounts were not a problem, though we received at least one report of pea-sized hail in Clark County. The front then moved through and that will set the stage for sunnier skies on Wednesday. Temperatures will continue to average below normal for the better part of the next 5 to 7 days.

On a completely different topic; I was reading about the earthquake in China's  Sichuan Province. The magnitude of it was 7.8 on the Richter scale and at least 10,000 are presumed dead. This is a devastating natural phenomena, but not the strongest.

On May 22, 1960, an earthquake  that struck Valdivia, Chile had a magnitude of 9.5 on the Richter scale. This is the strongest earthquake ever recorded by instruments in the world.

Remember that each 1.o increase on the Richter scale means a tenfold increase in strength. Still, the Sichuan earthquake was strong enough to destroy 80 percent of the buildings Sichuan province's Beichuan county.

The earthquake happened in southwest China, not all that far from Myanmar, which was devastated by a tropical cyclone only a week or so before.

Dan Breeden
News 19 Chief Meteorologist

Post Mom's Day weather...

Folks, we picked up another round of rainfall over the weekend, fortunately, amounts were not enough to cause any real problems. If you'd like to check on the Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning totals you can visit the  Latest storm totals from the National Weather Service .

This week will bring another cold front in from the Plains later tomorrow and into the evening. The front will not be particularly energetic and moisture will be sparing, but some rain will fall and add to the May totals. You can expect a crack or two of thunder and the tell-tale flash of lightning, but the inherent instability of this system will be weak, so I don't expect severe weather conditions to develop.

Look for a few dry days with cooler than average highs through Thursday. There is an outside chance of rain for Thursday night and Friday, but Saturday may be the next best chance.

Dan Breeden
News 19 Chief Meteorologist

Catered for Kids' Sake...

The 4th Annual Catered for Kids' Sake at the La Crosse Radisson was a great success.  It benefits the Coulee Region Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.  The evening is a get together of seven local caterers who prepare an appetizer, main entree, and a dessert.  The dessert recipes are supplied by seven local celebrities from around the area.  There was also free wine tasting as well as a live and silent auction.

During the evening, you walk around trying all the different appetizers and then vote for your favorite while there's a short presentation.  The same thing is done for the main dishes and the desserts.  At the end of the evening, the top three in each category are announced.  Last year I won the "Best Dessert" category for my mom's Apple Cinnamon Sauce Cake.  So, of course, I had to call her this year and ask for another recipe to "defend" her title.

This year's recipe was her Sin Cake consisting of coconut, chocolate, pecans, and cream cheese.  It is fantastic, but I have to make it without the coconut for myself.  I decided to bring in some for my co-workers to try, and everyone has loved it.  Amy said I should post the recipe online, so I have it below for you to try.  If you try it, please mention where you got it and email me to let me know how it turns out.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!


Thanks for checking in...

Zach Brown, Daybreak Meteorologist

Mama Brown's SIN CAKE
Preheat Oven to 300°F

1                      Box German Chocolate Cake Mix
1 stick            Butter, melted

3/4 cup          Coconut
3/4 cup          Pecan Pieces
3/4 cup          Mini-chocolate morsels
1 tsp                Vanilla

8 ounce          Cream Cheese - softened
3                      Eggs
1 box               10x Confectioner's Sugar

Mix first three ingredients to form ball.

Spray 9x13x2 glass baking dish with Pam spray.

Spread cake mixture evenly, pressing down.

Sprinkle coconut, pecans, and chocolate morsels on top of cake mixture - set aside.

Mix vanilla, cream cheese and eggs well.

Add 1 box of sifted 10x confectioner's sugar.

Spread over cake, touching all sides.

Bake 1 hour at 300°F.

Cool. Then cut into squares.

Long-term outlook...

It's time to take a little longer view of our weather as we get closer to summer. Of course, the first day of summer is still about a month and a half away, but it always seems to come quickly. (As I get older time seems to speed up even more than it used to. Oh well...!)

Now on to the topic at hand:

This winter a relatively strong cooling of the mid-Pacific sea surface temperatures developed, a so-called La Nina. That is the opposite of the more famous El Nino, which we associate with relatively mild winters. The winter produced very pronounced cold weather and snowier than normal totals, much to the chagrin of energy-bill payers here in the Upper Midwest. The trend for colder than average weather continued and April turned out to be the 3rd wettest on record.

May, it seems, has started out on the same path. But will this weather continue or finally lapse into a more normal series of events? The medium and long term computer simulations are predicting a continuation of La Nina in the Pacific into July, so it would seem to follow that the weather patterns will follow the same overall trends for awhile. The wild card here is that the effects of La Nina are typically less pronounced in the Spring season, so hopefully things will gradually shift back toward normal.

If you'd like more in-depth information visit the Climate Prediction Center and get the discussions and graphical outlooks. Their prediction for the next month look like this:

In a nutshell, chances are strong that cooler and wetter than average weather are predicted for the local area.

Dan Breeden
News 19 Chief Meteorologist

Going Green

Tonight we kicked off our latest Going Green Series. It will run every Sunday night on the 10 PM Report and every Monday on Daybreak. Tonight's topic focused on how to dispose of old electronics that you no longer care for. You can check out that story on the homepage of our website. Here's the way the Going Green stories will shape up through the month:

Next Week: Phantom Power
    Believe it or not, when you have your TV turned off, it is still sucking power as long as it's plugged in. I'll let you know how much money that costs you on a yearly basis, and it might surprise you.

May 18: Keeping your Summer Utility Bill Down
    It doesn't feel like it now but summer is right around the corner. It isn't uncommon for temperatures to rise into the 90s during the summer, and an air conditioner can come in handy. I'll have the details on the most efficient way to run your AC.

May 25: Energy audit at WXOW
    To conclude our Going Green series, I thought it would be a great idea to practice what we preach. We will be getting an energy audit at our station. I'll fill you in on where we are saving energy and where we could use some improvement.

Until Next Time,

Andrew Thut
News 19 Forecast Team

Charleston, SC Tour Day #5

As we wrap up this week long tour of my hometown, Charleston, we're going to end with another plantation and some ghosts and aquarium.  That's right!  Ghosts, ghost stories, and ghost tours are a big deal in the city.  We'll get to that in a moment.

The South Carolina Aquarium was opened in 2000 on the banks of the Charleston Harbor.  Its home to more than 10,000 plants and animals.  Not only do they house sea creatures, you'll also find snakes, frogs, and Venus flytraps.  The star attraction would have to be the Great Ocean Tank that extends three floors, two of which are visible to the public.  It holds almost 400,000 gallons of water.  You'll be able to spot sharks, eels, blowfish, and a giant sea turtle.

Speaking of sea turtles, the aquarium has a very successful sea turtle rescue program.  Through the tour of the aquarium, you're able to see how turtles can escape some specially designed shrimp nets as well as watch a television monitor of the hospital.  On the screen will flash different cameras in the hospital to show you all the turtles they're rehabilitating.  Since their first release in 2003, 20 turtles have been successfully rehabilitated and released back into the wild.  You can even track some of them on their website with satellite tracking chips that were put on the turtle.

As I said in a previous posting, plantations are still in existence in the south and some of them are called "working" plantations.  That means they still have farm lands that are used to grow crops.  One such plantation is Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.  It was originally known for its rice, cotton and pecan crops.  There have been crops growing here for over 300 years.  Today they still produce strawberries, peaches, tomatoes, and pumpkins.

Boone Hall was founded by Major John Boone after given a land grant for some 460 acres.  The original wooden house was built in 1790, but the house that stands there now was built by Thomas Stone.  He purchased the land in the early 20th century.  On the grounds today, besides the house, there are nine original slave cabins, a smoke house, a Cotton Gin, and the grand Avenue of Oaks.

The Avenue of Oaks is nearly a mile long stretch of live oak trees.  They were planted by Thomas Boone to mark the grand entrance to the property.  This is actually the longest "Avenue of Oaks" in the United States.  The majestic trees line each side of the drive and are spaced out evenly.  Unlike other trees/plants, the live oaks will actually intertwine their roots to create a shared union of food.  It took almost two centuries for each side of the oaks to touch over the driveway creating a beautiful canopy.  During the hot and humid summer months, you'll actually be a lot cooler under the canopy than anywhere else.

The oak wood from oak trees was actually used to build many a ship, because the wood was so resilient.  The USS Constitution was one of the ships built with the wood, and it actually repelled the shot of the HMS Guerriere.  That earned the ship the nickname "Old Ironsides."

You are even invited to sit in front of one of the slave cabins and learn about the history of the Gullah culture in the south.  You'll learn of their native language that is an English-based Creole language containing many African loanwords.  Some words are pronounced differently and may be hard to understand.  For instance, the word "think" will actually be pronounce "tink".  The word "them" will actually be pronounce "dem".  Their food is amazing as well.  There are recipes that my family has cooked for generations, and I was surprised to find out that they're actually inspired by the Gullah recipes.  Yum!

As I said earlier, Charleston, and the south for that matter, is known for ghost and haunts.  There are many tour groups in the city that will take you on walking tours during the evening hours.  They take you to some of the actually locations where ghosts are said to be.  I've done a few tours with the Bulldog Tour Company.  They take you all over the city to cemeteries, graveyards, and an old jail and dungeon.  They'll tell you an actual story from the location, and then tell you about events that have happened in that same location since then.  The pictures below show an alley known as "Dueler's Alley".  Two men, one a doctor, met there to settle their differences over a woman.  One man shot his gun into the air in hopes the other man would settle the argument in a different way.  That wasn't the case.  The other man shot the doctor in the leg, and a few days later, the doctor died.  He's said to walk that alley during the evening and disappear into a brick wall.  That place in the wall is actually a bricked up entrance to what used be a tavern the doctor frequented.  You can make out the former door in one of the pictures below.  You be the judge.

This is an amazing city where history actually comes alive on a daily basis.  Growing up, history class had such a different feel to it since we could actually go to these locations on a field trip and learn the stories better.  Thanks for taking this journey with me.  I hope everyone has enjoyed it.


Thanks for checking in...

Zach Brown, Daybreak Meteorologist