Spooky stats...

It is Halloween and I thought I'd share some spooky stats with you.  Do you remember 1995?  La Crosse received 2.4 inches of snow to make it the wettest Halloween on record.  The odds of having any precipitation at all on Halloween is about 44.8% for La Crosse.  Since 1909, it has only snowed on 12 Halloweens since then.

Check out this picture:

This has been going on the past couple of days.  It's called an exploding comet.  This picture of comet 17P/Holmes was taken by someone in Buffalo, New York.  It looks like science fiction, but I guess he took the picture at the right moment as the comet was pulsating.  You'll need to look north after sunset if you want to see this space event.  Without a telescope, the comet will be as bright as the stars of the Big Dipper.

Another tid bit of knowledge that I didn't know, Halloween is actually called a cross-quarter date.  It's midway between an equinox and a solstice.  There are four cross-quarter dates during the year: Groundhog Day (Feb. 2), May Day (May 1), Lammas Day (Aug. 1), and Halloween (Oct. 31).  Long ago, the Celts of the British Isles used cross-quarter days to mark the beginning of seasons.  Winter begin on Halloween, or as the called it, Samhain.


You think that's strange?  A massive solar wind stream hit Earth on September 30, 2002 causing about a week of amazing displays of the Northern Lights.  Check out this picture of the Northern Lights taken in Quebec City, Canada:

                     I hope everyone enjoyed these little bits of spooky statistics.  Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Thanks for checking in!

Zach Brown, Daybreak Meteorologist

Comments

[Sue]

WOW! These pictures are just AMAZING! thanks Zack for sharing. Your blogs are interesting and I enjoy reading them.
Thanks!

[Nikki]

Hi Zach! Happy Halloween! I have to say...I loved your "magic trick" at the end of the show this morning! I remember last year on Halloween, the morning meteorologist made his legs disappear in front of the big blue wall...The magic of TV! I love reading your blogs! Keep up the great work both on air and online! By the way, I'm hoping to make it out to your Weather Academy in Viroqua tomorrow night Maybe I'll see you there!