January 5, 2009

The Reporter - Fond du Lac, WI

Weather-weary residents in Fond du Lac greeted the New Year as if they'd spent 2008 waging a battle with Mother Nature.

And that's closer to the truth than most would like to recall.

From tornadoes to extreme cold and blizzards to a 100-year flood to drought conditions, Wisconsin was blasted with extreme weather, said Rusty Kapela, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Although snowfall totals for each year aren't recorded until May, a quick run through the weather archives indicated Fond du Lac County received between 40 to 50 inches of snowfall in November and December, Kapela said. Greater amounts were seen in the northern portion of the county.

In the city, snowfall amounts total 48.6 inches so far this season, according to Larry Mielke, a local cooperative observer for the National Weather Service. December's whopping 42.6 inches of snow is a record for the city, Mielke said.

About this same time last year, balmy temperatures had melted snow and even thick layers of ice that had built up in early December. Temperatures reached the 40s during an early but brief January thaw.

Still, last year set the all-time record for snowfall in Fond du Lac, at least in recorded history, with 79.2 inches blanketing the city, from Mielke's observations. A total of 14 storms throughout the winter created record snowfalls, ranging from 65 to 122 (West Allis) inches.

Snowfall extremes seen in Fond du Lac include the season of 1958-59, in which 68.9 inches fell on the city. Another record was set Dec. 3, 1990, when 14 inches of snow fell in one day.

Today is expected to be mostly sunny, with a high of 20, but wind chills down to 15 below zero. The forecast for Tuesday calls for a 40 percent chance of snow, with highs reaching into the upper 20s, according to the National Weather Service.

Here is a glimpse of some of Wisconsin's weather highlights of 2008.

January: Tornadoes and warm temperatures, then bitter cold: Two tornadoes tore through Walworth and Kenosha counties, destroying homes and buildings. It was the second time in history there was a recorded tornado in January. A winter blizzard at the close of the month was accompanied by wind chills of 50 below zero.

February: Fraught with storms, bitter cold. A Feb. 17 storm started out with freezing rain, then sleet, then snow that fell at a rate of about 1 inch an hour. Because of the underlying ice, hundreds of vehicle accidents were reported.

April brings late winter storm and tornadoes: A late season winter storm April 10-12 produced a lingering period of wet, heavy snow and storms accompanied by thunder and lightning. April 25 brought the first severe spring weather with hail, heavy winds and two tornadoes reported in Columbia County.

June and the devastating flood: Heavy rainfall events, one on June 7 and June 8, and another on June 12, produced flash flooding across southern Wisconsin. Fond du Lac was declared a federal emergency disaster area after the Fond du Lac River overflowed its banks, flooding homes in the vicinity. The previous record for June rainfall of 10.13 inches was set in 1917. The estimated grand total of $765.9 million in damages makes the June 2008 flooding the most costly natural disaster in Wisconsin's recorded history — even exceeding the damage attributed to the 1993 floods.

June tornadoes: a total of 22 tornadoes occurred throughout the state. The state average is 21 tornadoes a year. There were no fatalities and only five injuries. On June 7, 13 tornadoes were spotted. The third largest hailstone of 5 inches in diameter was recorded in Delafield. Estimated damage was $3.4 million for homes and businesses and $736,000 for crops.

September rain then drought: The remnants of two hurricanes dumped about 6 inches of rain on the state this month. Summer dryness across northern Wisconsin resulted in 9.3 percent of the state locked in severe drought conditions, which continued into October.

November is warm: Warm aired pushed into Wisconsin for three days in November. Maximum readings peaked in the lower to mid 70s, and nighttime lows dropped to only the lower 50s. Many cities in southern Wisconsin established a new daily record maximum.

www.standeyo.com/NEWS/09_Earth_Changes/090105.2008.extreme.weather.html