WOODTV.com Blogs » Bill Steffen

syndicated content powered by FeedBurner

FeedBurner makes it easy to receive content updates in My Yahoo!, Newsgator, Bloglines, and other news readers.

Learn more about syndication and FeedBurner...

Current Feed Content

Thursday

Posted:Thu, 24 Apr 2014 09:13:21 +0000

At 2:30 PM- still a couple sprinkles up along US 10. Look for showers tonight. The morning run of the NAM (car.) gives G.R. only .09″, Cadillac .21″. It gives G.R. .07″ late Sat. night/Sunday. The work week next week looks cool and wet.

Links: Grand Rapids radar, Northern I ndiana radar, Chicago radar, Detroit radar and Milwaukee radar. Here’s regional radar, the College of DuPage Radar Map (pick any radar in the U.S.), College of DuPage Grand Rapids radar, GFS snowfall for the next 120 hours and NAM model snowfall for the next 84 hours. the West Michigan Lightning Tracker, National Lightning Tracker, the local warning/advisory map and the National warning/watch/advisory map, and a surface weather map. You can checkout the latest Grand Rapids NWS discussion, the Northern Indiana NWS discussion (includes the Michigan Counties that border Indiana), the discussion for Northern Lower Michigan, and Eastern Lower Michigan. Check out Storm Total Precipitation (until they reset it). Here’s the Spyglass Condos Weather Station the S. Haven GLERL station, the Muskegon GLERL station, the Grand Haven Steelheaders webcam and weather station, and the weather station at Holland State Park. Check out the Maranatha Webcam at Lake Michigan and links to webcams. Here’s the infrared satellite loop (night) and the visible satellite loop (daytime), Lake Michigan water temperatures (summer). Here’s storm reports from SW Michigan, Northern Michigan, NE Illinois, SE. Wisconsin, Upper Michigan and E. Michigan. Check out the wind and wave height at the South Mid-Lake Michigan Buoy (Apr. to Nov. only), the North Mid-Lake Michigan Buoy (Apr. to Nov. only), the buoy at Big Sable Point near Ludington, the weather station at Manistee Harbor and the weather station on the beach at St. Joseph. Here’s Michigan wind gusts from MesoWest, data from the MAWN agricultural weather stations and Weather Underground (data at the bottom from private weather stations). Check out the webcam at Krupp’s Resort, where they are pushing toward 3 feet of snow on the ground. Check out the cold temps. on the U.S. Low Temperature map. Here’s the morning run of the NAM forecast snow amounts. Here’s a live look at the Houghton Bridge. Here’s the Consumers Energy Power Outage Map. We continue to watch for ice jams on Michigan rivers. Here’s Closings.
Another Strong E-quake

Posted:Thu, 24 Apr 2014 05:10:53 +0000

A magnitude 6.6 Earthquake occurred around 10:10 pm EDT just offshore of Vancouver Island, Canada. The quake was 7.1 miles deep and did not generate any significant tsunami. A magnitude 6.3 occurred in the same area on 9/9/2011. Aftershocks of 5.0 and 4.2 quickly followed the main quake. This area gets an earthquake of this magnitude about every 10-15 years. As I write this, I see no reports of injuries. The quake was felt throughout most of Vancouver Island.
Great Lakes Snow Cover

Posted:Wed, 23 Apr 2014 15:32:33 +0000

We’re a week from May and here’s the latest snow cover in the U.P.: 26″ Mohawk and SE of Calumet, 20″ near Houghton, 17″ Munising, 13″ Ishpeming, 11″ Paulding, 10″ Michigamme, 9″ Big Bay, 6″ Newberry, Jacobsville, Marquette (airport), 5″ Ontonagon, Gladstone, 3″ Watersmeet. Snow cover is now at 5.9″ of the Lower 48 states. (click on the images to enlarge – the first is Great Lakes snow cover from NOHRSC, the second is North America snow cover and ice cover from NOAA (still a lot of ice on Lake Superior). Great Lakes ice cover on 4/22 was 33.9% (the most ever this late in spring). Ice cover on Weds. 4/23 was at 17.2% on Lake Michigan, 59.5% on Lake Superior, 31% on Lake Huron, 10.2% on Lake Erie and 1% on Lake Ontario. The GFS says that April ends and May starts cool over much of the Central U.S., including Michigan. Again, don’t be in a hurry to plant this spring – the threat of frost will probably linger into early May. Here’s the Michigan Tech. Trail Cam – still looks like mid-winter. Here’s the ice around Granite Is. in Lake Superior. Click here for webcams around Upper Michigan and Lake Superior. Here’s the Snowman Cam from Krupp’s Resort at Twin Lakes – lots of snow left…lots of ice on the lake. Mt. Bohemia is up to 347″ of snow for the winter – and they’re not done yet. They will be open for skiing through at least the first weekend of May. Boyne Mt. is scheduled to be open this coming weekend – one of their longest seasons ever (started on 11/15 – so they are headed toward nearly 6 months of skiing. Ski Brule is also going to open for at least one more weekend.

Global sea ice extent is now well above average (a significant increase since 2012). Arctic ice remains below the recent average, but significantly above the level of April 2007/2008. Antarctic ice extent continues to set daily records. The extent is much greater than one year ago, much greater than average (well beyond two standard deviations from the recent average) and it continues a steady climb from the mid 1980s.
Severe Weather

Posted:Wed, 23 Apr 2014 05:06:45 +0000

No severe weather here in Michigan. We’ll have a nice afternoon. We started the day on a chilly note, with low temps. of 32 in G.R., 31 in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek, 29 in Kent City and Sparta, 27 at Baldwin. It got down to 18 at Iron Mt. and Kenton in the U.P. and 17 at Paulding. At least the winds have died down. With the help of a strong, late April sun – we’ll see temperatures head into the 50s this afternoon. These are the Severe Weather Outlooks from the Storm Prediction Center for this afternoon (Weds.), Thurs. and for Day 4, Day 5 and 6 (the weekend/Monday). There will be severe storms today in the Plains from Nebraska down to N. Texas. The green General Thunderstorm Outlook comes up to the edge of Lake Michigan on Thurs. – showers are more likely here, downwind from a chilly Lake Michigan. Then, over the weekend, we’ll see more severe weather in the Plains from KS and SW MO down to North Texas and eastward. The severe stuff will stay to our south. Here’s the U.S. severe weather reports for Tuesday. There were no tornadoes, just one marginal hail report and 18 wind damage/strong wind reports – including several from NE Idaho.

Also, check out the sideways view of the Earth’s atmosphere from the Intl. Space Station…also from NASA Earth – A thin, crescent moon with Earthshine…and check out this shot of fog at Niagara Falls.

One week until May and more snow is on the way for the U.P. The high temperature Tues. was just 34 at Spincich Lake and Grand Marais, Munising reached only 35. As of Tues. evening, there’s still 25″ of snow on the ground at Hoist Basin, 23″ at Mohawk, 19″ just southeast of Houghton, 17″ at Munising and 6″ at Marquette (airport).

The NAM (car.) gives G.R. a high of 55 today (Weds.), 60 on Thu. and 62 on Fri…along with 1/3rd inch of rain Thurs. night. I’m tired…not staying up for the European. More later today.
Cooler Today and Early Next Week

Posted:Tue, 22 Apr 2014 06:36:11 +0000

This is the Thunderstorm Outlook from the Storm Prediction Center for 4/23 (Weds.). The main threat looks like hail, though strong winds and an isolated tornado or two are also possible. Looks like another snowstorm goes over Lake Superior. Here’s the NAM and GFS snow predictions for Lake Superior. The models have afternoon temps. in the upper 40s today and mid 50s on Weds. The NAM (car.) gives G.R. .02″ of rain Thurs. AM and 0.29″ Thurs. evening. The GFS (car.) gives G.R. 0.08″ Thurs. AM and 0.38″ Thurs. evening/night. The GFS-plot is almost frigid for early next week, with afternoon temps. only in the low 40s Sunday and temps. most of Monday only in the 30s. The GFS-plot also says we’ll have at least a chance of a little light mix with the cold air, which could include a period of sleet or even wet snow! The model has lows in the upper 20s (a freeze) next Monday am. I’m not staying up for the European tonight. Look at the Jamstec model forecast for next winter. It has a weak-moderate El Nino centered in the Central Pacific with a Storm Track on average a touch east of Michigan and lots of cold. This would be reminiscent of the winter of 1977-78, which followed the cold winter of 1976-77. Grand Rapids high of 78 on Monday was warmer than Daytona Beach (73), Orlando (73), Tampa (75), New Orleans (76), Galveston (76), and Molokai Airport/Hawaii (76). It was cooler to the north with highs of 45 at Mackinac Is. and Escanaba and 46 at Cheboygan. Winter wheat crop diminished by cold and snowy winter. The picture on the right is from the NWS in Grand Jct. CO. It’s a snow measurement taken 4/1 at Buffalo Pass Co. They measured a snow depth of 196″ (16′ 4″). That’s 64″ above the average snow depth there for April 1.

Sea Ice Update April 20, 2014 – Global Sea Ice 1.05 million sq km Above Normal – Antarctic Sea Ice 42nd Daily Record. Great Lakes ice at 2,000% of average! Lowest # of tornadoes from Jan. 1 – April 21 ever. Hurricane events also low – ACE Index at lowest level in over 35 years.
Bill and Gayle 36 years

Posted:Tue, 22 Apr 2014 06:09:53 +0000

It’s my 36th wedding anniversary today (4/22). The weather that day was perfect…mostly sunny, low-mid 60s, light SE wind. Today Gayle and I are on our way home from visiting my mother in Tennessee. We’re at the Microtel in Dry Ridge KY. We stopped to see Cumberland Falls on Monday…125 feet across and 68-feet down – the most significant waterfall south of Niagara and east of the Mississippi. The flow on the river varies considerably. The record low flow is just 4 cubic feet per second…not much more than a trickle. The biggest flow was over 59,000 cubic feet per second. Compare that to the Grand River flood of 2013, which peaked at 35,100 cfs. The Great Flood of 1904 on the Grand River was 54,000 cfs. We’ll drive home today (Tue.) and it’s back to work on Weds. The weather’s been perfect for our trip…it was in the 70s and sunny and past two days in Oak Ridge. The leaves are about 60% out in Oak Ridge, maybe only 10% here in N. Kentucky.
10 days from May and look at the ice on Lake Superior

Posted:Mon, 21 Apr 2014 04:20:22 +0000

Click on the images (from the Marquette NWS facebook page) to enlarge. Look at the ice on Lake Superior, 10 days from May – here’s the MQT NWS estimate of last ice: “the amount of ice is nearing records for the latest widespread ice cover this late into spring over the northern portions of the lake… mid-May is a good estimate for much of the lake. However, some of the shoreline locations where the ice typically holds on longest could push into late-May.” The picture on the right is Coast Guard Cutter Alder assisting the Mesabi Miner out of Marquette Saturday (April 19th). Snow depth Sunday evening: Sault Ste. Marie 9″, Marquette 13″, Mohawk 28″. The latest analysis by NOAA/Coastwatch showed a Great Lakes ice cover of 36%. The 4/19-20 ice percentage shows 18% ice cover on Lake Michigan. Lake Superior still shows a 63% ice cover, Lake Huron is at 30%, Lake Erie (the southernmost Great Lake) is at 12.0% ice cover and Lake Ontario is has a 2% ice cover.
Smallest Slight Risk Ever from SPC

Posted:Mon, 21 Apr 2014 03:34:52 +0000

Thought you’d like to see the smallest Slight Risk Area that I’ve ever seen SPC issue. Click on the image to enlarge if you can’t see it. This is for Sunday Night. Guess it kind of narrow’s down the area to go storm-chasing. The storm that prompted this “gigantic” Slight Risk Area has produced hail up to baseball-size and one relatively small rope tornado. Here’s Storm Reports from Sunday. At 154 days on April 20, 2014, the span between EF-3 or stronger tornadoes is the 4th longest span between in the last 60 years. So far, we’ve had 109 reported tornadoes (this number will go down as duplicates are eliminated) in the U.S. in 2014, a record low number for Jan. 1 – Apr. 20. Check out this graphic comparison of instability – a major ingredient for severe weather – for this year compared to average, the weak year of 1981 and the active year of 2008. I’ve mentioned before that it’s been cold this spring (and last spring thru 4/20). Thanks to Greg Carbin (SPC) for the comparison. Tallahassee, Florida has had 18.86″ of rain since 3/1. California wishes they would share.

The weather looks excellent for the Boston Marathon, partly to mostly sunny – high mid 60s. April 26 – May 1 looks relatively chilly in Michigan and from the Northern Plains to New England. The European model sayin’ the same thing. I’ve said before on the blog that you should hold off planting anything frost sensitive until further notice. Anything that’s really frost tolerant can go in now…but don’t rush the growing season (which will probably be on the short side of average this summer).

The Flood Warning for the Muskegon River at Croton may be downgraded to an Advisory later today. The river was right at Flood Stage Sunday night, but was falling very slowly. There are still River Advisories for parts of the Maple, Chippewa, Muskegon and Pere Marquette Rivers.
From Oak Ridge – Day 4

Posted:Mon, 21 Apr 2014 02:50:15 +0000

   Easter Sunday night. Everyone one else has turned in and once again I’ve come to the Krystal (fast food restaurant) to log onto the internet. Right now, I’m the only one here (except the 3 employees). Oak Ridge is a friendly town. When I first showed up tonight, I got a table and sat down. I sneezed and the people at each of the tables next to me said “God bless you.”   I’ve been here at the Krystal 4 nights now…the staff here is very friendly. You order at a counter and they bring your food. I left a buck last night and today the same guy thanked me a couple times. They must not get many tips. He actually deserved more than that. He asked me a couple times if I wanted a refill on my Diet Coke (unlimited refills on drinks – including a fill-up when you leave…so get the small size and keep getting refills – no need to get a bigger size). Once AGAIN, I’m not in the place 15 minutes and up comes “Wrecking Ball” on the music that plays nonstop here. Fourth night in a row. Oak Ridge is full of scientists and the non-scientists seem to listen to country music mostly. I don’t think “Wrecking Ball” would be at the top of the Oak Ridge request line.

So, Easter Sunday!   What a great day we had! The weather was perfect, mostly sunny – cool, about 40 in the early AM and low-mid 70s in the mid-late afternoon. We got up and like we have done for so many decades…we had juice/coffee and mom’s wonderful homemade German coffee cake. I can’t remember an Easter without it. Then off to church, which was about 95% full. Lots of music – good message – I noted that the mothers had made an effort to make sure their kids were looking nice. Then back home for the traditional mom’s brunch/lunch of eggs, ham, peas and carrots, rolls, both scalloped and sweet potatoes…and some Easter chocolate.

After lunch, we did the dishes, cleaned up and then got in the SUV and drove about 45 minutes to Frozen Head State Park. The park is known for the Barkley Marathons , an unusual ultramarathon event that has been held every year in the park since 1984. Competitors run a 100-mile (160 km) rugged course and a 60-mile “fun run” (which is harder than Hardrock) over 60 hours, in 20-mile (32 km) segments that each must be completed in 12 hours or less.   The course is unmarked and goes over very rugged and brushy terrain. Entrants must complete an essay on “Why I Should be Allowed to Run in the Barkley”. The race starts at different times each year and (this is Tennessee) starts with the lightning of a cigarette. As of 2014, only fourteen competitors have ever finished the race!! In 2006 nobody finished even the 60-mile ‘fun run’ in under 40 hours. The best women’s achievement is Sue Johnston’s 66 miles (106 km) in 2001. With 54,200 feet (16,500 m) of accumulated vertical climb, the 100-mile run is considered to be one of the more challenging ultramarathons held in the world. In addition to running, competitors must find between nine to eleven books, the number varies per year, and remove the page corresponding to the runner’s race number from each book as proof of completion. More than 30 competitors failed to reach first book (two miles) that year (the race is run in late March or early April and the trail can be muddy, even icy. I’m going to nominate Julie (daughter one), Merrick and Laura V. for the race next year. I’ll even give them a flashlight.

It’s a big park (24,000 acres) and we went hiking. My mother made it about 1/2 mile up the trail to see DeBord Falls (see pic.) (I figure it was named after Terri DeBoer and they just misspelled it). A few people actually got into the cold water and splashed around at the falls.   My brother-in-law and I hiked another half-a-mile up to Emory Falls (higher, but less water). All total, I probably hiked about 4.5 miles. The wind was calm…there were LOTS of wildflowers in many different colors and quite a few yellow (Swallowtail?) butterflies…one of them came up right in front of me. We stayed until about 7 PM, then went home for dinner and board games.   We played something like “take a pickle” (forgot the official name). We were allowing everything if you’re familiar with the game and laughed hysterically at some of the stretching to make a card fit. Then a game of Dogopoly, which we didn’t have time to finish (my sister is really into dogs, cats…rescuing dogs and cats and helping the local Humane Society).   I somehow managed to get around the board nearly twice without being able to buy a property. By the time I got my first property, each of the other players had at least four properties.   Eventually, everyone turned in. We start for home tomorrow PM…back to work on Weds.   Great trip so far…no rain (though I don’t mind rainy days) and at least partly sunny each day.
Happy Easter Weekend

Posted:Sat, 19 Apr 2014 06:15:41 +0000

The first picture is from Gary Brink and it was taken one week ago on 4 11 – lots of ice at Holland. The second picture from Julie Ackerman Link shows the ice at Grand Haven (I believe this was Friday). Click on the pictures to enlarge. That’s a lot of ice for mid-April. Looks like a pretty good weekend – up to 70° on Sunday. April 1-18 average 0.9° cooler than average in G.R. Not a lot of severe weather in the U.S. with just 8 wind reports on Friday. The models are hinting at some severe weather toward the middle-end of next week, but more likely in the Plains than here. Here’s Easter extremes for G.R., MKG, and LAN. Most rivers are slowly receeding. Here’s current levels. The Muskegon River is falling at Evart and at the Croton Dam. Here’s a clear close-up MODIS satellite picture (from NOAA Coastwatch) of the ice on Lake Superior. Some rain and a little freezing rain today in the U.P. They’ve had some significant snow in the U.P. this month: “For the period 1-17 April, 2014 is tied for #4 w/29.0″ of snowfall at MQT. 1st place goes to 2007 w/55.2″ – from MQT NWS. In Negaunee Township, the greatest snowfall to occur after April 17th is 22.4 inches recorded on May 9-10, 1990. The record that has been held since 1970 for the most consecutive days below 60° at Gaylord has been broken. In 1970 there was a stretch of 186 days that ended on April 14th that never reached 60°. Today, April 18th, 2014 will be 187 days and still counting! The latest monthly outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for May gives Michigan higher probabilities for a cool month. Some heavy rain (+5″) in parts of S. AL, NW FL. 7.2 Magnitude e-quake in Mexico and a 6.9 magnitude earthquake was reported 62km (38 miles) SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea. Nice sunset in NYC. CFS model predicts cool weather for the Great Lakes for the end of April with a decent chance of a (hopefully) light freeze – fortunately, vegetation no where near as far along as back in 2012.

Hail Storm in Texas…hail on I-10 in Texas…bright fireball lights up the sky in Murmansk, Russia.