Posts Tagged ‘snow’

Snow over the weekend here in the Baraboo hills didn’t fill us with hope that summer would be coming anytime soon, but as someone on our Facebook said, “Don’t worry, our three months of bad sledding will arrive.”  Well, it won’t arrive soon enough for me, that’s for sure.  Forecasters are calling for a chance of snow every day through Friday in our area.  That’s Fantastic!  (Hang in there.)

Have you ever wondered if there was any rhyme or reason to the media’s modern weather hyperbole?  Are words like battered, hit, pummeled, savaged or even snowmageddon measurable?  Can you sort out any real information in today’s meteorological  amplifications?  Well, we’ve been looking into that and here’s what we’ve discovered.

Winter weather exaggeration has become almost an art form.  Like so much of the modern news media these days, even meteorologists feel the need to blow things all out of proportion in the futile hope that they will somehow stand out above the din.  Of course it never works because, well, everyone’s doing it.  The bottom line for listeners, is that it’s becoming harder to translate all the hypertensive verbal acrobatics back into “news you can use”.  Or is it? Read the rest of this entry »

Driving by Devil’s Head Resort near Merrimac this morning I noticed they had the snow machines running full on. It seemed like a good idea to stop by and get a few pics. As it happened, the manager walked in just in time to confirm that they do plan to open this Friday, November 26th, at 2pm! They will be offering half price lift tickets and $50 hotel rooms throughout the weekend as well. So, as long as the weather gods play nice you’ll be able to work of that turkey dinner on the slopes at Devil’s Head all weekend long.

Ok. So I did ask a guy near one of the snow machines what he thought about having enough snow for Friday and got a quirky smile for asking… Take that as you may…

More

• Slideshow: Making Snow @ Devil’s Head Resort This Morning
• Flickr Gallery

At 6 am this morning it was 16 degrees and  light snow was swirling around  Baraboo hills area.  If you have a look at the Cascade Mountain Snow Cam, you’ll see their enjoying a (man-made) blizzard as they do their best to jump start central Wisconsin’s ski season.  Well, with Thanksgiving Day later in the week and Black Friday advertising at an ever increasing and irritating din, we thought it’s probably time to accept that winter is upon us.

So let’s talk Winter!! Over the next couple months temperatures here in south-central Wisconsin will average in the high 20′s to low 30s.  Average lows in January can hang in the single digits.  While we do get snow, it’s not as much as you might think. According to the Wisconsin State Climatology Office, average snowfall in the state for November runs around 5 inches. Madison, in the south-central part of the state, gets around 3.  (There’s nothing much on the ground at the moment.)  In December & January we can expect nearly 11 inches of snow per month in our part of the state. While that’s a lot to shovel, it’s not much of a base for the ski hills.  This is why we are talking about snow machines instead of reading dispatches from the Baraboo Hills Avalanche Center or reading blog posts by Marty the summit cat. (I want a summit cat!)

The problem with averages is that they are made up of highs and lows.  Wisconsin weather can be extremely variable.  Heck, yesterday it was 55f and foggy and this morning it’s 15f as the sun rises over the Baraboo range.  Just to make the point,  the long-range meteorologist over at AccuWeather.com is predicting a winter “Battle Zone”  for the Great Lakes area. In other words.. “Who knows?!”,  which is why here in Wisconsin it seems we’re always talking about the weather.

Oh yes, and I do have one more bit of winter weather trivia for you…  According to NOAA, we have a 61-75% chance of a White Christmas here in central Wisconsin.  So at least we’ve got that going for us.  Have a splendid day.  Dress warm. It’s cold out there!

More

• Cascade Mountain Snow Cams
• Devil’s Head Resort Snow Cam
• AccuWeather’s 2010-2011 Winter Forecast
• Wisconsin Winter Climate – Wisconsin State Climatology Office
• NOAA’s White Christmas Report
• Average Snowfalls By City
• Mount Washington Observatory – Home of Marty The Summit Cat

* Image is a screen cap from Cascade Mountain’s Snow Cam early this am.

The way the press over reacts to snow storms these days it almost makes you feel dirty to write about it!  I’m not sure what the word is for “more than hype” but that’s the word I want.  Well, if you don’t spend too much time watching the news and simply get outside it’s actually much nicer than you are lead to believe.  The trick to enjoying a good snow storm is to wear the right clothing and to get away from any sort of traffic noise.  If you can’t hear the snowflakes hitting the water, you’ve got to get further from home.  Well, to be fair a snowstorm in New York City has it’s charms as well!

Thankful for old Jeep we took a drive down around the part of the Baraboo river where the Bald Eagles have been hanging out. One poor guy sat like a stature in a branch that overhung the river while the wind lifted and twisted the feathers off the back of his head.  Occasionally he’d shake off the snow before settling back into his fate. The horses that live along Old Lake Road did their best to ignore the snow as they dug into their morning meal.  One seemed to have had enough and pushed against the wind to walk back toward the barn only to find the gate was closed.  He turned back and joined the rest.  Cold weather does keep people, and horses, close.

I have a few pictures from yesterday’s snowstorm road trip posted up on our flickr.  Just click here.