Those frigid, winter days are only a month or two away and 13News has a remedy for that!

We’ve teamed up with the Chicago-Rockford International Airport to send you and a friend to Cancun aboard an Apple Vacations jet non-stop from Rockford to Cancun! The contest begins Monday on 13News at Five.

We’ll give you more information Monday, but this one’s going to be easy to win. All you have to do is watch and WIN!

Have a great weekend. Enjoy the 70° temps! See you over on Facebook. -ES

Posted under tropical weather

These are one of my favorite cloud/weather phenomenons.  You yourself have probably seen these in the sky, especially during sunrise or sunset, and wondered what is that… that’s kinda cool looking.  They are called Sun Dogs.

Sundogs may appear as a colored patch of light to the left or right of the sun. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season. In Europe and North America, they might be seen as often as twice a week but they are not always obvious or bright. They are best seen  when the sun is low and you have a good layer of cirrus clouds (those whispy thin clouds).

The light from the sun refracts off the ice crystals in the cirrus clouds and forms prism like patches beside the sun.  Sundogs are red colored at the side nearest the sun. Farther out from the sun, the colors change through oranges to blue. However, the colors overlap considerably and become more muted… they are never pure or saturated.

Areas around the world have seen some amazing displays of sundogs.  For the more elaborate sundog, you’ll need some very cold conditions (the more ice crystals the better).  But you can see them in the summer, they will just see them more often during sunrise or sunset.

*** When looking at or for sundogs.. make sure you don’t look directly at the sun.  Block the sun with your hand or hands and look just off to either side and you just might see something very cool.

To see the different levels of sundogs from suttle to extreme, just google sundogs and ENJOY!!

Posted under humor, weather

Tropical Storm Ida began her first day of existence today as Hurricane Hunters flew their aircraft through the storm and found sustained wind near 65mph. This system will continue to move north by northwest and enter Central America sometime tomorrow…most likely before it reaches hurricane strength.However this storm is expected to reemerge into the Caribbean Sea over the weekend and continue moving northward, perhaps entering the Gulf of Mexico sometime early next week. This system has at least a low chance of becoming a hurricane and would thus impact the Gulf Coast in about a week.

Tropical Storms and hurricanes aren’t rare for this time of year. In fact, hurricane season doesn’t officially end until December first and there have

been storms that have defied the “season” and formed in December! One of the reasons tropical systems get fewer and fewer this time of year is the presence of wind shear. If you’ve ever been to a Caribbean beach in the winter you know the water’s like bathwater. In fact, 80° seawater (the minimum to support a tropical system) occurs there all year round. But it’s almost impossible for tropical system to form and increase in strength in these parts because upper-level winds increase as we head into fall and don’t decrease until spring. These winds tear apart tropical systems and cause them to recurve into the Atlantic or not form at all. We’ll continue to watch Ida. While she is being affected by upper-level shear, it seems reasonable we will be talking about her for another week or so!

Posted under tropical weather

So I was looking through some pictures online and found some that I just love… when I see them in person.  I hope you enjoy.

Crepuscular rays are something you have probably seen before and said ohh that’s pretty. They are like fingers stretching out of the sky, waving hello or even goodbye… all depends on the time of day.  Most commonly, they are seen over large bodies water near sunrise or sunset, but they can be seen anywhere and during any part of the day as long as the sun is up and clouds are in the appropriate locations.

There are a couple things that you need to get a good display of crepuscular rays. First, you need…well..the sun…or course.  Second, you need some good cloud cover with some separation between them.  The clouds form shadowy regions on the opposite side of them so there is a large contrast between the bright rays and the dark regions. This contrast is what makes crepuscular rays spectacular.

The scientific name of Crepuscular Rays simply describes the time of day you are most likely to see it. Crepuscular hours are the hours near dawn and twilight. These are also the hours when the contrast between light and dark are most pronounced.

Posted under weather

An incoming clipper could have just enough moisture and lift to produce a few pre-dawn flurries Wednesday (as well as a few sprinkles during the day). However the big news continues to be the anticipated warmth that arrives for this weekend! If we can keep the clouds limited Saturday and Sunday, one of the days could approach 70°. However, even a thin veil of clouds will keep us in the upper 50s…something we’ll continue to monitor in the coming days. On a side note, this pattern may actually stick around for a week or so (so says our mid-range models). Time will tell, but it’s about time we warm up around here, right?

Posted under weather

Did you know…???   Full Moon names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern and eastern United States. The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full Moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred. Since the lunar month is only 29 days long on the average, the full Moon dates shift from year to year.

Full Beaver Moon - November This was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Full Beaver Moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now actively preparing for winter.

It is sometimes also referred to as the Frosty Moon.   It gets its name from northern autumnal ground frost, which glistens beautifully in pale moonlight.

On that note… There is a full moon tonight.  Frost on the ground to make things sparkle and shine, maybe not.  But since temperatures will be below freezing tonight, you should head outside and enjoy the Frosty Moon… or if you need to set Beaver traps, then enjoy the Beaver Moon.

Meteorologist Cyndi Kahlbaum

Posted under weather

What is Virga you may ask? It is simply rain that does not quite make it to the ground. It is caused by a layer of moist air in the atmosphere situated over a layer of very dry air. With this setup, today it was literally raining over us, but was so dry near the ground that it never quite made it!

Weather buffs may have heard of a meteogram, but for those of you that haven’t, it is an image of our atmosphere as if you were looking at it sideways. Time is along the bottom, and elevation is along the sides. I included a picture of our atmosphere represented this way in this post. For our purposes, focus in on the bottom left portion of the picture. Notice how there is moisture above the ground (about 1-3 miles up) over-top of very dry air (0-1 miles up).

This virga was also seen on our 13 Future Track radar as the beam was able to pick it up at this altitude! The final image is of the virga off of Meridian Road on my way to the station today The view is looking to the west around the time of the radar image.

Posted under science, weather

In true Halloween form, Director Dan, created this frightening image of the giant “Tyrannasaous WREX” We certainly wish him luck in this fierce battle.

Posted under weather

While the 7 Day Outlook remains at or slightly below average, temperatures are now expected to warm in the 1-2 week timeframe which is consistent with a developing El Nino pattern. The official forecast for the 6-10 day timeframe (plotted today) from the Climate Prediction Center branch of NOAA shows high chances of above average temperatures from the Great Lakes states westward into the Intermountain West, including the area that was pounded by a winter storm this week!

As far as rainfall (or snowfall), with the stormtrack going into southern Canada, we are expecting a drier weather pattern over much of the continent which is a remarkable change from the pattern we’ve lived with for the past month. It appears a few storms may affect the Upper Great Lakes which would bring more rain to places like Minnesota and northern Wisconsin. -ES

Posted under weather

Rain was quick to move into the region this afternoon. Clouds and an early onset to the rainfall meant that my dreams of a 65-70° day were just that! There’s still a chance tomorrow, behind the cold front. Yes, a cold front will bring warm air. It’s weird, but it’s more about where the cold air advection will be instead of the position of the cold front. For instance, the main front will sweep through the Rockford area Friday morning. However a few peaks of sunshine and a westerly wind may allow us to peak around 60 in the afternoon before the cold air advances in the afternoon. So for all intents and purposes, our pre-cold-front day today saw highs in the upper 50s while tomorrow after the cold front we’ll be warmer. You may ask why we wouldn’t call this a warm front? This can’t be a warm front because the majority of the air behind it is cold…just lagging well behind it!

Rainfall amounts will be something to monitor, but not here. Our rain/flash flood guidance suggests that we’d need twice as much rain as forecast to produce flooding. However some streams may near bank-full stage by the weekend. Flood Watches are in effect for areas roughly south of I-80.

Posted under cold blast, rain